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Ensuring planetary survival: the centrality of organic carbon in balancing the multifunctional nature of soils
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Ensuring planetary survival: the centrality of organic carbon in balancing the multifunctional nature of soils

P.M. Kopittke, A.A. Berhe, Y. Carrillo, T.R. Cavagnaro, D. Chen, Q-L Chen, M. Román Dobarco, F.A. Dijkstra, D.J. Field, M.J. Grundy, …
Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, pp.1-17
2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2021.2024484
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Abstract

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.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#2 Zero Hunger
#13 Climate Action
#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

Metrics

182 Record Views
134 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.45 Soil Science
3.45.112 Soil Carbon Dynamics
Web Of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
ESI research areas
Environment/Ecology
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