Soil Security for Australia

Abstract

Soil Security is an emerging sustainability science concept with global application for guiding integrated approaches to land management, while balancing ecosystem services, environmental, social, cultural, and economic imperatives. This discussion paper sets the scene for an Australian Soil Security framework as an example of how it might be developed for any country, defining the key issues and justification for Soil Security, as well as detailing implementation requirements and benefits; two examples of beneficial outcomes are provided in terms of facilitating decommoditization of agricultural products and the impact of urban encroachment on productive land. We highlight research gaps, where new knowledge will contribute to well-rounded approaches that reflect differing stakeholder perspectives. We also provide key nomenclature associated with a potential Soil Security framework so that future discussions may use a common language. Through this work we invite scientific and policy discourse with the aim of developing more informed responses to the myriad of competing demands placed on our soil systems.

Coupling and Coordination Development of Australian Energy, Economy, and Ecological Environment Systems from 2007 to 2016

“…The growth rate of the Australian economy in 2016-2017 as 2.0%. In particular, the rapid development of agriculture largely contributed to Australia's economic growth [37,38]. In the energy industry, local mining was the beneficiary of rising commodity prices [39].…”

Application of the Soil Security Concept to Two Contrasting Soil Landscape Systems—Implications for Soil Capability and Sustainable Land Management

“…It predicts the changes in soil condition between the genoform and phenoform. An important implication is that while soil condition indicates the actual state of the soil at the time of measurement, soil capability, while making assessment of the potential capacity of the soil to perform various functions [14,16], it also makes predictions about how soil condition changes with time. Hence, its assessment ideally should include information about land management and how this can change soil properties and about environmental variables such as climate and landform.…”

“…It also identifies the specific objectives of sustainable land management (SLM) including food security, water security, energy security, biodiversity preservation, climate change mitigation and abatement, and human health and welfare [12] (see Table 1). Soil security can assist in the management of ecosystems and soil landscapes for the overall betterment of society and to meet the SDG's [13,14].…”

“…The condition of the soil can be assessed using a set of physical, chemical and biological soil properties, and a selected set can be used to assess the condition of the soil for capacity of the soil to perform specific functions [1,14,[29][30][31]. The assessment of soil condition involves the assessment of both stable or inherent soil properties and variable or dynamic soil properties.…”

“…The soil properties to assess soil capability are intended to be those that are based largely on pedological development and can be considered inherent or relatively invariable with the time scales associated with soil management. Included are soil depth, texture, soil mineralogy, cation exchange capacity, rock outcrop, stoniness, pH buffering capacity, presence of free iron, and other properties that are commonly used in broad soil classification [7,14,[29][30][31]33]. The soil properties used to assess soil condition are those that are more variable within the time scale of soil management and include nutrient levels, soil organic matter, pH buffering capacity, and bulk density.…”