A review of chemical and physical properties as indicators of forest soil quality: challenges and opportunities

Foresters have always relied on a knowledge of chemical and physical proper ties of soils to assess capacity of sites to support productive forests. Re cently, the need for assessing soil properties has expanded because of grow ing public interest in determining consequences of management practices on the quality of soil relative to sustainability of forest ecosystem function s in addition to plant productivity. The concept of soil quality includes a ssessment of soil properties and processes as they relate to ability of soi l to function effectively as a component of a healthy ecosystem. Specific f unctions and subsequent values provided by forest ecosystems are variable a nd rely on numerous soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and processes, which can differ across spatial and temporal scales. Choice of a standard set of specific properties as indicators of soil quality can be c omplex and will vary among forest systems and management objectives. Indice s of forest soil quality which incorporate soil chemical, physical, and bio logical properties will be most readily adopted if they are sensitive to ma nagement-induced changes, easily measured, relevant across sites or over ti me, inexpensive, closely linked to measurement of desired values, and adapt able for specific ecosystems. This paper traces development of the concept of soil quality, explores use of soil chemical and physical properties as d eterminants of forest soil quality, and presents challenges and opportuniti es for forest soil scientists to play a relevant role in assessment and adv ancement of sustainable forest management by developing the concept of soil quality as an indicator of sustainability. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.