Research

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• Making use of urban soils is an important element of food security, however in the UK many city soils carry the memory of industrialisation and contain high lead levels, leading to concerns about lead poisoning from produce. A new study at Newcastle University however argues that the current guidelines are overcautious as lead uptake in plants is not sufficient to cause concern

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• Carbon releases from thawing permafrost are set to exacerbate the climate breakdown, and this new study argues greater quantities are being released than previously thought, not just into air but into water

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• Improving plant’s uptake of iron through root microbiome modification may open up ‘marginal soils’ for food production. I have mixed feelings about this, with ‘marginal soils’ being often the last refuge for biodiversity

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• Interesting advances in the understanding of how nutrients from human waste or food waste can be returned to urban soils in the form of biosolids. Crucial as we try to improve our broken nutrient cycles.

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• What is the most biodiverse area on Earth? It turns out to be sub-arctic soils! The majority of soil nematodes, which make up a fifth of all animals, turn out to thrive in high-latitude soils. The population of nematodes also turns out to be much higher than previously estimated.

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• Meanwhile, urban soils are struggling with cigarette butts, which have been found to be a significant and long-lasting form of soil pollution in cities.

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• Capturing atmospheric CO2 and returning it to agricultural soils in the form of pellets may be another way to use soils in the struggle against climate breakdown, Dr Janice Lake at the University of Sheffield finds.

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• Under the new Common Agricultural Policy in the EU, soils are seen as delivering multiple functions beyond food production. This interesting paper notes that the societal demands on soils, however, vary between member states, with consequences for their future management.

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• Soil health is a contested concept. This paper draws lessons from understandings of human health and ecosystem health for the conceptualisation and application of soil health.

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• Can we think of humans, organisms, and materials collaborating together in processes of soil-making? This paper by an SCN member Germain Meulemans thinks through soil engineering as such a distributed process.

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Soils in the news

 

• The Soil Health Institute released this report showing increases in the use of soil health farming practices in the US.

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• In Bangladesh, a traditional method for controlling river soil erosion is making a comeback. These bamboo structures, called bundals, are much cheaper than concrete structures, and require local knowledge and ongoing maintenance to be effective.

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• Spain is on its way to becoming a desert as a result of climate change and unsustainable land use. The article makes an important point that while deserts are mature and biodiverse ecosystems, sudden desertification is a form of land degradation.

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• From dust to dust? This article reviews and discusses the most eco-friendly ways to return our bodies to the soil after death; some are surprisingly high-tech.

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• As the consumption of chickpeas (think hummus!) grows in the West, the soil health benefits of crop diversification into this nitrogen-fixing plant are becoming apparent in the US. This is an indication of the good that a more plant-based diet could do for our soils.

 

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Policy and social movements

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• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is debating a new report which will draw attention to land use and food production as central areas for acting to arrest the climate breakdown. The impacts of the scale and intensity of current land use in food production is finally being scrutinised by this important body.

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• The Soil Health Institute, which is leading the way on action on soil in the US, has released it’s 5 point strategy for enhancing soil health measures adoption: increasing profitability; improving soil health assessment; providing education and training; supporting scientific research and development; providing impact assessment.

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• Soil’s potential to store carbon captures is increasingly becoming an object of investment. Now the aviation sector turns its attention to land, in collaboration with the FAO. The Recarbonization of Global Soils programme will “stablish  an  incentives  scheme  to  mobilize  voluntary  contributions,  especially  private  funding  from  voluntary  carbon  offsets  and  blended investments in climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

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• Soil in cities has much to offer. But getting access to urban land, whether to grow food or to improve the landscape, can be a struggle. Soil Generation is an activist group in Philadelphia working to grant access to urban land to gardeners and growers, especially for communities of colour. They share their experiences in this editorial.

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• In the UK, soils policy is still fragmented. The Sustainable Soils Alliance, an organisation working to achieve sustainability of UK's land within one generation, reflects on their efforts in creating links between the siloes.

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• Protecting agricultural soils goes all the way up the food chain. The Union of Concerned Scientists calls on large grain buyers to prioritise buying from growers who adopt soil health practices.

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Editorials, blogs and opinion

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• This short and punchy video by the Guardian is a quick overview of the challenges and promises of turning our attention to soils.

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• A longer video by the BBC "Soil: The New Gold Rush” is shining a light on the changes of land use in agriculture. Scientific advancements are portrayed as leading the way, although part of the report also covers community-led land use changes in Ethiopia.

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• Monitoring soil health often calls for numbers. But what if we engaged our senses – such as taste – as well? In this interesting thinkpiece, authors experiment with soil tasting and conclude “Soil speaks. I just don’t yet know its language.”

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• To green our cities, we need to start with the soil. This piece discusses the role manufactured soils can play in supporting urban trees, which often struggle in compacted city soils.

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• The SoilWeb app makes US soil data available via smartphone; if you are interested in the potential of digital technologies in enhancing our knowledge of soils, this interview with the app’s developers discusses the challenges involved.