http://orgprints.org/4388/ Soil quality comparison among organically and conventionally managed citrus orchards in Eastern Sicily (Italy) The aim of this work was to compare soil fertility status of conventional and organic managed citrus orchards, using specific soil system descriptors. The research was carried out in a Mediterranean environment (Sicily region, Southern Italy), on Navelina and Tarocco orange orchards. Soil characteristics were analysed in 54 farms under both organic and conventional management. Farms were selected to obtain similar pairs (27) in the same environmental conditions. For each soil, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, mineral NO3-N and NH4-N were determined. In addition, in order to evaluate biological fertility status of soils, carbon mineralisation and nitrogen mineralisation in anaerobic conditions were studied. Soils humic fraction was at least characterised qualitatively by isoelectric focusing technique, to obtain information on soil organic matter stability. Results obtained attest that the organic citrus orchards soils are able to conserve energy and store nutrients more than the conventional ones. Canali, Stefano di Bartolomeo, Emanuela Torrisi, Biagio 1soilqual int-conf-isofar-2005 Soil quality comparison among organically and conventionally managed citrus orchards in Eastern Sicily (Italy) 2005-10-10 Canali, Stefano; di Bartolomeo, Emanuela and Torrisi, Biagio (2005) Soil quality comparison among organically and conventionally managed citrus orchards in Eastern Sicily (Italy). Researching Sustainable Systems - International Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture, Adelaide, Australia, September 21-23, 2005. [ Unpublished, ] source