Recent research progress of overseas soil quality evaluation. Geological Bulletin of China

Soil is one of the most fundamental resources for human beings to survive on. Soil quality is closely related to plant or animal productivity, atmosphere and water quality, as well as human health. As people are getting more and more aware of the importance to protect natural resources and environment, more and more countries have included soil quality evaluation as an significant component for sustainable development. Through this evaluation, we can get better understanding of the status of soil management and utilization which will provide theoretical principle and technical support for the improvement and sustainable development of soil quality. Based on the research conducted within the past ten years, the authors summarized the mainstream evaluation indices and methodology. All those indictores can be divided into three aspects, which are physical, chemical and biological. Evaluation methodology can be categorized into qualitative and quantitative. The quantitative methods are widely used, such as soil quality index, soil quality modeling, multiple linear regression and relative soil quality and so on. To understand and keep updated of latest progress of overseas soil quality evaluation is of great importance to soil quality geochemical evaluation and land classification and gradation.