Soil Incubation Studies

Soil quality cannot be measured directly because it is a broad, integrative, context-dependent concept. Instead, we analyze a variety of proxy measurements that together provide clues about how a soil is functioning as viewed from one or more soil-use perspectives. These measurements are called soil quality indicators. A set of low-cost, readily measured indicators that accurately predict soil functions of interest is called an efficient indicator set. Indicators of soil quality may include characteristics of soil solids, soil solutions, soil atmospheres, vegetation, and other soil biota, and possibly even economic analyses of land-use or ecosystem services.