Soil health and evaluation criteria through the prism of the biophysical concept of pedogenesis

Abstract

Through the prism of the biophysical concept of pedogenesis, soil health is the integrative product of the interdependent and interdetermined processes of constituting the physical, chemical, physical-chemical and biological subsystems of the soil ecosystem within the genetic-evolutionary chain factors→regimes→elementary processes→soil (soil ecosystem). The evolution of the soil ecosystem involves two distinct phases: a) the establishment of the routine system of the soil; b) the constitution and evolution of the soil ecosystem. The constitution of the routine system of the soil is determined by the abiotic processes of transformation and organization of the abiotic components (solid, liquid and gaseous phases) with the formation of the pedolitic profile and the biolitic matrix. The constitution of the soil ecosystem is determined by the biologicalization of the biolytic matrix with the formation of the biopedomatrix and its modeling by its organisms in accordance with their own needs. Through this prism of ideas, soil health is a biophysical category and for its evaluation it is recommended to apply the parameters of the physical and biological properties, as well as the chemical and physico-chemical parameters related to them.