Soil quality assessment in rangelands using a minimum data set
Soil quality is assessed in terms of the ability of soil to perform those soil functions that are necessary to meet the goals of the particular land use ( Karlen et al., 2001 ).For rangelands, these goals include plant growth and community composition to support grazing animals.Our main objectives for this research were : 1) Demonstrating a technique for scoring predictive indicators of soil quality proposed by Rezaei (2003) for two data sets ( Table1) ; and 2) Designing predictive models for the relationships between soil properties and plant growth characteristics.With regard to key indicators, total nitrogen, exchangeable potassium, and nutrient cycling index imply nutrient availability for plant growth ; topsoil and effective soil depth denote both water availability and nutrient resources ; water retention capacity indicates available water, grade of structure,and the slake test (aggregate stability) shows soil resistance to erosion.
soil quality index minimum data set soil properties extensive grazing rangelands
Seyed Ata Rezaei Susan S.Andrews
Research institute of Forests and Rangelands,P.O.Box 13185-116,Tehran,Iran,Fx:0098(21 ) 44196575 USDA-ARS National Soil T ilth Lab,2150 Pammel Drive,A mes,IA 50011,USA
国际会议
呼和浩特
英文
2008-06-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）