Resumen

NUNEZ-PENALOZA, Jorge Luis; PEREZ-NIETO, Joel  y  PRADO-HERNANDEZ, Jorge Víctor. Analysis of soil quality indicators and indices in Mexico. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2023, vol.14, n.6, e3148.  Epub 30-Oct-2023. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v14i6.3148.

One strategy for evaluating soils is through quality indices that depend on specific indicators on the soils sampled, the type of crop and the management carried out. Indicators are measurable physical, chemical or biological variables that affect the capacity of the soil as they perform one or more of its functions. The objective of this research was to examine the methodological use of the different physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil used as quality indicators to determine soil quality indices in Mexico, through a bibliographic review carried out in 2022, for the period 2000-2021 through various search engines of scientific articles and keywords related to the subject, in order to generate a diagnosis and glimpse research opportunities. Greater attention should be paid to the study of soil quality in Mexico, based on technical and scientific information in regions and states where this information remains scarce. As a product of the bibliographic review, the following sets of indicators are proposed: texture, bulk density, aggregate stability, infiltration, penetration resistance, moisture retention curve and soil depth as physical indicators; organic matter, pH, total nitrogen, inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium as chemical indicators; and microbial biomass carbon, soil respiration, earthworm density, dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, urease, phosphatase and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as biological indicators, opting for a subset of indicators or a minimum data set to form a soil quality index.

Palabras llave : physical-chemical-biological soil fertility; principal component analysis; soil properties.