World's soils are under threat

Montanarella, Luca; Pennock, D.J.; McKenzie, N. J.; Badraoui, Mohamed; Chude, V. O.; Baptista, Isaurinda; Mamo, Tekalign; Yemefack, Martin; Aulakh, Mikha Singh; Yagi, Kazuichi; Hong, Suk Young; Vijarnsorn, Pisoot; Zhang, Gan‐Lin; Arrouays, Dominique; Black, H. I. J.; Krasilnikov, Pavel; Sobocká, Jaroslava; Orihuela, Julio Alegre; Henríquez, Carlos; Mendonça-Santos, Maria de Lourdes; Taboada, Miguel Ángel; Espinosa-Victoria, David; Alshankiti, Abdullah; Alavipanah, S K; El-Sheikh, Elsiddig Ahmed El Mustafa; Hempel, Jon; Arbestain, Marta Camps; Nachtergaele, Freddy; Vargas, Ronald

doi:10.5194/soil-2-79-2016

Cited by 324 publications

(144 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…agriculture | soil organic matter | climate change | soil degradation T he incredible rise of human civilizations and the continuing sustainability of current and future human societies are inextricably linked to soils and the wide array of services soils provide (1)(2)(3). Human population and economic growth has led to an exponential rise in use of soil resources.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Sanderman

Hengl

Fiske

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

938

495

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Human appropriation of land for agriculture has greatly altered the terrestrial carbon balance, creating a large but uncertain carbon debt in soils. Estimating the size and spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) loss due to land use and land cover change has been difficult but is a critical step in understanding whether SOC sequestration can be an effective climate mitigation strategy. In this study, a machine learning-based model was fitted using a global compilation of SOC data and the History Database of the Global Environment (HYDE) land use data in combination with climatic, landform and lithology covariates. Model results compared favorably with a global compilation of paired plot studies. Projection of this model onto a world without agriculture indicated a global carbon debt due to agriculture of 133 Pg C for the top 2 m of soil, with the rate of loss increasing dramatically in the past 200 years. The HYDE classes "grazing" and "cropland" contributed nearly equally to the loss of SOC. There were higher percent SOC losses on cropland but since more than twice as much land is grazed, slightly higher total losses were found from grazing land. Important spatial patterns of SOC loss were found: Hotspots of SOC loss coincided with some major cropping regions as well as semiarid grazing regions, while other major agricultural zones showed small losses and even net gains in SOC. This analysis has demonstrated that there are identifiable regions which can be targeted for SOC restoration efforts.agriculture | soil organic matter | climate change | soil degradation T he incredible rise of human civilizations and the continuing sustainability of current and future human societies are inextricably linked to soils and the wide array of services soils provide (1-3). Human population and economic growth has led to an exponential rise in use of soil resources. Roughly 50 million km 2 of soils are currently being managed to some degree by humans for food, fiber, and livestock production (4), leading to the declaration that we live on a "used planet" (5). The consequences of human domination of soil resources are far ranging (6, 7): accelerated erosion, desertification, salinization, acidification, compaction, biodiversity loss, nutrient depletion, and loss of soil organic matter (SOM).Of these soil threats, loss of SOM has received the most attention, due to the critical role SOM plays in the contemporary carbon cycle (8, 9) and as a key component of sustaining food production (10, 11). Despite the intense research interest in SOM and soil organic carbon (SOC) as the dominant component of SOM, there remain many unknowns (12) that impede progress in implementing sound land management strategies to rebuild SOC stocks (13).Conversion of native soil to agricultural uses typically leads to a decline in SOC levels (14-16). The rate and extent of decline in SOC stocks should vary greatly across the globe, due to differences in soil properties, climate, type of land-use conversion, and, importantly, the specific manage...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Sanderman

Hengl

Fiske

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

938

495

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“…The natural capital of the area-soil-is already in a poor state [20]. The soil type of the region is Acric Ferralsols [2], which are characterized by a high amount of sesquioxides, which produce a net positive charge on clay-size particles.…”

Section: Livelihood Assets: Forestry and Ntfpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Hydroelectric Dam Development and Resettlement on the Natural and Social Capital of Rural Livelihoods in Bo Hon Village in Central Vietnam

2017

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Abstract:The study examined the natural and social capital of Bo Hon villagers in central Vietnam, before and after resettlement within Binh Thanh commune due to the building of Binh Dien Hydroelectric dam on the Huu Trach River. (1) Background: The two-fold aim was to develop solutions to the impacts of resettlement on natural and social capital, and strategies for timely intervention and new livelihoods after households were resettled. (2) Methods: Livelihood survey of all 46 households was conducted in 2010, and villagers were asked about 2004, before resettlement, and about 2009, when the occupants of Bo Hon village had been moved to a new location 15 km away from the original one. The research employed mixed-methods by using household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The impacts of displacement and resettlement on production activities and daily life of rural people were examined in the following areas: (i) land resource; (ii) access to common-pool natural resources; (iii) income structure; (iv) agriculturally based livelihoods; (v) material assets; (vi) customary practices; and (vii) social relationships. (3) Results: The most significant impact was on the type of production activities that could be conducted after resettlement and reduction in land area to grow profitable commodities such as Lồ Ô Bamboo. Specifically, land for growing rice and other crops were significantly affected with the land area substantially reduced or flooded. Also harvesting of common pool resources from the forest (NTFPs) were reduced such as honey and rattan, and only 25% of the villagers continued to fish in the river. (4) Conclusions: Strategies were put in place to reduce the level of disruption to the villagers' livelihoods, but some parts of the compensation package were short-lived or inequitably distributed (e.g., land), while infrastructure developments such as sealed roads have made the village far more accessible to Hue City some 25 km away.

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“…Soil supplies ecological services such as water, clean air, and biodiversity [27], so the protection of soil against erosion is crucial [28,29]. In forest, soil erosion is caused mainly by rain and by surface streams [30], and pillar, rill, and gully erosion are typical [31][32][33].…”

Section: Protection Against Soil Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Support System for Adaptive Regional-Scale Forest Management by Multiple Decision-Makers

Yamada

Yamaura

2017

Forests

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Various kinds of decision support approaches (DSAs) are used in adaptive management of forests. Existing DSAs are aimed at coping with uncertainties in ecosystems but not controllability of outcomes, which is important for regional management. We designed a DSA for forest zoning to simulate the changes in indicators of forest functions while reducing uncertainties in both controllability and ecosystems. The DSA uses a Bayesian network model based on iterative learning of observed behavior (decision-making) by foresters, which simulates when and where zoned forestry activities are implemented. The DSA was applied to a study area to evaluate wood production, protection against soil erosion, preservation of biodiversity, and carbon retention under three zoning alternatives: current zoning, zoning to enhance biodiversity, and zoning to enhance wood production. The DSA predicted that alternative zoning could enhance wood production by 3-11% and increase preservation of biodiversity by 0.4%, but decrease carbon stock by 1.2%. This DSA would enable to draw up regional forest plans while considering trade-offs and build consensus more efficiently.

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World's soils are under threat

Cited by 324 publications

References 5 publications

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Impact of Hydroelectric Dam Development and Resettlement on the Natural and Social Capital of Rural Livelihoods in Bo Hon Village in Central Vietnam

Decision Support System for Adaptive Regional-Scale Forest Management by Multiple Decision-Makers

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