A new approach to elaborate a multifunctional soil quality index

ConclusionThe formulation of quality indices for a given land area can be considered of great practical interest, both for highlighting the specific characteristics of that area, and for establishing the best management methods to adopt in order to exploit the soil’s maximum potential. Among other things, the specific formulation of the parameters considered here enables us to simulate specific measures designed to modify poor chemical, physical or biological characteristics (AQI, MQI), or to achieve a more rational form of soil management (AQI).We believe that one of the most interesting aspects of the proposed method is its tree-structured approach, which enables us to formulate an overall synthetic index by going through successive levels of aggregation. In this way, we are able to meet the contrasting needs of those, on the one hand, who are concerned about the inevitable loss of information inherent in every process of synthesis, and those, on the other hand, whose decision-making tasks require them to have concise quantitative information. The choice concerning which level of aggregation to operate will strictly depend on the objectives one is pursuing through the use of such indices.