Soil organic carbon(SOC) is a measureable component of soil organic matter. Organic matter makes up just 2–10% of most soil's mass, but has an important role in the physical, chemical and biological function of soil.
Which one is more accurate? SOC as chemical or biological indicator of soil.
I will consider soil organic carbon as a biological indicator, since it indicates biological fraction of soil
Both of them have their own importance.
Chemical Properties
1. Chemical Indicators .
2. Reactive Carbon.
3. Soil Electrical Conductivity .
4. Soil Nitrate .
5. Soil pH .
Biological Properties
1. Biological Indicators.
2. Earthworms.
3. Particulate Organic Matter .
4. Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen .
5. Soil Enzymes .
6. Soil Respiration .
7. Total Organic Carbon
Organic matter or better to say organic material mainly consists of carbon based components, but these components may come from different sources like it may be formed of the plant, animals or other organisms remnants.Tillage intensity can affect biological soil health indicators in many ways.Reducing tillage intensity improves SOC, biological activity, and labile C and N fractions of SOM. Reduced tillage effects are more expressive in the topsoil and when managed with complementary conservation practices. Perennial systems are the best strategy for increasing biological soil health. Biological indicators are sensitive to management practices, being useful for soil health assessment.
Soil is a complex environment in which many interactions occur, all of which are interrelated, so the organic matter that is part of the soil cannot be considered merely an independent chemical factor or an independent biological factor.
Thank you for your information Prem Baboo
Agree with you Keyvan valizadeh rad
Soil organic carbon is usually refered as a biological indicator!
The effects of organic matter include the Multilateral effects of chemical, biological, physical, and physiological. Therefore, organic matter can not be considered as an independent chemical or biological factor.
Soil organic carbon is more of biological indicator of the soil than physical or chemical indicator. Although it is debatable subject, but most literature use SOC as a biological indicator of the soil because it is directly related to the quantity of soil biota/soil micro-organism surviving in that particular soil and therefore I recommend @ Deepak Kumar Prabhakar. Thank you
Further, I recommend @ Tadele Amare Kassie, as I believe that SOC is more of a biological indicator as it supports soil biology. And some some extend we can also use it as chemical indicator due to its chemical composition. However, the chemical composition is subject to change rapidly through time as labile fractions of carbon are lost to atmosphere upon microbial action. Best regards.
Interesting facts, I am totally agreed with you. Yadunath Bajgai
@ Deepak Kumar Prabhakar, thank you very much for your encouraging comment. I think we need to take this debate further to enhance science of soil oragnic carbon. Best wishes
Organic carbon, one of the most important fraction of the organic matter constituting 58 % of the mass of the organic matter present in the soil..as we know that organic matter makes soil fertile improving all physical chemical and biological properties of the soil in question..so it means organic carbon cover overall biological fraction of the soil..It means it's a biological parameters..means more organic carbon, more organic matter, strong biological attributes constituting healthy soil ecology, good biological environment of soil...On the other hand, it is a chemical parameters (6 atomic number with 12 atomic mass excluding radioactive carbon) as it is a chemical substances itself...So, organic carbon is both a chemical parameter and a biological parameter...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Filing