Auckland Council Research and Evaluation Unit research project.

In collaboration with the University of Auckland, Auckland Council's state of the environment (SOE) soil quality monitoring programme is moving to the next level: investigating the potential of soil bacterial communities as indicators of soil health.

Bacterial communities are assessed in soil samples collected annually as part of SOE programmes across a range of soil types and land uses from around the country. Preliminary results indicate that bacteria are sensitive indicators of soil condition and that key bacterial taxonomic groups have the ability to reflect the impact of specific human activities on soil quality.