土壤砷植物暴露途径的土壤因子模拟

确定土壤中重金属生物有效性是评价土壤重金属污染生态风险的关键,然而在生态风险评价实际应用中,测定土壤重金属生物有效性耗时且高成本,限制了生物有效性评价法的应用。通过对模式植物的文献搜集,总结了影响植物富集土壤砷的7个土壤因子,揭示了土壤砷植物暴露的影响机制。运用SPSS 18.0对文献数据集各个土壤因子进行了回归分析、相关性分析和共线性分析。单因子回归分析表明营养盐类对植物富集砷影响很小,可以忽略不计;相关性分析和共线性分析结果表明土壤因子之间存在多元共线性;主成分分析结果表明,植物富集砷浓度主要受土壤质地的物理综合指标以及土壤总砷含量和土壤酸碱度等化学综合指标影响。其中植物富集浓度受土壤中总砷浓度影响最大,受土壤质地中砂粒含量影响其次;土壤粉粒、粘粒、有机质含量和阳离子交换量对富集也有一定影响;而土壤酸碱度对植物富集浓度的影响相对较小。最终通过数学模型解释植物富集砷浓度随土壤性质变化的规律,建立了土壤性质与土壤砷植物暴露的相关关系,为土壤重金属生物有效性风险评价法提供理论依据。     

土壤质量与可持续土地利用管理

可持续发展的基础是农业的可持续发展,可持续农业应当包含对于资源的成功管理来满足人类需求的变化,同时维持或提高环境质量,保护自然资源。土壤质量是可持续土地利用管理的重要指标,本文在深入剖析土壤质量与可持续土地利用管理内涵基础上,总结、分析了土壤质量和可持续土地利用管理的相互关系,提出了二者研究的发展趋势。并就土壤质量研究如何在可持续土地利用管理中发挥重要作用,以及目前存在的问题等做了探讨。     

基于土壤特征和土地利用变化的土壤质量评价最小数据集确定

进行土壤质量评价前,必须先从大量土壤理化、生物学参数中严格选取对土壤质量敏感的评价参数最小数据集(MDS)。考虑到目前经济转型期我国剧烈的土地利用变化对各种土壤过程的深刻影响,通过以下3步选取土壤质量评价MDS:通过主成分分析(PCA)计算各土壤参数在所有特征值≥1的主成分上的综合荷载;通过多变量方差分析定量了土地利用变化对各土壤参数的贡献;通过均值多重比较确定了土地利用年限对土壤性质的定量影响。最后经过线性变换、分组、相关分析检验等过程,得到一个能最大限度的代表所有候选土壤参数而又尽可能少的损失这些候选参数所包含的土壤质量信息的最小数据集。该土壤质量评价MDS因子选取方法能很好地整合土地利用变化的综合定量影响,同时具有很好的灵活性、可扩展性并能外推到其它地区。通过将该方法分别应用在1985年及2004年采样分析的两套数据各12个土壤候选参数集上,得到了各包含6个因子的MDS及其在20a尺度上的变化规律,发现MDS因子略有不同,但变化不大。     

城市化对土壤生态环境的影响研究进展

城市土壤是城市生态系统中最重要的组成部分之一,发挥着重要的生态系统服务功能。在全球快速城市化的背景下,城市土壤受到人类活动的强烈干扰,土壤物理、化学性质发生改变,土壤退化与污染日益加重。城市土壤退化导致土壤动物生态特征与行为模式发生变化,城市景观格局与土地利用类型的变化强烈影响了土壤动物的栖息地,为土壤动物的生存与生物多样性带来潜在威胁;另一方面,城市化过程改变了土壤微生物群落组成与功能特征。城市化直接影响了城市土壤维持植物生长、土壤自然消减能力以及碳储存功能等重要的生态系统服务功能。针对城市化过程对土壤生态环境产生的一系列影响,需要采用科学的管理方式,改善土壤理化性质,提高土壤环境质量,保护和恢复土壤生物多样性,从而增强城市土壤的生态系统服务功能。     

冀北土石山区不同土地利用类型土壤质量评价

为防止北方土石山区的土地和植被在人类活动下进一步退化,为冬奥会赛后制定战略性植被恢复计划,以白桦天然林、落叶松人工林、天然灌草地和弃耕农地为研究对象,基于土壤容重、孔隙度和土壤养分含量等13种土壤理化指标,对冀北土石山区不同土地利用类型土壤质量进行综合评价。结果表明: 冀北土石山区不同土地利用类型土壤质量呈现出白桦天然林>天然灌草地>落叶松人工林>弃耕农地。白桦天然林的土壤质量显著高于其他3种土地利用类型,其土壤全氮(3.24±1.42 g·kg^-1)和全磷(0.59±0.10 g·kg^-1)含量较高,土壤养分的长期积累是阻止白桦天然林土壤退化的最主要原因;天然灌草地受到土壤粗粒含量和地形因素的影响,土壤质量仅次于白桦天然林;经过40年植被恢复的落叶松人工林土壤物理性质得到改良,土壤砾石含量显著降低,而土壤养分指标未发生显著变化;弃耕农田土壤质量最低的主要原因是植被覆盖低及低海拔区域较高的人类活动强度。受土壤全氮含量的影响,4种土地利用类型下的土壤质量随海拔升高而增加,且均在1700 m左右达到峰值。综上,建议加强在低海拔生态脆弱区域的封禁管理和生态恢复措施,同时兼顾高密度林分的可持续发展,增强人工林的生态适应性。     

土地利用变化对土壤温室气体排放通量影响研究进展

土壤是大气中主要温室气体(如CO2、CH4和N2O)重要的源或汇,土地利用方式的改变将会导致土壤相关微环境及其生理生化过程发生改变,从而显著影响土壤中温室气体的产生与排放。在全球变化和土地利用大幅度改变的背景下,国际上已逐步开展了关于土地利用变化对土壤温室气体通量的研究。本文在简要介绍土地利用变化与土壤温室气体通量研究的基础上,重点论述了农田、草地和森林互换、湿地向农田转变、不同土地利用类型(森林、草地、湿地和农田)内部变化对3种土壤温室气体排放的影响,并从3种土壤温室气体产生的关键过程简单阐述其主要影响机理。根据目前研究中存在的不足,提出了今后需要加强的领域,以期更好地揭示土地利用变化对土壤温室气体通量的影响及作用机理,为今后深入开展相关研究提供参考。     

流域尺度土地利用与土壤类型空间分布的相关性研究

随着人类活动日益加强,土地利用变化及其驱动力研究已经成为国际地理学界研究的热点。但目前更多的工作侧重于研究人为因子,如人口增长、政策变化等因子对土地利用变化的影响,其实土地利用在宏观尺度上的变化一定程度上取决于自然环境背景,因此研究土地利用变化的自然环境背景特征对于进一步探讨土地利用变化的自然驱动力具有重要意义。土壤类型的空间分布在一定程度将影响土地利用的空间分布格局和变化过程。本文利用遥感、地理信息系统,通过选取景观格局指标,以于桥水库流域为例,研究了土地利用与土壤类型空间分布之间的相互关系。结果表明：(1)受人类活动干扰较弱的土地利用类型,如有林地、稀疏林地、灌木林地、其他林地和草地,主要分布在淋溶褐土、褐土性土以及棕壤地区;而与人类活动密切的土地利用类型,如山区旱耕地、丘陵区水田、丘陵区旱耕地和平原区旱耕地主要分布在淋溶褐土、褐土性土和潮土地区;(2)同类地区土地利用的多样性指数要比土壤的低。并且土地利用和土壤类型多样性均表现出明显的地形梯度效应,从中低山区、低山丘陵区、丘陵平原区到山间盆地区,土壤多样性指数从小到大有规律地变化。而土地利用类型多样性变化较为复杂,反映出人类活动对土地利用格局的影响较强,而对土壤类型的影响相对较小;(3)随着平均斑块面积的增加,流域多样性指数将呈下降趋势。土地利用多样性指数与流域总面积之间的相关性较差,但土壤多样性指数与流域总面积表现出的相关性较好;(4)土地利用类型与土壤类型之间,平均斑块面积上没有明显的相关关系,但在多样性指数之间存在着较好的相关性。土壤类型丰富多样的地区,土地利用的多样性指数也相对较高。     

坡面土地利用方式与景观位置对土壤质量的影响

坡面土地利用与植被的斑块化镶嵌是人类干扰山区景观异质性的特点,在卧龙湿润高山地区,森林砍伐、植被破坏,农业坡耕地与人工林种植是居民区附近土地利用多样化的原因,从样带与生态系统类型尺度上探究土地利用与坡面景观位置对土壤水分与养分的影响,利用定量化的方法,揭示坡面上土壤质量与土地利用类型,景观位置之间的关系。选取了四种典型的土地利用类型（灌丛,撂荒地,坡耕和人工林）与4个坡面位置（上坡,中坡,下坡和坡脚）,通过样带采样研究它们之间土壤养分的差异。利用主成分分析（PCA）等多元统计方法来定量化比较不同土地利用与坡位下的土壤质量。结果表明,灌丛有着较高的土壤质量指数（QI）。而人工林与农田的QI值较低。这表明灌丛在坡面上有着“肥力岛屿”效应。不同坡位条件下土壤质量指数（PI）表明,与中坡位和下坡位相比,上坡位与坡脚处土壤质量要高。结果说明坡面土壤质量的变化是土地利用方式变化与景观位置分异综合作用的结果。     

农田土壤紧实的发生、影响及其改良

土壤紧实是影响农田土壤质量和作物生长的关键障碍因子之一,是当前土壤功能及农田生态健康研究领域的重点。本文分析了近年来国内外关于土壤紧实的发生原因、影响因素、改良措施的研究进展。除农业机械以外,耕作制度和水肥管理对紧实的影响也不可忽视,此外,各因素的影响程度会随时空而变化。在综合分析已有研究的基础上,就目前土壤紧实研究中亟待解决的问题进行了探讨,认为今后应加强以下几方面的研究:1)从分子方面探讨抗紧实作物的遗传机理;2)田间可视化评价结合模型研究紧实下土壤-作物的变化过程;3)深入探讨土壤紧实的改良措施,为今后农田健康的相关研究提供参考。     

科尔沁沙地不同土地利用和管理方式对土壤质量性状的影响

研究了科尔沁沙地退化草地开垦后,在14年不同的土地利用和管理方式下土壤物理、化学和生物学性状的特征。结果表明,农林(林草)复合利用模式在土壤粒级组成、孔隙分布、持水性能、有机质和N、P养分、酶活性等方面表现出较好的质量性状特征。有机无机配施、精细管理的灌溉农田次之,而粗放管理的旱作农田。土壤质量性状严重恶化,逐步向流沙方向演变,与科尔沁原生景观草地土壤相比,管理良好的利用系统,土壤物理性状、P含量和一些酶活性指标提高,但有机质和全氮含量明显低,表明已退化生态系统C、N库的恢复和重建需要较长的时间。研究结果表明,不同的土地利用方式和管理措施显著影响土壤质量变化的程度和方向;调整土地利用结构,基本农田实行精细管理,旱作农田退耕还草还林是保护土地资源。实现区域生态恢复和重建的根本选择。     

The soil quality concept as a framework to assess management practices in vulnerable agroecosystems: A case study in Mediterranean vineyards

Land management aiming to sustain ecosystem services is an important issue, especially in biodiversity hot spots such as found in Mediterranean areas. In Mediterranean areas, viticulture is an important land use. Vineyards are frequently found on inherently poor soils and are submitted to intensive management practices, which threaten soil functioning and associated ecosystem services. To encourage winegrowers and stakeholders to be reflective and adapt their vineyard practices, we evaluated the effects of three soil management practices (inter row plant cover duration, weeding and fertilization strategies) on soil functioning in 146 commercial plots distributed in Southern France, by a complementary set of biological and physico-chemical indicators. We used the concept of soil dynamic quality to evaluate some soil management practices on soil functioning. The influence of inherent soil properties derived from pedogenesis on soil dynamic indicator response was accounted for by considering the response of soil indicators for three soil groups differing in their stoniness and Ca carbonate content. The three soil management practices systematically influenced some nematode-based indicators, whereas other indicators were ascribable to a specific soil type or practice. We demonstrated that the potential of soil management practices to enhance soil functioning is restricted by soil type. In particular for calcareous soils, the soil functioning is very stable limiting effects of soil management practices. The presence of a cover crop, even temporary, in the inter row, is the only practice which benefits soil functioning whatever the soil type whereas organic fertilization and chemical weeding exhibit contrasting results on soil functioning.     

水田改果园后土壤性质的变化及其特征

近年来,水田改作经济林地,在我国南方地区非常普遍。为深入了解这一转变对土壤质量的影响,以浙江省典型水稻土(青粉泥田)及其改果园不同年限的系列表层土壤(0—15 cm)为研究对象,应用磷脂脂肪酸生物标记等方法,研究了水田改果园后土壤理化性质和微生物群落结构等性质的变化以及它们之间的关系。结果表明,水田改果园后,土壤中大于0.25 mm水稳定性团聚体、盐基饱和度、p H值、有机质、全氮和碱解氮等随着改果园年限的延长而显著降低(P0.05)。土壤微生物生物量碳氮、微生物商和土壤呼吸强度随改果园年限增加而显著下降(P0.01)。土壤微生物群落结构也发生明显变化:磷脂脂肪酸总量显著降低(P0.01),微生物种类减少,原生动物在土壤微生物中所占比例增加,革兰氏阴性细菌与革兰氏阳性细菌比值降低(P0.01),好氧细菌/厌氧细菌和甲烷氧化菌/细菌增加(P0.01),表征养分胁迫的环丙基脂肪酸/前体物和异式脂肪酸/反异支链脂肪酸显著增加(P0.01)。冗余分析表明,土壤含水率、有机质和碱解氮是决定水田和果园土壤微生物群落结构差异的最重要因子(P0.01);改果园后,土壤微生物群落结构发生了阶段性变化,不同利用方式对微生物群落结构的影响程度要大于同一利用方式耕作不同年限对微生物群落结构的影响。研究表明,水田改果园后土壤理化性质以及生物学性质发生退化,土壤质量下降;而水田中微生物数量和种类都比较丰富,因而认为水田是土壤(地)可持续利用的一种有效方式。     

Soil Erosion Impact on Agronomic Productivity and Environment Quality

Soil erosion is a global issue because of its severe adverse economic and environmental impacts. Economic impacts on productivity may be due to direct effects on crops/plants on-site and off-site, and environmental consequences are primarily off-site due either to pollution of natural waters or adverse effects on air quality due to dust and emissions of radiatively active gases. Off-site economic effects of erosion are related to the damage to civil structure, siltation of water ways and reservoirs, and additional costs involved in water treatment. There are numerous reports regarding the on-site effects of erosion on productivity. However, a vast majority of these are from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe, and only a few from soils of the tropics and subtropics. On-site effects of erosion on agronomic productivity are assessed with a wide range of methods, which can be broadly grouped into three categories: agronomic/soil quality evaluation, economic assessment, and knowledge surveys. Agronomic methods involve greenhouse and field experiments to assess erosion-induced changes in soil quality in relation to productivity. A widely used technique is to establish field plots on the same soil series but with different severity of past erosion. Different erosional phases must be located on the same landscape position. Impact of past erosion on productivity can also be assessed by relating plant growth to the depth of a root-restrictive horizon. Impact of current erosion rate on productivity can be assessed using field runoff plots or paired watersheds, and that of future erosion using topsoil removal and addition technique. Economic evaluation of the on-site impact involves assessment of the losses of plant available water and nutrients and other additional inputs needed due to erosion. Knowledge surveys are conducted as a qualitative substitute for locations where quantitative data are not available. Results obtained from these different techniques are not comparable, and there is a need to standardize the methods and develop scaling procedures to extrapolate the data from plot or soil level to regional and global scale. There is also a need to assess on-site impact of erosion in relation to soil loss tolerance, soil life, soil resilience or ease of restoration, and soil management options for sustainable use of soil and water resources. Restoration of degraded soils is a high global priority. If about 1.5×10⁹?ha of soils in the world prone to erosion can be managed to effectively control soil erosion, it would improve air and water quality, sequester C in the pedosphere at the rate of about 1.5?Pg/year, and increase food production. The risks of global annual loss of food production due to accelerated erosion may be as high as 190×10⁶?Mg of cereals, 6×10⁶?Mg of soybeans, 3×10⁶?Mg of pulses, and 73×10⁶?Mg of roots and tubers. The actual loss may depend on weather conditions during the growing season, farming systems, soil management, and soil ameliorative input used. Erosion-caused losses of food production are most severe in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere in the tropics rather than in other regions.     

黄土丘陵区土壤质量评价指标研究

针对黄土丘陵区侵蚀土壤最主要的功能——生产力和抗侵蚀能力,运用敏感性分析、主成分分析和判别分析法,对10种土地利用类型、208个样点的32项土壤属性指标进行了筛选.结果表明,在黄土丘陵区,土壤速效磷含量、抗冲性、渗透系数、活性有机碳、有机质、脲酶作为土壤质量评价的高度敏感指标,是土壤质量恢复与调控的主要目标.土壤生物指标属于高度敏感和中度敏感指标.黄土丘陵区侵蚀土壤的29项理化及生物属性指标可以被归纳为5个土壤质量因子：有机质因子、质地因子、磷因子、孔隙因子和微结构因子.5个因子中,孔隙因子在不同土地利用方式之间差异不显著,其余4个质量因子在不同土地利用方式之间差异极显著.黄土丘陵区侵蚀土壤质量评价指标为有机质、渗透系数、抗冲性、CEC、蔗糖酶、团聚体平均重量直径、速效磷、微团聚体平均重量直径.其中,有机质、渗透系数、抗冲性是表征黄土丘陵区侵蚀土壤质量的关键指标。     

Effects of grassland-use on soil respiration and litter decomposition

 草地利用方式影响植被群落结构和土壤微环境, 制约草地生态系统碳循环。该文通过测定温带草原在放牧、割草、围封3种利用方式下湿润年(2012年)和干旱年(2011年)的凋落物产量、质量及其分解速率和土壤碳通量, 分析了草地利用方式对土壤呼吸和凋落物的影响, 探讨了凋落物对土壤呼吸的贡献机制。结果表明: 在干旱年份, 放牧样地土壤呼吸最大, 分别达到割草和围封样地的1.5倍和1.29倍; 在湿润年份, 割草样地土壤呼吸最大, 为309 g C·m^–2·a^–1, 明显高于放牧样地和围封样地。不论干旱年还是湿润年, 围封样地凋落物产量都大于放牧样地和割草样地。3种利用方式下湿润年土壤呼吸和凋落物分解均比干旱年增强。因此, 水分是温带草原植物生长和生态系统碳循环的主要限制因子, 草地利用方式则显著影响凋落物生产和分解。进一步分析表明, 经过两年的分解, 同一样地内凋落物质量C:N下降, N含量和木质素:N升高, 土壤呼吸与凋落物产量、凋落物分解速率以及木质素:N正相关, 而与凋落物C:N负相关。     

Land use and climatic factors structure regional patterns in soil microbial communities

Aim  Although patterns are emerging for macroorganisms, we have limited understanding of the factors determining soil microbial community composition and productivity at large spatial extents. The overall objective of this study was to discern the drivers of microbial community composition at the extent of biogeographical provinces and regions. We hypothesized that factors associated with land use and climate would drive soil microbial community composition and biomass.
Location  Great Basin Province, Desert Province and California Floristic Province, California, USA.
Methods  Using phospholipid fatty acid analysis, we compared microbial communities across eight land-use types sampled throughout the State of California, USA ( n = 1117).
Results  The main factor driving composition and microbial biomass was land-use type, especially as related to water availability and disturbance. Dry soils were more enriched in Gram-negative bacteria and fungi, and wetter soils were more enriched in Gram-positive, anaerobic and sulphate-reducing bacteria. Microbial biomass was lowest in ecosystems with the wettest and driest soils. Disturbed soils had less fungal and more Gram-positive bacterial biomass than wildland soils. However, some factors known to influence microbial communities, such as soil pH and specific plant taxa, were not important here.
Main conclusions  Distinct microbial communities were associated with land-use types and disturbance at the regional extent. Overall, soil water availability was an important determinant of soil microbial community composition. However, because of the inclusion of managed and irrigated agricultural ecosystems, the effect of precipitation was not significant. Effects of environmental and management factors, such as flooding, tillage and irrigation, suggest that agricultural management can have larger effects on soil microbial communities than elevation and precipitation gradients.     

Establishing a minimum dataset for soil quality assessment based on soil properties and land-use changes

To assess soil quality, a minimum dataset (MDS) of soil properties has to be proposed commonly through calculating the total load of each candidate soil parameter on all of the qualified principal components by use of principal component analysis (PCA) and Norm-value computation. Considering intensive land-use changes, the method introduced in this study on MDS establishment integrates the quantified contributions of land-use type and land-use duration on each soil parameter by using multivariate analysis and mean multiple comparison. In this way, a MDS maximally representing all candidates with minimal loss of the soil quality information contained by those non-MDS soil parameters is established. The MDS proposed can not only well integrate the quantified influence of land-use changes and land-use duration on soil parameters, but is also quite flexible and extendable with the potential to be extrapolated to assess soil quality in other regions. Based on two sets of soil database obtained separately in 1985 and 2004, two MDSs established are compared with each other. It is found that only quite a small change in MDS components occurs during a 20-year period. For a better assessment of soil quality, it seems necessary to examine on what kind of temporal scale and how much MDS will change for a site-specific area with intensive land-use changes.     

Establishing a minimum dataset for soil quality assessment based on soil properties and land-use changes

To assess soil quality, a minimum dataset (MDS) of soil properties has to be proposed commonly through calculating the total load of each candidate soil parameter on all of the qualified principal components by use of principal component analysis (PCA) and Norm-value computation. Considering intensive land-use changes, the method introduced in this study on MDS establishment integrates the quantified contributions of land-use type and land-use duration on each soil parameter by using multivariate analysis and mean multiple comparison. In this way, a MDS maximally representing all candidates with minimal loss of the soil quality information contained by those non-MDS soil parameters is established. The MDS proposed can not only well integrate the quantified influence of land-use changes and land-use duration on soil parameters, but is also quite flexible and extendable with the potential to be extrapolated to assess soil quality in other regions. Based on two sets of soil database obtained separately in 1985 and 2004, two MDSs established are compared with each other. It is found that only quite a small change in MDS components occurs during a 20-year period. For a better assessment of soil quality, it seems necessary to examine on what kind of temporal scale and how much MDS will change for a site-specific area with intensive land-use changes.     

Selecting biological indicators for monitoring soils: A framework for balancing scientific and technical opinion to assist policy development

Soils are one of the most important features of the natural capital of terrestrial ecosystems. There is a strong and increasing policy requirement for effective monitoring of soils at local, regional and national-scales. However, it remains unclear which properties of soils are most appropriately monitored. This is partly due to the wide range of goods and services that soils provide, but also their inherent chemical, physical and biological complexity. Given that the biota plays such fundamental roles in the majority of ecosystem services provided by soils, biological properties are logical candidates as effective indicators, to complement soil physico-chemical properties. A plethora of biological methods have been suggested as indicators for monitoring soils but few are used in national-scale monitoring or are published as international standards. A framework for selecting ecologically relevant biological indicators of soil quality, for national-scale soil monitoring, that cover the range of functions and services of soil was devised. The literature was surveyed to identify 183 candidate biological indicators which were then scored by experts and stakeholders against a wide range of scientific and technical criteria. The framework used the scores and weightings to then rank, prioritise and select the indicators. This semi-objective approach using a “logical sieve” allowed repeated iterations to take account of end-user requirements and expert opinion. A ranked list of 21 indicators was produced that covered a range of genotypic-, phenotypic- and functional-based indicators for different trophic groups. Four of these were not deemed sufficiently robust for ready deployment in a national-scale monitoring scheme without further methodological development. The suite of indicators identified offers the strongest potential candidates for deployment in national-scale soil monitoring schemes. However, standard operating procedures, their inherent sensitivity, ability to discriminate between soil:land use combinations, ecological interpretation all need to be confirmed. The power of the approach adopted here is that it provides a clear record and audit trail on the decision-making process, enables different priorities to be set contingent on the nature of the desired monitoring, and can direct and allow the inclusion of further methods or indicators into the framework.     

Concept,Components, and Strategies of Soil Health in Agroecosystems

The terms ''''soil health'''' or ''''soil quality'''' as applied to agroecosystems refer to the ability of soil to support and sustain crop growth while maintaining environmental quality. High-quality soils have the following characteristics: (i) a sufficient, but not excess, supply of nutrients; (ii) good structure (tilth); (iii) sufficient depth for rooting and drainage; (iv) good internal drainage; (v) low populations of plant disease and parasitic organisms; (vi) high populations of organisms that promote plant growth; (vii) low weed pressure; (viii) no chemicals that might harm the plant; (ix) resistance to being degraded; and (x) resilience following an episode of degradation. Management intended to improve soil health involves creatively combining a number of practices that enhance the soil''s biological, chemical, and physical suitability for crop production. The most important general strategy is to add plentiful quantities of organic matter—including crop and cover crop residues, manures, and composts. Other important strategies include better crop rotations, reducing tillage and keeping the soil surface covered with living and dead residue, reducing compaction by decreasing heavy equipment traffic, and using best nutrient management practices. Practices that enhance soil quality frequently reduce plant pest pressures.