Fungi that decompose dead organic matter.

Sodium Adsorption Ratio (mol/m3)^0.5.

Subsurface area below unsaturated/ vadose zone that is permanently water-saturated.

A standardization procedure used to convert measured values or subjective ratings to unitless values usually between 0 and 1. This allows all soil property measurements to be integrated into one value or index for soil quality. The four general types of scoring functions used in soil quality assessments are: more is better (higher measurements mean higher soil quality, e.g. SOM); less is better (lower measurements mean higher soil quality, e.g. salinity); optimum range (a moderate range of values is desirable, e.g. pH); undesirable range (a specific range of values is undesirable)

A mineral resulting from the decomposition of a primary mineral or from the reprecipitation of the products of decomposition of a primary mineral. Silt: Soil particles between 0.002 mm and 0.05 mm (in some countries 0.06 mm is the upper size limit), with high or medium-high specific area influencing stability of soil structure; also used as a texture class name for medium and medium-fine soil materials.

The movement of water through the soil.

Tubular structure formed around a chain of cells or around a bundle of filaments. The fine, polysaccharide sheaths formed by some filamentous cyanobacteria help bind soil particles together and can be seen dangling from soil surface fragments. Ectomycorrhizal fungi form a sheath of hyphae around plant roots.

Soil particles between 0.002 mm and 0.05 mm (in some countries 0.06 mm is the upper size limit), with high or medium-high specific area influencing stability of soil structure; also used as a texture class name for medium and medium-fine soil materials. (NB: USDA classification uses 0.05 instead of 0.06)

A measure of disintegration of soil aggregates when exposed to rapid wetting.

Sealing of the (upper few cm) soil by the destruction of soil aggregates after wetting, causing a fine crust to occur, which reduces permeability of the soil and hamper seedling emergence.