Review: soil physical and chemical properties as indicators of soil quality in Australian viticulture

Soil quality, in a viticultural context, may be defined as the soil's capacity to support grapevine growth without resulting in soil degradation or otherwise harming the environment. In other agricultural systems, various approaches for evaluating soil quality have been adopted, and numerous soil physical and chemical properties have been used to characterise it. Here, we consider the relevance and suitability of these approaches and the choice of soil properties for Australian viticulture. As a consequence, the soil physical and chemical properties suggested to comprise a minimum data set for ongoing monitoring of soil quality in Australian viticulture are aggregate stability, air-dry soil consistence, pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity (if pHCa<5.5), exchangeable cations and total organic carbon. Biological parameters are considered in a companion paper. The rationale for not including other soil physical and chemical properties that may be part of the minimum data set in other agricultural systems or be considered important in Australian vineyard soils is discussed. An area still to be considered is the selection of an indicator(s) of vine or grape quality since yield, which is used in many other agricultural industries, may not necessarily be an appropriate management goal in viticulture.