Frequently it is the richness, characteristics and fertility of this resource that determines a district's wealth. Not only is soil the main resource upon which agriculture depends, but it also provides many of our construction materials and is the foundation material for our urban and recreational facilities, including our beaches and ski fields. Australian soils, in general, have properties that make their management in agricultural systems somewhat difficult. They are often characterised by low fertility, with most plant nutrients occurring in the surface zone. Except for those soils that have native leguminous vegetation, nitrogen levels can be critically low.
Many Australian soils have physical problems.
They can be hardsetting and are often characterised by fine-textured, tough subsoils with restricted waterholding capacity. Some subsoils never wet up properly and others can have high mechanical impedance or poor aeration and often high salinity resulting in poorly developed root systems. Organic matter is low in many Australian soils. The Australian climate is not conducive to production and retention of high levels of organic matter. Functions of Soils Soil Quality Soil Management TOP Land Assessment Land Resource Assessment is the systematic examination, description, classification and mapping of one or more land resource attributes within a given area.