Biological characterization and regulation of soil health.

ABSTRACT

How to determine the soil health status effectively is the basic issue to realize the agriculture green development. In the existing soil health assessment system, the importance of soil organi-sms in the maintenance of soil health is rarely considered. From the perspective of soil biological health, we discussed the connotation of soil health, and summarized the biological indicators of soil health, including soil microorganisms, soil enzyme activity, soil micro-food web and earthworm. Based on the above-mentioned indicators, the regulation approaches were elaborated from the aspects of crop and soil management practices. In addition, the future research on soil biological health was prospected. The main aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of scientists and decision makers on the maintenance of soil biological health, and to give full consideration of the important role of soil organisms in ecosystem services.