PurposeChanges in land use have an impact on ecosystem services by affecting soil quality. Thus, soil quality assessment using the soil quality index (SQI) can help better understand the LUC (land use change) impact on soil health.MethodsThis study was established to explore the soil quality of the Nilgiri Hill Region (NHR) in the Western Ghats global biodiversity hotspot (India's first biosphere reserve) under six major ecosystems {cropland (CL), deciduous forest (DF), evergreen forest (EF), forest plantation (FP), scrubland (SL) and tea plantation (TP)}. The minimum data sets (MDS) were selected using PCA (Principal component analysis) and EO (Experts' opinion).ResultsLUC from the natural ecosystem has significantly decreased soil quality. The selected indicators under PCA (water-soluble carbohydrates, microbial biomass carbon, dehydrogenase, available K, available N and carbon stock), and EO ( aggregate stability, pH, CEC, available N, available Zn, passive pools, CO2, dehydrogenase, and aggregate size organic carbon (2 mm)) spotlights the wide variation between the natural and the altered ecosystems. Furthermore, the selected indicators were positively correlated with total organic carbon (TOC).ConclusionThis research cautions that the LUC will have a substantial effect on soil quality, a crucial factor for achieving a future that is environmentally sustainable. Our research indicates the need for an immediate implementation of management strategies to improve the soil quality in degraded ecosystems (CL and TP) of NHR.