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Soil Enzymes as Indication of Soil Quality

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Soil Enzymology

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 22))

Abstract

Soil, water and air are natural resources as well as pollution reservoirs. Soil quality can be changed by pollution, ecological perturbations and agricultural practices. Soil quality can be defined as, “the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation”(Karlen et al. 1997). Preserving soil quality should be needed for sustaining of life and human nutrition. Soil enzymes are used as soil quality indicators for quick response of changes for environmental stress, pollution and agricultural practices much more sooner (1–2 year) than other soil properties (organic matter); easy to measure (relatively simple procedure), having relations with plant productivity, soil quality parameters (organic matter, soil physical properties, microbial activity, and microbial biomass), and biogeochemical cycle; and being integrative. This chapter mainly covers three distinct effects for changes in soils: (1) pollution (heavy metals, pesticides, industrial amendments or contaminants, hydrocarbons, acid precipitations, industrial air pollutants, sewage sludge, and waste usage), (2) ecological perturbations(land use, devegetation and revegetation, changing climatic conditions, and forest fires), and (3) agricultural practices (irrigation, fertilizers, amendments, different management and farming systems, crop rotation, and tillage).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science, Ankara University, Diskapi, Ankara, Turkey

    Ayten Karaca & Oguz Can Turgay

  2. Agricultural Faculty, Soil Science Department, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey

    Sema Camci Cetin

  3. Agricultural Faculty, Soil Science Department, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey

    Ridvan Kizilkaya

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  1. Ayten Karaca
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  2. Sema Camci Cetin
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  3. Oguz Can Turgay
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  4. Ridvan Kizilkaya
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Correspondence to Ayten Karaca .

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  1. Dept. Biological, Geological &, Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Euclid Ave. 2121, Cleveland, 44115-2214, Ohio, USA

    Girish Shukla

  2. Amity Institute of Microbial Sciences, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, 201303, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ajit Varma

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Karaca, A., Cetin, S.C., Turgay, O.C., Kizilkaya, R. (2010). Soil Enzymes as Indication of Soil Quality. In: Shukla, G., Varma, A. (eds) Soil Enzymology. Soil Biology, vol 22. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14225-3_7

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