Soil seems inexhaustible. It is simply there. Under our feet. Under the fields, the grass and the trees. When we eat, who thinks about the soil on which almost all our food thrives?
Yet that is precisely what would be important. Soil provides plants with nutrients and water. It is the basis for our food production. And it's alive.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Soil is one of the most important cross-cutting issues in environmental protection. Whatever environmental policy strives for and does - soil is almost always involved or affected.
- Pollutants that escape into the air ultimately end up in our soils.
- It is the substrate of all habitats and thus the basis of biological diversity
- Soil itself contains a considerable part of this biodiversity.
- As a living filter, it protects groundwater from contamination, and as a water reservoir, it tames natural hazards.
- Soil is involved in global cycles of many important elements such as carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen.
Soil management is crucial for the functioning of ecosystems as well as for the quality of the landscape as a place to live and experience.
Soil plays a particularly important role for the climate. More carbon is stored in the soil than in the atmosphere and vegetation combined: It is the second largest active carbon storage after the oceans.
Conversely, according to the "4 per mille" initiative launched by France, an additional storage of 4 % more soil organic matter per year in all soils of the world could be sufficient to largely offset current global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
Soil is one of the most important carbon reservoirs of all: at around 1,500 billion metric tons, it binds almost three times more carbon in humus alone than the entire living biomass, i.e. all living organisms including trees, shrubs and grasses.
HOW IS IT FORMED?
Soil consists of solid components (matrix), water and air. It is formed by very slow processes.
- Under the influence of climate and of living beings, the rock weathers
- Pioneer plants colonize the rock surface at the beginning and leave a first layer of organic components after dying.
- The mineral parts are altered, enriched with organic matter and reassembled. Soil life, i.e. plants, animals and microorganisms, transforms this mixture into a structure of crumbs and continuously connected cavities.
Today's soils in Switzerland are around 10,000 to 15,000 years old.
IT’S ALIVE…
The biocoenosis in the soil is so diverse that only a small part is really known today. At the beginning of the 20th century, the biologist Raoul Francé coined the term "edaphon" (edaphos (Greek) = soil) for the totality of soil organisms.
In this report or on this website you can find detailed information on soil organisms. The magnified view of soil organisms uncover a tiny world you might not have seen before!
Like this Adephoderia regina, from an unusual family of springtails, the Spinothecidae. Photo: © Andy Murray/FAO
… AND IT’S INCREDIBLY DIVERSE…
Different soils are formed depending on the parent rock, climatic influences, variations in the earth's surface, influence of living organisms, and soil age. Because factors such as parent rock, exposure, or vegetation can change over small areas, even soils can vary greatly over short distances (a few meters).
WHAT DOES SOIL DO FOR US?
In scientific literature, soil performs four primary functions:
- Habitat function: ability of soil to serve as a livelihood for organisms and to contribute to the maintenance of the diversity of ecosystems, species and their genetic diversity.
- Regulatory function: ability of the soil to regulate material and energy cycles; to filter, buffer or store; and to transform substances.
- Production function: ability of the soil to produce biomass, i.e. food, fodder, wood and fibers.
- Archival function: ability of soil to preserve information of natural and cultural history, which are revealed through archeology.
Some soil functions may come to bear on the same area. Some may be mutually exclusive. The multidimensional soil functions generally describe a purely anthropocentric view regarding human needs for soil.
Graphic: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
EIGHT DANGERS THAT SOIL FACES
According to current soil protection concepts, we are dealing with ten major soil hazards that impair soil functions. A distinction is made between reversible and irreversible impairments.
Globally, the urgency of these hazards can vary greatly. For example, soil sealing is a typical problem of densely populated regions, while salinization usually affects only arid regions.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Soil
FURTHER READING & RESOURCES
- Another pressing, current issue is land grabbing. Europe's outsized demand for land is having a negative impact on the environment, social welfare and economies of the regions from which it comes. In developing countries, it contributes massively to ecosystem destruction, large-scale land purchases, and resettlement of indigenous peoples. This is only one of many topics you can read about in the Soil Atlas (german or english).
- What Is Soil Friendly Eating? Find easy tips here
Credits:
Erstellt mit Bildern von maxbelchenko - "Farmer holding soil in hands close-up. Male hands touching soil on the field. Farmer is checking soil quality before sowing wheat. Agriculture, gardening or ecology concept" • SA - "Environment and our Earth" • SoilPaparazzi - "Organic layer and topsoil of a Luvisol in a spruce forest" • lucaar - "arid and waste land"