Biochemical Assays to Detect Management Impacts on Soil Quality.

The condition of soils is fundamental for delivering ecosystem services, particularly for agriculture. Standards for soil indicators have been difficult to establish because of the complexities of the interrelated physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils. To be useful and guide land management, measures are needed that detect changes rapidly (a few years); can be calibrated and interpreted independent of soil type (a major obstacle for soil measures as soil quality indicators); have high throughput capability, being cost-effective, and have seasonal stability.

We evaluationd different farmer's fields to compare their systems. To further broaden the study, we collected complementary soil samples from long-term crop management research sites across the US.

Selected enzyme assays were run and enzyme activity ratios were calculated (activity per unit soil organic C or clay) and will be assessed for their calibration potential to detect land management practices, independent of soil type. Mechanistic understandings of enzyme activity as a soil indicator will be determined by profiling microbial communities and comparing and correlating enzyme data with chemical and physical properties.