Ecosystem services provided by soils of urban, industrial, traffic, mining, and military areas (SUITMAs)

Initial conditions during Technosol implementation shape earthworms and ants diversity

“…3) districts. A single urban park is generally composed of a series of Technosols that are highly-heterogeneous in term of land use, vegetation type, age since construction, initial conditions and type of urban soils (Morel et al, 2015).We limited our study to recreational lawn (hereafter lawn) dominated by grasses (Lolium perenne, Festuca spps and Poa spps) and with past agricultural uses (as market gardens).…”

“…Urbanization causes profound impacts on ecosystem functioning (Pickett et al, 2011) but the consequences for urban soil ecosystem processes are not well documented (De Kimpe and Morel, 2000;Pouyat et al, 2010) despite their importance in the delivery of ecosystem services (Morel, Chenu, & Lorenz, 2015). Urban soils can be highly heterogeneous and are mainly affected by human activities (Morel et al, 2015). The soils in urban parks contain a significant amount of recently excavated earth from deep soil horizons and other man made materials such as bricks or crushed stones (used as backfill) (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2006).…”

Managing soil carbon stocks to enhance the resilience of urban ecosystems

“…The ecosystem services provided by soils are the result of inherent and manageable soil properties (Morel et al 2014). Urban soil ecosystem services can be distinguished based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment typology.…”

The seventh SUITMA conference held in Toruń, Poland, September 2013

“…The abilities of SUITMAs to provide ecosystem services are different from those provided by natural soils, and are often impaired (Lehmann and Stahr 2007;Morel et al 2015). SUITMAs are more likely to contain toxic substances than other types of soils and should be treated with care (IUSS Working Group WRB 2014).…”

“…The papers included in this special issue of Journal of Soils and Sediments reflect some of the more important research directions for the SUITMA WG, including classification and genesis: with Jangorzo et al (2015) examining the effects of biological activity on pedogenesis; Amossé et al (2015) comparing urban soils with alluvial soils; Greinert (2015) investigating soil heterogeneity in a Polish town; and Charzyński et al (2015) exploring Edifisols, those soils forming on buildings. There is attention to ecosystem services provided by SUITMAs, including an evaluation system from Morel et al (2015); a strategy for protection based on land use history by Franck-Néel et al (2015); and several case studies examining SUITMA performance, such as Coulon et al (2015) who examine storm water infiltration basin using image analysis; Kulachkova and Mozharova (2015) who investigate filtration fields and greenhouse gases; Lisovitskaya et al (2015) who examine various types of biofilters in Moscow; and Nehls et al (2015) who explore nutrient recycling from constructed soils. SUITMAs and human health are still an important topic, as several authors examine different sources of contaminants: Abel et al (2015) evaluate construction rubble; Findoráková et al (2015) examine reservoir sediments in Eastern Slovakia; Schwager et al (2015) investigate green roof materials; Jean-Soro et al (2015) assess an urban garden in Nantes; and Vácha et al (2015) compare two coal mining areas in the Czech Republic.…”