The soil health assessment protocol and evaluation applied to soil organic carbon

Nunes, Márcio R.; Veum, Kristen S.; Parker, Paul A.; Holan, Scott H.; Karlen, Douglas L.; Amsili, Joseph P.; van Es, Harold M.; Wills, Skye A.; Seybold, Cathy A.; Moorman, Thomas B.

doi:10.1002/saj2.20244

The soil health assessment protocol and evaluation applied to soil organic carbon

Journal Article · Thu Mar 04 04:00:00 EST 2021 · Soil Science Society of America Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20244· OSTI ID:1853979

^[1]; ^[2]; Parker, Paul A. ^[3]; Holan, Scott H. ^[3]; Karlen, Douglas L. ^[4]; ^[5]; ^[5]; Wills, Skye A. ^[6]; Seybold, Cathy A. ^[6]; Moorman, Thomas B. ^[7]

US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)., Ames, IA (United States). National Lab. for Agriculture and the Environment; Antares Group Inc.
US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Columbia, MO (United States). ARS-Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research Unit; Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), St. Paul, MN (United States). Agricultural Research Service
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), Lincoln, NE (United States). National Soil Survey Center (NRCS)
US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)., Ames, IA (United States). National Lab. for Agriculture and the Environment

The concept of soil health has evolved over the past several decades, recognizing that dynamic soil property response to management and land use is highly dependent on site-specific factors that must be considered when interpreting soil health measurements. Initially, the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) and Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) were developed and used globally for scoring soil health indicators. However, both SMAF and CASH frameworks were developed using a relatively small dataset and their interpretation curves were not validated at the nationwide scale. Expanding upon these concepts, we propose the Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation (SHAPE) tool. The SHAPE was developed using 14,680 soil organic C (SOC) observations from across the United States, and accounts for edaphic and climate factors at the continental scale. Data were compiled from the literature, the Cornell Soil Health Laboratory, and the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory. In this approach, scoring curves are Bayesian model-based estimates of the conditional cumulative distribution function (CDF) for defined soil peer groups reflecting five soil texture and five soil suborder classes adjusted for mean annual temperature and precipitation. Specifically, SHAPE produces scores between 0 and 1 (0–100%) for measured SOC values that reflect the quantile or position within the conditional CDF along with measures of uncertainty. Herein, we focus on development of the SHAPE scoring curve for SOC with our case studies. SHAPE is a flexible, quantitative tool that provides a regionally relevant interpretation of this key soil health indicator.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Antares Group, Inc., Lanham, MD (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0007088

OSTI ID:: 1853979

Report Number(s):: DOE-ANTARES--07088-2-10

Journal Information:: Soil Science Society of America Journal, Journal Name: Soil Science Society of America Journal Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 85; ISSN 0361-5995

Publisher:: Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science SocietiesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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