期刊名称：Studia Universitatis Moldaviae: Stiinte Sociale
印刷版ISSN：1814-3199
电子版ISSN：2345-1017
出版年度：2012
卷号：1
期号：51
页码：47-52
出版社：Moldova State University
摘要：Soil quality is the capacity of soil to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water andair quality, and promote plant and animal health [1-3]. Terms of soil quality and soil health may be usedsynonymously, however first term is generally associated with soil’s fitness for a specific use, and secondterm is used in a sense to indicate the capacity of soil to function as a vital living system [4]. The soil qualityencompasses three basic components: biological, chemical and physical properties while soil health isdetermined by ecological characteristics [3]. By this reason, soil quality is considered the broader conceptthan soil health [5]. Soil quality is conceptualized as a major linkage between the strategies for agriculturalconservation management practices and achievements of the major goals of sustainable agriculture [6]. Theassessment of soil quality or health, and direction of change with time, is considered as the primary indicatorof sustainable land management [3].Soil microorganisms play important roles in soil quality and plant productivity. Soil microbial biomassis an important parameter of ecological tests, since microorganisms mediate critical ecosystem carbon andnutrient cycles. Soil respiration is one of the oldest and still the most frequently used parameter for quantifyingmicrobial metabolic activity in soil [7]. Soil microorganisms divert more energy from growth into maintenanceas stress increases and thus the ratio of basal soil respiration to microbial biomass (the metabolic quotientqCO2) can be a much more sensitive indicator of stress [8-9]. Having in mind the interlinkage between thesoil biotic component and biogeochemical cycling, Anderson and Domsch [10-11] have proposed the useof eco-physiological indicators (microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration, microbial and metabolicquotients) to estimate the soil management practices.
