Best Practice Knowledge Base
5.3 Soil amendments
Soil amendments are materials added to soil to improve its physical, chemical, or biological properties, enhancing conditions for plant growth. Common amendments include organic matter like compost or biochar, which enrich nutrient content and improve water retention, and mineral additives like lime or gypsum to adjust pH and soil structure. Specifically, they can help degraded soils regain fertility, support microbial communities, and increase seedling survival rates. For their application it is crucial to consider the local soil conditions, amendment compatibility with native ecosystems, and potential environmental impacts to ensure their effectiveness and avoid unintended consequences.
I. Guidelines
| Nº | Title | Author | Year | Focus Region | Language | Summary | Link |
| 1 | The Use of Soil Amendments for Remediation, Revitalization, and Reuse | US Environmental Protection Agency | 2007 | US | English | Detailed guide for amendments in contaminated soils | https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-05/documents/the_use_of_soil_amendments_for_remediation_revitalization_and_reule.pdf |
| 2 | Soil Disturbance Rehabilitation: A Desk Guide to Techniques and Monitoring | US Forest Service | 2021 | US | English | Detailed guide for the rehabilitation of disturbed soils, including soil amendments | https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_journals/2021/rmrs_2021_nash_m001.pdf |
| 3 | Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook - Soil Compost Amendment | Virginia Department of Environmental Quality | 2013 | US | English | Extensive guide for stormwater management, involving soil amendment guidelines for enhancing water retention | https://online.encodeplus.com/regs/deq-va/doc-viewer.aspx?secid=1163#secid-1163 |
| 4 | Choosing a Soil Amendment | Colorado State University Extension | 2013 | US | English | Gude for the rehabilitaiton of degraded soils through organic amendments | https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/garden/07235.pdf |
| 5 | Compost use in forest land restoration | EPA | 2005 | US | English | Guide for soil amendments based on the us of compost | https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/documents/compost-forest-land-restore-2005.pdf? |
II. Books or book chapters
| Nº | Title | Author | Chapter | Chapter author | Year | Focus region | Language | Summary | Link |
| 1 | Soil amendments: Impacts on biodic systems | Rechcigl | Forestry | Henry et ak. | 1995 | World | English | Detailed guide for amandment of contaminated forest soils | - |
| 2 | Soil physical environment and plant growth | Sharma and Kumar | Management of soil physical environment in relation to plant growth - Soil amendments | - | 2023 | World | English | General recommednations and examples for amendment of agricultural soils | https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-031-28057-3.pdf |
| 3 | soil amendments for sustainability | Rakshit et al. | - | - | 2019 | World | English | Extensive guide for soil amendment | - |
| 4 | Managing soils and terrestrial ecosystems | Fath and Jorgenssen | Erosion by water: Amendment techniques | Zhang | 2020 | World | English | Guidelines for soil amendment for erosion prevention | |
| 5 | Ecology and management of forest soils | Binkley and Fischer | Nutrition management | - | 2019 | World | English | Examples of soil amendment procedures to reduce salinity or acitidy | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781119455745 |
III. Scientific articles
| Nº | Title | Author | Year | Focus region | Language | Type | Summary | Link |
| 1 | Impacts of woodchip amendments and soil nutrient availability on understory vegetation establishment following thinning of a ponderosa pine forest | Miller and Seastedt | 2009 | US | English | Experiment | Effect of woodchip amendments on soil nitrogen availability and on patterns of understory plant establishment | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112709002813 |
| 2 | Restoration of soil quality using biochar and brown coal waste: A review | Amoah-Antwi et al. | 2020 | World | English | Conceptual review | State of the art on the effects of soil amendments through biochar and coal waste | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720313644 |