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Soil health

Soil health (or soil quality) is the biological, chemical, and physical condition of different soil types under specific land uses. Results from a soil health monitoring project, the 500 soils project, are used.

The results of monitoring show:

Soil properties under the 500 Soils Project, arranged by land-use categories

Soil property
Arable cropping (N=44)
Mixed cropping (N=17)
Drystock pasture (N=142)
Dairy pasture (N=127)
Tussock grasslands (N=20)
Exotic forestry (N=67)
Native forests (N=58)
Mineralisable nitrogen (µg/cm3)
56
70
128
160
88
63
100
Total carbon (mg/cm3)
40.7
37.6
50.8
66.9
38.3
46.4
56.5
Total nitrogen (mg/cm3)
2.32
3.13
4.29
5.92
2.62
2.99
3.48
pH in water
6.17
6.17
5.75
5.74
5.61
5.36
5.36
Olsen phosphate (µg/cm3)
49
44
19
44
16
10
11
Macroporosity (%v/v)
14.7
9.3
13.3
10.1
15.6
25.6
9.3

Notes: (1) The number of soil sites is indicated by ‘N’.
(2) µg/cm3 = micrograms per cubic centimetre.
(3) mg/cm3 = milligrams per cubic centimetre.
Source: Sparling and Schipper. 

Did you know?

  • Seventeen per cent of New Zealand’s gross domestic product depends on the top 15 centimetres of our soil.
  • Soils underpin food and fibre production in New Zealand and protect our environment by:
    • acting as buffers and filters to reduce nutrient loss
    • limiting the need for irrigation
    • breaking down pollutants
    • regulating greenhouse gas emissions
    • acting as a fundamental part of the water cycle.

This information has come from the latest national state of the environment report Environment New Zealand 2007.

 

Move to the next land indicator: soil intactness on erosion prone land.

Last updated: December 2007