Proceedings

Soil protection and sustainable use of soils is currently a topical area and monitoring soil quality to ensure soil management practices are not adversely affecting soil quality will be required. This means in practice the application of soil analysis methods and interpretation of the results so that adverse trends in soil quality may be recognized and addressed before there is any irreversible damage to the soil. All analytical methods have inherent limitations and errors that may be further compounded when applied to the complex soil matrix. Soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration rate are three commonly measured soil parameters often used for monitoring soil quality. This paper discusses the limitations of these methods and what change in these parameters might then be required in order to be sure that a detrimental change in soil quality is being observed and that requires corrective action.

KEY WORDS Biomass, Carbon Microbial Monitoring, Organic Quality, Respiration, Soil Waste.