Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis (Soil Health series, Volume 2)

Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis Analyzing, comparing, and understanding soil health data The maintenance of healthy soil resources is instrumental to the success of an array of global efforts and initiatives. Whether they are working to combat food shortages, conserve our ecosystems, or mitigate the impact of climate change, researchers and agriculturalists the world over must be able to correctly examine and understand the complex nature of this essential resource. These new volumes have been designed to meet this need, addressing the many dimensions of soil health analysis in chapters that are concise, accessible and applicable to the tasks at hand. Soil Health, Volume Two: Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis provides explanations of the best practices by which one may arrive at valuable, comparable data and incisive conclusions, and covers topics including: Sampling considerations and field evaluations Assessment and interpretation of soil-test biological activity Macro- and micronutrients in soil quality and health PLFA and EL-FAME indicators Offering a practical guide to collecting and understanding soil health data, this volume will be of great interest to all those working in agriculture, private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic-, state-, and federal-research projects, as well as state and federal soil conservation, water quality and other environmental programs.

Dedication v Foreword ix Preface xiii Volume 2 Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis 1 Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Assessment: An Ove view 1 Steven R. Shafer, Douglas L. Karlen, Paul W. Tracy, Cristine L.S. Morgan, and C. Wayne Honeycutt 2 Sampling Considerations and Field Evaluations for Soil Health Assessment 17 Mark A. Liebig, Dennis Chessman, Jonathan J. Halvorson, and Roberto Luciano 3 Soil Organic Carbon Assessment Methods 38 Charles W. Rice, Carlos B. Pires, James Lin, and Marcos V. M. Sarto 4 Water-Stable Soil Aggregate Assessment 52 Maysoon M. Mikha and Skye Wills 5 Determination of Infiltration Rate and Bulk Density in Soils 69 Jalal D. Jabro and Maysoon M. Mikha 6 Chemical Reactivity: pH, Salinity and Sodicity Effects on Soil Health 78 Yaakov Anker, Vladimir Mirlas, Michael Zilberbrand, and Adi Oren 7 Nutrient Availability: Macro- and Micronutrients in Soil Quality and Health 109 James A. Ippolito 8 Assessment and Interpretation of Soil-Test Biological Activity 126 Alan J. Franzluebbers 9 Permanganate Oxidizable Carbon: An Indicator of Biologically Active Soil Carbon 152 Steve W. Culman, Tunsisa T. Hurisso, and Jordon Wade 10 Is Autoclaved Citrate-Extractable (ACE) Protein a Viable Indicator of Soil Nitrogen Availability? 176 Tunsisa T. Hurisso and Steve W. Culman 11 Metabolic Activity – Enzymes 194 Verónica Acosta-Martínez, Lumarie Pérez-Guzmán, Kristen S. Veum, Márcio R. Nunes, and Richard P. Dick 12 PLFA and EL-FAME Indicators of Microbial Community Composition 251 Kristen S. Veum, Veronica Acosta-Martinez, R. Michael Lehman, Chenhui Li, Amanda Cano, and Marcio R. Nunes 13 Microbial Community Composition, Diversity, and Function 289 D. K. Manter, J. M. Moore, R. M. Lehman, and A. K. Hamm Epilogue 324