Defining dynamic soil property and soil health reference conditions for soil survey

Authors: DYNARSKI, KATHERINE - NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS, USDA); WILLS, SKYE - NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS, USDA); CARTER, TIFFANY - NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS, USDA); ADELEKE, EKUNDAYO - NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS, USDA); KANDANOOL, DIVYA - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI; VEUM, KRISTEN

Submitted to: Soil Advances
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/14/2025
Publication Date: 12/1/2025
Citation: Dynarski, K., Wills, S.A., Carter, T., Adeleke, E., Kandanool, D., Veum, K.S. 2025. Defining dynamic soil property and soil health reference conditions for soil survey. Soil Advances. 4. Article 100061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilad.2025.100061.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilad.2025.100061

Interpretive Summary: Our understanding of the role and importance of dynamic soil properties, also known as soil health indicators, in determining the capacity and potential function of our soil resources has increased dramatically over the past decade. The inclusion of dynamic soil properties in USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil survey products could enhance management planning and assessment of soil potential for landowners. However, data on dynamic soil properties is limited and often not linked to soil survey. This study presents profile soil organic carbon results from 10 sites across the U.S. with three management scenarios: a soil health management system, a business-as-usual management system, and a corresponding ecological reference system. Across the different soils and sites, values from each management type aligned with soil health scores and values from the ecological reference sites corresponded with predicted benchmark values. Overall, this study illustrates the potential to incorporate dynamic soil properties into soil survey using the ecological site approach. The results of this study benefit conservation planners and landowners seeking to optimize management of their soil resources.

Technical Abstract: Correlating soil health indicator values with the soil map units defined by United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Soil Survey can help identify soil health indicator benchmark values for a particular soil under a particular management condition and define what is achievable for a given soil. To support the inclusion of soil health metrics in soil survey products, USDA-NRCS organized Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health (DSP4SH), a nationwide effort to measure a common set of soil health metrics across a range of soil types, landscapes, management systems, and climates, and characterize context-specific reference values of these properties. Here, we present total soil organic carbon (SOC) stock data from ten initial DSP4SH project sites, representing data collected across the continental US in diverse systems ranging from tilled cropland on deep Mollisols to forests on highly weathered Ultisols. Despite variability in total SOC stocks by soil series, we observed differences in both SOC stocks and Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation (SHAPE) SOC scores between perennial reference ecosystems, soil health management agricultural systems, and business-as-usual agricultural systems. Our findings demonstrate the utility of the ecological site approach currently used by USDA-NRCS for defining dynamic soil property benchmarks and thresholds associated with management alternatives. Soil survey products can be used to effectively organize and present context-specific soil health data and interpretations.