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Trace Metal Availability and Soil Quality Index Relationships under Different Land Uses
Author(s) -
Ivezić Vladimir,
Singh Bal Ram,
Gvozdić Vlatka,
Lončarić Zdenko
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj2015.03.0125
Subject(s) - environmental science , soil quality , soil test , environmental chemistry , soil retrogression and degradation , soil science , soil ph , bulk density , trace metal , soil water , chemistry , metal , organic chemistry
Long‐term intensive agriculture without appropriate management is likely to cause soil degradation. Therefore, monitoring of soil quality in agricultural regions is essential for protecting soil and water resources and providing high‐quality and safe food. Our objective was to quantify potential soil degradation by assessing trace element solubility and other major soil properties. We used principal component analysis to select, weight, and score soil quality indicators before combining them into a soil quality index (SQI). Nineteen soil properties were quantified, but only 10 showed significant differences between forest and agricultural land uses. Four soil properties (pH, soil organic C, bulk density, and ammonium lactate extractable P) were chosen as indicators of soil quality. We found no statistical differences in overall SQI values between the two land uses, but differences in single soil properties such as soil organic C and bulk density did indicate some degradation due to agricultural practices. Trace metal availability and solubility showed no significant correlation with overall SQI values, indicating that our method for determining SQI was not a good indicator of trace metal availability and solubility.