Evaluation of pedotransfer functions for soil indicators of BLN

This study collected and evaluated existing pedo transfer functions (PTFs) for soil indicators used in the Dutch BLN soil quality assessment framework. The tested soil parameters include bulk density, plant available water, water holding capacity, hot water carbon and potentially mineralizable nitrogen. The PTFs are analysed for their consistency, uncertainty, and applicability to different settings. Although the variations among PTFs are large, the required input parameters and how those parameters influence the predicted value are generally similar. It is important to carefully select a PTF that match the domain of the applied context. Soil PTFs are useful for comparison of soil parameters across fields, farms and regions but insensitive to temporal changes within a field.