Soil quality: Humankind's foundation for survival

During the past decade, soil quality research and education programs have increased exponentially throughout the world. Educational and assessment approaches, ranging from simple scorecard and test-kit monitoring to comprehensive quantitative assessments and indexing using soils databases, have been pursued. The programs have emphasized that soil quality is not "an end in itself" but rather a tool for evaluating and understanding the effects of soil management on a specific soil resource. The approaches have stressed that to determine how well a soil is functioning, inherent and dynamic soil properties and processes must be evaluated using biological, chemical, and physical indicators. No soil quality researcher has ever envisioned the concept would replace modern soil survey programs or diminish the importance of scientifically based soil management strategies. Herein, we present the scientific merits of soil quality research.