Objective: Metal concentrations in 53 soil samples of Shahr-e-Babak were determined.  Methods: Assessment of enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index revealed higher degree of contamination of Cd, Pb, and Cu in soil samples. Moreover, results of metal fractionation study revealed high amount of Cd and Pb are associated in weakly bounds may lead to environmental risk of these metals.  Result...

Soil quality assessment may be one of the most contentious topics ever debated by the soil science community. Our objective is to examine the history, present status, and potential for using soil quality assessment as a tool to monitor soil physical, chemical, and biological effects of management decisions that may affect soil and water resources. Differences between inherent and dynamic soil q...

The soil health index is an approach for assessing the ecological potential of a soil. The index is based on a physical, chemical, and biological characterization and rating of soil conditions. The approach is flexible, permits comparisons amongst soils with widely different properties and contaminant levels, and it can be adapted to site specific conditions. The rationale and development of th...

Assessment of soil quality is one of the key parameters for evaluation of environmental contamination in the mining ecosystem. To investigate the effect of coal mining on soil quality, opencast and underground mining sites were selected in the Raniganj coalfield area, India. The physical, chemical, and biological parameters of the soils, and trace metals and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbo...

s. Bloodworth, H., and T. Sobecki. 2002. Land use biodiversity index as a soil quality indicator. In Making conservation tillage conventional: Building a future on 25 years of research; Proceedings of 25 Annual Southern Conservation Tillage Conference for Sustainable Agriculture, Auburn, AL, USA, 24-26 June, 2002, Pp.219-221. E. van Santen, editor. Auburn, AL: Alabama Agricultural Experiment St...

Assessment of management-induced changes in soil quality is important to sustaining high crop yield. A large diversity of cultivated soils necessitate identification development of an appropriate soil quality index (SQI) based on relative soil properties and crop yield. Whereas numerous attempts have been made to estimate SQI for major soils across the World, there is no standard method establi...

Heavy metal concentrations in agricultural soils of Zhejiang Province were monitored to indicate the status of heavy metal contamination and assess environmental quality of agricultural soils. A total of 908 soil samples were collected from 38 counties in Zhejiang Province and eight heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, Cu, Zn, Ni and As) concentrations had been evaluated in agricultural soil. It was fo...

This study aimed at relating the abundance and diversity of invertebrate communities of urban soils to chemical and physical soil characteristics and to identify the taxa most sensitive or tolerant to soil stressors. The invertebrate community of five urban soils in Naples, Italy, was sampled. To assess soil quality invertebrate community indices (Shannon, Simpson, Menhinick and Pielou indices)...

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.r. latifolium Hutch) is very sensitive to soil conditions. The Iuiu Valley, located in the Southwest of Bahia State in Brazil, was an important area for cotton production but an inadequate soil management for years and consequent soil quality degradation lead to the decline of the crop in the region. In an effort to reestablish cotton, this study was carried out to ...