Abstract
Soil ecosystems are nowadays exposed to several physical, chemical, and biological stressors, which are directly or indirectly related to anthropogenic activities. This chapter covers how contaminants affect the soil ecosystem structure, changing soil functions and services. Soil ecosystem structure is constituted by dynamic interactive abiotic and biotic compartments, dependent on major key factors like water and light. By changing this balanced system, soil functions are also impaired as they are strictly dependent on this structure and biodiversity. Soil functions include carbon transformations, nutrient cycling, maintenance of the structure itself, and regulation of biological populations. Activities such as mining, agriculture, forestry, and waste disposal are often responsible for the unbalance of soil structure and functions, by jeopardizing majorly the functional biodiversity compartment of the ecosystem. Therefore, the provision of goods along with ecosystem services will be also affected. Valuing soil ecosystem services is a difficult task and often lacking at the policymaking level, as the costs of services losses can go unnoticed. Therefore, new strategies should be implemented to bring the concepts of structure, functions, services, and goods on board at the regulation level.
Highlights
Soil is a complex dynamic system constituted by biotic and abiotic components that represents the primary habitat and harbor of biological activity and diversity, supporting several ecosystem services
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) establish in a general way major categories of ecosystem services (MA, 2005; Haines-Young and Potschin, 2011): Provisioning, which includes the production of goods by ecosystems; Regulating, which includes the maintenance of several processes related to climate, water and air quality, pest and disease control, or pollination; Supporting, necessary for the performance of all other services such as soil formation, nutrient cycling, primary production, or habitat provision; Cultural, which includes non-material benefits like recreation, ecotourism, cultural heritage, or spiritual and religious values
Soil ecosystem services depend on soil ecosystem structure and soil ecosystem functions
Summary
Soil is a complex dynamic system constituted by biotic and abiotic components that represents the primary habitat and harbor of biological activity and diversity, supporting several ecosystem services. Soil formation depends on several factors such as parent material, topography, climate, biota and time. These factors will influence soil formation as well as the characteristics soil will have, influencing all its functions, services, and ability to produce goods. Soil ecosystem services depend on soil ecosystem structure (soil biotic and abiotic components and the interactions within and between them) and soil ecosystem functions (natural processes occurring in soil). In both cases, the soil, water and air compartments are interconnected and their quality and sustainability are dependent from each other. Several soil functions can be jeopardized from these pressures, affecting the goods and services provided by soil ecosystems
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