TY - JOUR

T1 - Ensuring planetary survival

T2 - the centrality of organic carbon in balancing the multifunctional nature of soils

AU - Kopittke, Peter M.

AU - Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw

AU - Carrillo, Yolima

AU - Cavagnaro, Timothy R.

AU - Chen, Deli

AU - Chen, Qing-Lin

AU - Roman Dobarco, Mercedes

AU - Dijkstra, Feike A.

AU - Field, Damien J.

AU - Grundy, Michael J.

AU - He, Ji-Zheng

AU - Hoyle, Frances C.

AU - Kogel-Knabner, Ingrid

AU - Lam, Shu Kee

AU - Marschner, Petra

AU - Martinez, Cristina

AU - McBratney, Alex B.

AU - McDonald-Madden, Eve

AU - Menzies, Neal W.

AU - Mosley, Luke M.

AU - Mueller, Carsten W.

AU - Murphy, Daniel V.

AU - Nielsen, Uffe N.

AU - O'Donnell, Anthony G.

AU - Pendall, Elise

AU - Pett-Ridge, Jennifer

AU - Rumpel, Cornelia

AU - Young, Iain M.

AU - Minasny, Budiman

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Not only do soils provide 98.7% of the calories consumed by humans, they also provide numerous other functions upon which planetary survivability closely depends. However, our continuously increasing focus on soils for biomass provision (food, fiber, and energy) through intensive agriculture is rapidly degrading soils and diminishing their capacity to deliver other vital functions. These tradeoffs in soil functionality - the increased provision of one function at the expense of other critical planetary functions - are the focus of this review. We examine how land-use change for biomass provision has decreased the ability of soils to regulate the carbon pool and thereby contribute profoundly to climate change, to cycle the nutrients that sustain plant growth and ecosystem health, to protect the soil biodiversity upon which many other functions depend, and to cycle the Earth's freshwater supplies. We also examine how this decreasing ability of soil to provide these other functions can be halted and reversed. Despite the complexity and the interconnectedness of soil functions, we show that soil organic carbon plays a central role and is a master indicator for soil functioning and that we require a better understanding of the factors controlling the behavior and persistence of C in soils. Given the threats facing humanity and their economies, it is imperative that we recognize that Soil Security is itself an existential challenge and that we need to increase our focus on the multiple functions of soils for long-term human welfare and survivability of the planet.

AB - Not only do soils provide 98.7% of the calories consumed by humans, they also provide numerous other functions upon which planetary survivability closely depends. However, our continuously increasing focus on soils for biomass provision (food, fiber, and energy) through intensive agriculture is rapidly degrading soils and diminishing their capacity to deliver other vital functions. These tradeoffs in soil functionality - the increased provision of one function at the expense of other critical planetary functions - are the focus of this review. We examine how land-use change for biomass provision has decreased the ability of soils to regulate the carbon pool and thereby contribute profoundly to climate change, to cycle the nutrients that sustain plant growth and ecosystem health, to protect the soil biodiversity upon which many other functions depend, and to cycle the Earth's freshwater supplies. We also examine how this decreasing ability of soil to provide these other functions can be halted and reversed. Despite the complexity and the interconnectedness of soil functions, we show that soil organic carbon plays a central role and is a master indicator for soil functioning and that we require a better understanding of the factors controlling the behavior and persistence of C in soils. Given the threats facing humanity and their economies, it is imperative that we recognize that Soil Security is itself an existential challenge and that we need to increase our focus on the multiple functions of soils for long-term human welfare and survivability of the planet.

KW - Carbon

KW - carbon sequestration

KW - ecosystem services

KW - soil organic carbon (SOC)

KW - sustainable development goals

KW - Frederic Coulon and Lena Ma

KW - LAND-USE

KW - ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

KW - NITROGEN

KW - BIODIVERSITY

KW - AGRICULTURE

KW - PHOSPHORUS

KW - TILLAGE

KW - STORAGE

KW - CYCLES

KW - STOCKS

U2 - 10.1080/10643389.2021.2024484

DO - 10.1080/10643389.2021.2024484

M3 - Review

VL - 52

SP - 4308

EP - 4324

JO - Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology

JF - Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology

SN - 1064-3389

IS - 23

ER -