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TECHNICAL REPORTS
Ecological Risk Assessment

Three Approaches to Define Desired Soil Organic Matter Contents

^a Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand
^b Landcare Research, P.O. Box 69, Lincoln, New Zealand

^* Corresponding author (SparlingG{at}LandcareResearch.co.nz)

Received for publication February 13, 2002. Soil organic C is often suggested as an indicator of soil quality, but desirable targets are rarely specified. We tested three approaches to define maximum and lowest desirable soil C contents for four New Zealand soil orders. Approach 1 used the New Zealand National Soils Database (NSD). The maximum C content was defined as the median value of long-term pastures, and the lower quartile defined the lowest desirable soil C content. Approach 2 used the CENTURY model to predict maximum C contents of long-term pasture. Lowest desirable content was defined by the level that still allowed recovery to 80% of the maximum C content over 25 yr. Approach 3 used an expert panel to define desirable C contents based on production and environmental criteria. Median C contents (0–20 cm) for the Recent, Granular, Melanic, and Allophanic orders were 72, 88, 98, 132 Mg ha^-1, and similar to contents predicted by the CENTURY model (78, 93, 102, and 134 Mg ha^-1, respectively). Lower quartile values (54, 78, 73, and 103 Mg ha^-1, respectively) were similar to the lowest desirable C contents calculated by CENTURY (55, 54, 67, and 104 Mg ha^-1, respectively). Expert opinion was that C contents could be depleted below these values with tolerable effects on production but less so for the environment. The CENTURY model is our preferred approach for setting soil organic C targets, but the model needs calibrating for other soils and land uses. The statistical and expert opinion approaches are less defensible in setting lower limits for desirable C contents.

Abbreviations: NSD, National Soils Database

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This Issue in Journal of Environmental Quality

JEQ 2003 32: 745-750. [Full Text]  

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				G. P. Sparling, D. Wheeler, E.-T. Vesely, and L. A. Schipper What is Soil Organic Matter Worth? J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2006; 35(2): 548 - 557. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]