the subject of soil quality is a topic whose discussions in the
raw community are full of "flames" (anger) but very little "light"
(factual content). The latest issue of "Agriculture, Ecosystems
& Environment" (volume 98, Issues 1-3, September 2003) include
a number of scientific articles on the topic. I encourage
all to read the full text of these articles. Soil quality is
a multivariate parameter that cannot be measured well by just
one number (in the same way -- Brix, a univariate measure --
can be misleading when used as the sole measure of food quality).
Soil and food quality are complex topics that deserve
a cautious scientific approach -- rather than jingoistic
promotion of one measure (e.g., Brix).

The articles are:

"Indicators for evaluating soil quality", Pages 255-262
M. Schloter, O. Dilly and J. C. Munch

"A biological classification concept for the assessment of soil
quality: 'biological soil classification scheme' (BBSK)",
Pages 263-271
A. Ruf, L. Beck, P. Dreher, K. Hund-Rinke, J. Römbke and J. Spelda

"On the quality of soil biodiversity indicators: abiotic and
biotic parameters as predictors of soil faunal richness at
different spatial scales", Pages 273-283
Klemens Ekschmitt, Thomas Stierhof, Jens Dauber, Kurt Kreimes
and Volkmar Wolters

"Microbial eco-physiological indicators to assess soil quality",
Pages 285-293
Traute-Heidi Anderson


PS I'm not interested in arguing with people about Brix. I
will ignore all followups on the topic of Brix.

Tom Billings