Applications of soil and plant analyses in identification and ameliorationof land degradation

The raised consciousness of society to the condition of natural resources h as increased the need to quantify the possible degradation of these resourc es due to resource use and management operations. A common expectation is t hat a test analysis is simple, conducted quickly at low cost and provides a ccurate and quantitative results for decision making. Often this expectatio n is not met due to the separation of analytical services from interpretati ve guidelines and the understanding of systems. The deciding factors for th e continued use of analytical services in the future will be the meaningful ness of the analysis result, the cost and complexity of the analysis and th e ability to provide useful interpretations of the data. Greater emphasis i s now being placed on analytical results to assist the reversal of land deg radation. Land degradation is taken to mean a reduction in the potential pr oductivity of an area, or of a natural or modified ecosystem in relation to its natural or preferred state. Thus the meaning of land degradation is co nsidered within an ecosystem context rather than a specific spatial or temp oral value at one point or across a paddock. This paper discusses the meani ng of land degradation and examines the weaknesses in a number of commonly used analyses for estimating and evaluating land degradation. We propose an ecosystem conceptual framework to evaluate the utility of analyses and the appropriate derivation of interpretive guidelines. A range of common analy ses used for land degradation are evaluated against selected criteria using a multi-objective decision framework to rate the value of the analysis in identifying and monitoring land degradation.