Soil Stewardship Research Articles

Reconciling the soil stewardship paradox: Knowledge without care, care without knowledge

Soil stewardship has emerged as a guiding principle shaping the conservation practices adopted by agricultural stakeholders on their lands. Some scholars have advocated a holistic perspective on stewardship, contending that it relies on both “care” and “knowledge”. Our study sought to investigate the degree to which agricultural stakeholders' knowledge of soil science shapes their sense of responsibility and care toward the soil. There is limited prior research that empirically explores the correlation between individuals' soil science knowledge and their degree of soil care. This underscores the originality and innovation of our research. We designed scales to measure individuals' soil knowledge and their sense of soil care. Our sample comprised 150 agricultural stakeholders from geographically distinct regions of Chile (the south, center, and north), enhancing the generalizability of our findings. Our analysis revealed a direct relationship (r = 0.78, p < 0.001) between the theoretical and practical dimensions of soil science knowledge. However, we also observed an intriguing inverse relationship between theoretical soil science knowledge and the degree of soil care (−0.16, p < 0.05), as well as between practical soil science knowledge and the level of soil care (−0.24, p < 0.01). In essence, greater knowledge of soil science did not correlate with a greater sense of soil care, contrary to the expectations set by existing literature. In our study, agronomists, who mostly come from urban areas and currently residing in such environments, showed extensive soil science knowledge but relatively lower levels of soil care. In contrast, participants without professional degrees or with non-agricultural degrees, who predominantly hailed from rural backgrounds and currently reside in rural areas, exhibited greater levels of soil care despite having lower levels of soil science knowledge. These observations shed light on the soil stewardship paradox observed in our study, showing a disparity between knowledge without a corresponding sense of care and care without a corresponding level of knowledge. This study emphasizes the importance of adopting a more holistic and nuanced perspective in soil conservation research, acknowledging the intricate relationship between knowledge and care, as we seek to promote sustainable land management practices.

More than food: Why restoring the cycle of organic matter in sustainable plant production is essential for the One Health nexus

Abstract One Health professes that the health of organisms is interconnected through the exploitation of planetary resources, trade, and transportation, in particular. The impetus for the emergence of this concept in the early 2000s was knowledge of the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases that put humans at risk to diseases carried by animals. In spite of the intended comprehensiveness of One Health, the place of plant health in this concept is vague, and few issues about plant health are debated in the scientific literature related to One Health. Here, we explore the history of concepts related to One Health in an attempt to understand why there is this schism between the plant sciences and the medical and veterinary sciences beyond the prism of zoonotic diseases. We illustrate the rich history of concepts in the plant sciences concerning the oneness of plants, animals and humans, and the debates about the definition and scope of sustainability that are precursors to One Health. These concepts continue to be foundations for research and development, particularly for food security and food safety. The emergence of these concepts from plant sciences was based on fundamental understanding of the food web – where plants are food for humans and animals whose digestive processes create important resources for plant growth and health. Yet, this latter part of the food web – recycling of manures in particular – was ruptured during modernization of agriculture. We explain how attaining sustainable One Health depends on restoring this part of the food web via soil stewardship, whose principal guarantors are the ensemble of actors in plant production.

Dancers, Mountains, and People in the Fields

Dancers, Mountains, and People in the Fields

Money, soils and stewardship–creating a more fruitful relationship?

This paper examines the complicated linkages between money, soils, and ethical land stewardship. Law and policy reform is important, but the many impediments to voluntary soil stewardship that exist must be dealt with. To expect that people will do things that are not financially feasible for them is to invite failure.The paper focuses on the economic capacity of volunteers to ‘do the right thing’. It initially uses a “coupled systems” framework to examine the ecological, social and institutional system that must be managed to achieve soils sustainability. The paper then considers the role of money, including in voluntary stewardship. Finally, the paper considers how to address the financial impediments to voluntarism, and possible policies to make land stewardship more feasible, efficient and equitable.We discuss “soil” as a unit, “soil systems” when considering soil's components, and “terrestrial systems” when considering the surrounding landscape or biological system. We canvass some unique aspects of soils that are challenging for governance and management. We also consider ‘socio-ecological’ and ‘social-ecological-economic’ systems to help us understand human interactions with the biophysical world. These system perspectives show that soils governance also interacts with the governance of agriculture, biodiversity and other relevant topics.The discussion draws on theory, international examples, and Australian evidence. Systems thinking involves observation to identify patterns to explain the dynamic relationships between the components of what is being studied (e.g. machines, nature, soils or society). We apologise to readers who may find this approach daunting, but some complexity is inevitable.

Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural and Environmental Science in India

In the last six decades, the consumption of reactive nitrogen (Nr) in the form of fertilizer in India has been growing rapidly, whilst the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cropping systems has been decreasing. These trends have led to increasing environmental losses of Nr, threatening the quality of air, soils, and fresh waters, and thereby endangering climate-stability, ecosystems, and human-health. Since it has been suggested that the fertilizer consumption of India may double by 2050, there is an urgent need for scientific research to support better nitrogen management in Indian agriculture. In order to share knowledge and to develop a joint vision, experts from the UK and India came together for a conference and workshop on “Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Nitrogen Science in India.” The meeting concluded with three core messages: (1) Soil stewardship is essential and legumes need to be planted in rotation with cereals to increase nitrogen fixation in areas of limited Nr availability. Synthetic symbioses and plastidic nitrogen fixation are possibly disruptive technologies, but their potential and implications must be considered. (2) Genetic diversity of crops and new technologies need to be shared and exploited to reduce N losses and support productive, sustainable agriculture livelihoods. (3) The use of leaf color sensing shows great potential to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use (by 10–15%). This, together with the usage of urease inhibitors in neem-coated urea, and better management of manure, urine, and crop residues, could result in a 20–25% improvement in NUE of India by 2030.

Supporting evidence varies for rangeland management practices that seek to improve soil properties and forage production in California

California is increasingly investing in policies and programs that promote soil stewardship on natural and working lands as a way to help achieve multiple goals, including improved forage production and climate change mitigation. To inform the growing expectations for rangeland management activities to promote such services, we conducted an evidence synthesis assessing how four commonly suggested practices (silvopasture, prescribed grazing, compost application and riparian restoration) affect a suite of soil properties and plant-related metrics throughout the state. We extracted data on soil properties that are potentially responsive to management and relevant to soil health. We also extracted data on aboveground forage production, forage nitrogen content and herbaceous species richness. Our search resulted in 399 individual soil observations and 64 individual plant observations. We found that the presence of oaks had the largest effects on soil properties, with soil organic carbon, microbial biomass and other measures of soil fertility increasing beneath oak canopies. The presence of grazing increased compaction and total nitrogen, and decreased pH. Compost applications did not significantly affect any of the measured soil properties, but did boost forage production. Due to a lack of published data, we were unable to characterize the influence of rangeland riparian restoration on any of the soil or plant metrics in our review.

Soil Chemistry and One Health

The One Health Initiative started as a joint effort between medical doctors and veterinary medical professionals. Because of this origin, much of the concept is still focused on human and animal health. However, the health and well-being of humans and animals depend on healthy plants, soils, and water sources. Recognizing this connectivity, One Health now has a broader mission, encompassing environmental health in many forms. The Initiative works at local, national, and global scales with efforts targeting the integration of human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science. The November–December 2018 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality includes a special section “Soil Chemistry and One Health” (https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/tocs/47/6) to bring attention to the role of soil as part of the One Health Initiative. The idea of raising awareness to researchers was brought up at the 2016 ASA, CSSA, SSSA Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Tsutomu Ohno, a member of SSSA, and Ganga M. Hettiarachchi, an ASA and SSSA member, were the guest editors of this collection of papers. Soil chemistry at the intersection of ecosystem services and One Health objectives. Modified from Keith et al. (2016; see https://bit.ly/2A38b6T). Both Ohno and Hettiarachchi are soil chemists who are interested in the way soil chemistry can impact environmental quality. Specifically, Ohno's research focuses on the interaction of soil organic matter and soil phosphorus, and Hettiarachchi's research investigates mechanisms and interactions involved in soil chemical reactions enhancing soil quality to improve crop production and protection of human health. Ohno and Hettiarachchi, who provided information about the special section to CSA News magazine via email, wrote, “Our broad call for papers required that the papers address the current state of knowledge of the links between soil chemistry, food safety and security, environmental quality, and human health issues.” They state that the One Health Initiative requires a holistic framework, which will rely upon multidisciplinary solutions to address both local and global challenges. In the introduction to the special section (https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2018.08.0290), Ohno and Hettiarachchi point to several broad themes within the One Health Initiative where soil research is applicable. These include understanding the relationships between soil stewardship and health metrics; reducing food chain contamination that begins with crop uptake of chemical contaminants; mediation of pathogenic organisms important to crop, animal, and human health; and balancing ecosystem services and health metrics. Ohno and Hettiarachchi hope this collection of papers can clarify the connections among soil health, environmental quality, food safety and security, and human health and specifically the role of soil chemistry. Soil chemistry research that focuses on nutrients or contaminants in soils and the potential for crop uptake or leaching into waterways have broader impacts on environmental and human health. This collection of papers cover a variety of topics that will be of interest to members from across the three societies, not just soil scientists. This includes research focused on how antibiotics enter the environment through wastewater treatments systems and manure applications, biofortification of crops, and long-term changes in soil biota. “By definition, One-Health Initiative studies encompass a multidisciplinary approach to complex, critical environmental quality issues,” write Ohno and Hettiarachchi. Thus, these studies should be of interest to plant scientists and agronomists as much as soil scientists. Looking to the future, it is these holistic research studies that are likely to lead to results that directly benefit environmental sustainability and human and animal health.” Check out this special collection of papers, Soil Chemistry and the One Health Initiative,” in the November–December 2018 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ): https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/tocs/47/6.

Soil as Social‐Ecological Feedback: Examining the “Ethic” of Soil Stewardship among Corn Belt Farmers

In this article we examine in‐depth interviews with farmers (n = 159) from nine Corn Belt states. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified a “soil stewardship ethic,” which exemplifies how farmers are talking about building the long‐term sustainability of their farm operation in light of more variable and extreme weather events. Findings suggest that farmers' shifting relationship with their soil resources may act as a kind of social‐ecological feedback that enables farmers to implement adaptive strategies (e.g., no‐till farming, cover crops) that build resilience in the face of increasingly variable and extreme weather, in contrast to emphasizing short‐term adjustments to production that may lead to greater vulnerability over time. The development of a soil stewardship ethic may help farmers to resolve the problem of an apparent trade‐off between short‐term productivist goals and long‐term conservation goals and in doing so may point toward an emergent aspect of a conservationist identity. Focusing on the message of managing soil health to mitigate weather‐related risks and preserving soil resources for future generations may provide a pragmatic solution for helping farmers to reorient farm production practices, which would have soil building and soil saving at their center.

Wind erosion reduces soil organic carbon sequestration falsely indicating ineffective management practices

Abstract Improved management of agricultural land has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce atmospheric CO 2 via soil carbon sequestration. However, SOC stocks are reduced by soil erosion which is commonly omitted from calculations of crop production, C cycling, C sequestration and C accounting. We used fields from the wind eroded dryland cropping region of Western Australia to demonstrate the global implications for C sequestration and C accounting of omitting soil erosion. For the fields we previously estimated mean net (1950s–1990) soil erosion of 1.2 ± 1.0 t ha −1 y −1 . The mean net (1990–2013) soil erosion increased by nearly four times to 4.4 ± 2.1 t ha −1 y −1 . Conservation agriculture has evidently not reduced wind erosion in this region. The mean net (1990–2013) SOC erosion was up to 0.2 t C ha −1 y −1 across all sampled fields and similar to measured sequestration rates in the region (up to 0.5 t C ha −1 y −1 ; 10 years) for many management practices recommended for building SOC stocks. The minimum detectable change (MDC; 10 years) of SOC without erosion was up to 0.2 t C ha −1 y −1 whilst the MDC of SOC with erosion was up to 0.4 t C ha −1 y −1 . These results illustrate the generally applicable outcome: (i) if SOC erosion is equal to (or greater than) the increase in SOC due to management practices, the change will not be detectable (or a loss will be evident); (ii) without including soil erosion in SOC sequestration calculations, the monitoring of SOC stocks will lead to, at best the inability to detect change and, at worst the false impression that management practices have failed to store SOC. Furthermore, continued omission of soil erosion in crop production, C accounting and C sequestration will most likely undermine confidence in policy designed to encourage adoption of C farming and the attendant benefits for soil stewardship and food security.

Soil stewardship as a nexus between Ecosystem Services and One Health

We highlight the overlap in Ecosystem Services frameworks and the developing One Health approach, and assert that better integration and communication between these could provide a platform for synergistic research with greater benefits for resilience and health in socioecological systems. Furthermore, we propose that soil stewardship could act as the nexus for such integration and present potential research avenues with existing positive examples.

Nematode indicators as integrative measures of soil condition in organic cropping systems

Even though indicators based on nematode community composition are among the best developed metrics of soil health, little research has been done to support their application to management. This work tested the hypothesis that organic farming systems could enhance nematode community structure where soil resource condition had been enhanced by reducing disturbance and using organic fertility inputs. We tested this hypothesis by exploring the relationship between soil biology and the condition of the soil resource in an organic trial using the Nematode Maturity (MI), Plant Parasitic (PPI), Enrichment (EI), Channel (CI), and Structure (SI) indices. Shifts in nematode indices occurring during the growing season were compared with measures of labile soil organic matter and N availability [particulate organic matter-C and -N (POM-C, POM-N), particulate organic matter C:N ratio (POM C:N), potentially mineralizable N (PMN), hydrolysable N estimated with the Illinois-N test (IL-N), and heterotrophic activity estimated with fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDA)]. Soil samples were collected four times during a single growing season from plots that had been transitioned from conventional to organic management under Ley-, Row Crop- and Vegetable-based regimes. Each of the three transition scenarios included three subplots that were either supplied with organic matter from raw and composted dairy manure or cover crop residues. High EI and low CI values revealed a greater dominance of the bacterial decomposition pathway in soils transitioned under the Ley system and values were positively associated with measures of microbial activity and available N. Increases in the PPI values were stimulated where nutrient availability (and likely crop root growth) were enhanced. The SI was positively associated with the POM fraction and declined after primary tillage. This signalled a shift in the community towards an early stage of succession and demonstrates the detrimental effects of tillage on soil food web complexity. Recommendations for soil stewardship that are guided by nematode food web indices would encourage practices that enhance soil organic matter, reduce the frequency of cultivation, and conserve structure.

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests.

Forest ecosystems have integral roles in climate stability, biodiversity and economic development. Soil stewardship is essential for sustainable forest management. Organic matter (OM) removal and soil compaction are key disturbances associated with forest harvesting, but their impacts on forest ecosystems are not well understood. Because microbiological processes regulate soil ecology and biogeochemistry, microbial community structure might serve as indicator of forest ecosystem status, revealing changes in nutrient and energy flow patterns before they have irreversible effects on long-term soil productivity. We applied massively parallel pyrosequencing of over 4.6 million ribosomal marker sequences to assess the impact of OM removal and soil compaction on bacterial and fungal communities in a field experiment replicated at six forest sites in British Columbia, Canada. More than a decade after harvesting, diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities remained significantly altered by harvesting disturbances, with individual taxonomic groups responding differentially to varied levels of the disturbances. Plant symbionts, like ectomycorrhizal fungi, and saprobic taxa, such as ascomycetes and actinomycetes, were among the most sensitive to harvesting disturbances. Given their significant ecological roles in forest development, the fate of these taxa might be critical for sustainability of forest ecosystems. Although abundant bacterial populations were ubiquitous, abundant fungal populations often revealed a patchy distribution, consistent with their higher sensitivity to the examined soil disturbances. These results establish a comprehensive inventory of bacterial and fungal community composition in northern coniferous forests and demonstrate the long-term response of their structure to key disturbances associated with forest harvesting.

STRUKTUR KOMUNITAS MIKROBA TANAH DAN IMPLIKASINYA DALAM MEWUJUDKAN SISTEM PERTANIAN BERKELANJUTAN

&lt;p&gt;Soils are made up of organic and an organic material. The organic soil component contains all the living creatures in the soil and the dead ones in various stages of decomposition. Biological activity in soil helps to recycle nutrients, decompose organic matter making nutrient available for plant uptake, stabilize humus, and form soil particles.&lt;br /&gt;The extent of the diversity of microbial in soil is seen to be critical to the maintenance of soil health and quality, as a wide range of microbial is involved in important soil functions. That ecologically managed soils have a greater quantity and diversity of soil microbial. The two main drivers of soil microbial community structure, i.e., plant type and soil type, are thought to exert their function in a complex manner. The fact that in some situations the soil and in others the plant type is the key factor determining soil microbial diversity is related to their complexity of the microbial interactions in soil, including interactions between microbial and soil and microbial and plants. &lt;br /&gt;The basic premise of organic soil stewardship is that all plant nutrients are present in the soil by maintaining a biologically active soil environment. The diversity of microbial communities has on ecological function and resilience to disturbances in soil ecosystems. Relationships are often observed between the extent of microbial diversity in soil, soil and plant quality and ecosystem sustainability. Agricultural management can be directed toward maximizing the quality of the soil microbial community in terms of disease suppression, if it is possible to shift soil microbial communities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Keywords: structure, microbial, implication, sustainable agriculture&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Food, energy, water: Conflicting in securities (and the rare win-wins offered by soil stewardship)

Planet Earth is experiencing environmental change of a scale and speed without precedent, driven by climate, human population growth, and changing consumption patterns.

Food, energy, water: Conflicting in securities (and the rare win-wins offered by soil stewardship)

Food, energy, water: Conflicting in securities (and the rare win-wins offered by soil stewardship)

Waste not, pollute not [animal waste recycling for power production

Recycling animal waste can keep water cleaner and generate electricity off the grid. The paper describes the use of animal waste in the form of biogas at AA Dairy to produce electricity. The gas is burned in a diesel engine converted to run on methane. 10-20% of the electricity produced in summer is sold to the grid, the figure rises to 35-40% in winter. The paper then discusses the wider picture of bioenergy conversion at farms in the USA. The chemical impact on groundwater and soil stewardship are also discussed.

Fostering soil stewardship through soil quality assessment

Soil quality is not a purchased technology; instead, it is a concept that can be used in making land management decisions. Researchers have generally agreed upon the soil properties that determine soils’ capacity to function and have emphasized that soil quality must be understood in context. Soil quality research has included the following: (1) soil management research, where the effects of management on soil properties and dependent processes are assessed; (2) measurement development for soil quality assessment to be carried out by the farmers themselves, by advisors, or consultants and (3) systems assessments, that consider the physical and cultural contexts that impact soil quality decision-making. Because stewards of the land ultimately determine whether soil quality is improved, maintained, or diminished, many research projects in the US have included the active participation of farmers in efforts to develop the soil quality concept. More effort has been spent on soil management and on the development and testing of farmer oriented measurements than on system assessments. There is growing consensus that the development of soil quality assessments to be used by farmers to solve problems within individual fields will be challenging. Organic matter and organic matter-dependent properties are the most promising indicators for use in a soil quality assessment where the information will be used in management decisions. Unfortunately, the successful development of on-farm measures may not be sufficient to guarantee that soil quality is maintained because there is a mismatch in the temporal and physical scales over which soil quality and farm security are achieved. Educational materials that highlight soil contributions to farm, landscape and global functioning coupled with dialoguing between practitioners, scientists, and policy-makers can communicate the importance of soil quality to sustainability. Successful soil quality efforts will relate soil properties to soil function in a way that fosters stewardship among individuals and builds public support for polices that promote soil management to ensure agriculture, industry, and the natural environment are sustained. Strategies and priorities are expected to vary according to audience, land-use constraints and the intended scale of application.