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. The Department of Land and Water Conservation undertakes a range of land inventory and evaluation activities including land attribute mapping, land capability mapping, Crown land assessment and land degradation surveys. These provide an inventory and evaluation of land for a range of internal clients such as Land NSW and external groups including Landcare groups, Catchment Management Committees and private sector consultants. This survey serves as a benchmark from which future trends in the health of our land resources can be measured.