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Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Sustainable futures over the next decade are rooted in soil science
AU - Evans, Daniel
AU - Janes-Bassett, Victoria
AU - Borrelli, Pasquale
AU - Chenu, Claire
AU - Ferreira, Carla
AU - Griffiths, Robert
AU - Kalantari, Zahra
AU - Keesstra, Saskia
AU - Lal, Rattan
AU - Panagos, Panos
AU - Robinson, David
AU - Seifollahi-Aghmiunif, Samaneh
AU - Smith, Pete
AU - Steenhuis, Tammo
AU - Thomas, Amy
AU - Visser, Saskia
PY - 2022/1/19
Y1 - 2022/1/19
N2 - The importance of soils to society has gained increasing recognition over the past decade, with the potential to contribute to most of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With unprecedented and growing demands for food, water and energy, there is an urgent need for a global effort to address the challenges of climate change and land degradation, whilst protecting soil as a natural resource. In this paper, we identify the contribution of soil science over the past decade to addressing gaps in our knowledge regarding major environmental challenges: climate change, food security, water security, urban development, and ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Continuing to address knowledge gaps in soil science is essential for the achievement of the SDGs. However, with limited time and budget, it is also pertinent to identify effective methods of working that ensure the research carried out leads to real-world impact. Here, we suggest three strategies for the next decade of soil science, comprising a greater implementation of research into policy, interdisciplinary partnerships to evaluate function trade-offs and synergies between soils and other environmental domains, and integrating monitoring and modelling methods to ensure soil-based policies can withstand the uncertainties of the future.
AB - The importance of soils to society has gained increasing recognition over the past decade, with the potential to contribute to most of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With unprecedented and growing demands for food, water and energy, there is an urgent need for a global effort to address the challenges of climate change and land degradation, whilst protecting soil as a natural resource. In this paper, we identify the contribution of soil science over the past decade to addressing gaps in our knowledge regarding major environmental challenges: climate change, food security, water security, urban development, and ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Continuing to address knowledge gaps in soil science is essential for the achievement of the SDGs. However, with limited time and budget, it is also pertinent to identify effective methods of working that ensure the research carried out leads to real-world impact. Here, we suggest three strategies for the next decade of soil science, comprising a greater implementation of research into policy, interdisciplinary partnerships to evaluate function trade-offs and synergies between soils and other environmental domains, and integrating monitoring and modelling methods to ensure soil-based policies can withstand the uncertainties of the future.
KW - biodiversity
KW - climate change
KW - ecosystems
KW - food security
KW - sustainable development goals
KW - urban development
KW - water security
U2 - 10.1111/ejss.13145
DO - 10.1111/ejss.13145
M3 - Journal article
VL - 73
JO - European Journal of Soil Science
JF - European Journal of Soil Science
SN - 1351-0754
IS - 1
M1 - e13145
ER -