Soil Polysaccharide Measurements In the Evaluation of Soil Quality for Multifunctional Agriculture.

A mixture of perennial and row crops in a multifunctional agricultural system require selection of locations that best fit species productivity and support ecological services.  Soil quality measurements are often used to differentiate locations. Routine determination of soil polysaccharides in soil quality characterization is often limited by the availability of specialized equipment. Soils from a prairie remnant, a perennial pasture, cropland, and land recently converted from cropland to grass production were used in the study. Methods for acid extraction, purification, and determination of soil polysaccharides were selected for use with relatively low cost equipment and materials.