Soil “Health” Indicators in Soil Assessment (Review)

The possibility of using microbiological indicators of soil “health” to assess soils has been considered. The fundamental possibility of quantitative characterization of the functional potential of the microbial system with the assessment of ecological services has been shown. It has been shown that thermodynamic criteria of natural microbial system (exergy and specific exergy) allow carrying out diagnostics of soil condition with direct estimation of degradation and damage. System characteristics of soil microbiota have been shown to be necessary for the solution of many topical problems of functional soil science.