The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Abstract. In this forum paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has important links to several of the SDGs, which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions (see graphical abstract in the Supplement). We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally, in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet these goals we recommend the following steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole: (i) embrace the UN SDGs, as they provide a platform that allows soil science to demonstrate its relevance for realizing a sustainable society by 2030; (ii) show the specific value of soil science: research should explicitly show how using modern soil information can improve the results of inter-and transdisciplinary studies on SDGs related to food security, water scarcity, climate change, biodiversity loss and health threats; (iii) take leadership in overarching system analysis of ecosystems, as soils and soil scientists have an integrated nature and this placesPublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 112 S. D. Keesstra et al.: The significance of soils and soil science soil scientists in a unique position; (iii) raise awareness of soil organic matter as a key attribute of soils to illustrate its importance for soil functions and ecosystem services; (iv) improve the transfer of knowledge through knowledge brokers with a soil background; (v) start at the basis: educational programmes are needed at all levels, starting in primary schools, and emphasizing practical, down-to-earth examples; (vi) facilitate communication with the policy arena by framing research in terms that resonate with politicians in terms of the policy cycle or by considering drivers, pressures and responses affecting impacts of land use change; and finally (vii) all this is only possible if researchers, with soil scientists in the front lines, look over the hedge towards other disciplines, to the world at large and to the policy arena, reaching over to listen first, as a basis for genuine collaboration.

Managing soil functions for a sustainable bioeconomy—Assessment framework and state of the art

“…Targets set by society for such soil management systems are characterized by an ecosystem services perspective, that is, increasing biomass production while maintaining the contribution of soil functions to the other ecosystem services; and by resource use efficiency, that is, an increasing return from invested resources (Figure 1). The latter is rarely considered in recent studies on the value of soil functions for society Schwilch et al, 2016;Stavi, Bel, & Zaady, 2016), or it is not as explicit as the ecosystem service perspective (Keesstra et al, 2016). While both assessment concepts are at first sight motivated by environmental perspectives, the economic perspective is inherent in either of them.…”

“…The role of the soil system from the perspective of the ecosystem services concept was recently substantiated in a number of publications (Adhikari & Hartemink, 2016;Baveye et al, 2016;Bünemann et al, 2018;Keesstra et al, 2016;Schwilch et al, 2016;Stavi et al, 2016) in addition to earlier studies on distinct aspects (Bennett, Mele, First, the importance of managing soil functions to support ecosystem services is widely acknowledged (Breure et al, 2012;Schulte et al, 2014). However, the operationalization of linkages between soil management, soil functions, and ecosystem services remains a challenge (Schwilch et al, 2016;Stavi et al, 2016).…”

“…The quantification of soil functions is a prerequisite for any assessment, and it may lead to trade-offs but can also lead to potential complementarities (Reed et al, 2013). Every function can also be seen as providing a soil-related contribution to ecosystem services (Bouma, 2014;Keesstra et al, 2016). Thus, soil functions are the linkage from soil systems' processes to the valuation of performance or their services in the context of sustainable development.…”

“…Both concepts are relevant to linking soil functions to bioeconomy targets and internationally acknowledged sustainable development goals (SDGs; General Assembly, 2015). Among the manifold linkages between soil functions and SDGs (Keesstra et al, 2016), three SDGs pertain most profoundly to soil functions from an ecosystem service perspective: SDG 2, target 2.4 (sustainable provision of food and regulating and maintenance services); SDG 13, target 13.2 (climate action-regulating services), strengthened by the "4 pour 1000"-initiative (Ministère de l'Agriculture, 2015); and SDG 15, target 15.3 (restoring degraded soils and achieving a land-degradation neutral world). One SDG pertains most profoundly to soil functions from a resource use efficiency perspective: SDG 12, target 12.2 (sustainable and efficient use of natural resources).…”

Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration

“…This abandonment is most extensive and studied in the European Mediterranean belt (Plieninger et al, 2014;Romero-Díaz et al, 2016;Sheffer, 2012), and most of the research focuses on the mountainous regions that were abandoned as a consequence of the low income and loss of population (Lasanta et al, 2015a). The abandonment of land not only results in changes to the soil system, but also in the hydrological cycle and fauna and flora resources (Dixon-Coppage et al, 2005;de Araújo et al, 2015;Keesstra et al, 2016).…”