Research and projects

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• As part of the Dutch Design week’s ‘Affair with Earth’ Ukrainian designers explored natural materials, amongst them earth as a surface for furniture-making; see their beautiful projects here

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• It looks like human activity has started to significantly accelerate soil erosion as long as 4000 years ago. A study of world-wide lake sediments and pollen records shows that “a significant portion of the Earth surface shifted to human-driven soil erosion rate already 4,000 y ago. (…) land cover change was the main driver of inferred soil erosion in 70% of all studied watersheds. This study suggests that soil erosion has been altering terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for millennia”.

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• Who benefits from soil-friendly land management practices? This interesting study undertaken in an intensive agriculture region in Sweden finds that implementing soil-friendly management practices produces positive societal outcomes, but negative outcomes for farmers. This means that if the farmers need to be supported by the state to adopt public-goods producing soil management practices, as the markets themselves do not push them in this direction.

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• A brand new antibiotic has been discovered in the soil of a tropical rainforest, and its unique properties could make it particularly attractive for use in agriculture. Known as phazolicin, this previously unknown compound was recently isolated deep in the tropical forests of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico; it appears the new antibiotic can strike against several types of bacteria. It was found in the root nodules of wild beans.

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• The metabolic rift theory has been central to social scientific understandings of soil degradation, but too rarely has it been empirically applied. This valuable paper applies it to examine how different livelihood strategies in China impact on the use of synthetic and organic fertilisers, and how they impact on gender dynamics in agricultural work (“women's work around compost fertilizer gives way to male-dominated synthetic input management”).

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• When it comes to understanding how much carbon is stored in soils, root dynamics matter, a new study finds.

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• The use of antibiotics in livestock is wide-spread, and we know little about the effects this has on soil ecosystems. This study found that soils which have been exposed to antibiotics in livestock manure for a prolonged period of time have changed nitrogen cycling dynamics, and are less efficient at storing carbon. Considering the wide-spread use of antibiotics, this study has serious consequences.

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• The first global atlas of earthworms has been compiled, based on surveys at 7,000 sites in 56 countries. The findings will help protect the hundreds of different earthworm species found on all continents except Antarctica.

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Soil policy and social movements

 

• The European Environment Agency released a great report  ‘Land and soil in Europe’ to explain how key pressures — such as urban sprawl, contamination, intensive use of agricultural land, landscape fragmentation — are impacting Europe’s land and soil. .

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Soil in the news

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• What may the UKs landscapes look like if decisions about land use are underpinned by soil-related metrics? Conflicts are already arising around this, especially in relation to livestock farming, as this article explores.

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• In spite of the increased policy attention around the need to conserve peatlands, in Scotland Midlothian Council have approved the extraction of millions of cubic metres of peat, directly counteracting their own climate emergency and environmental commitments. The Scottish Government has set a target to restore 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030.

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• The Landmark project has presented soil and sustainable agriculture policy recommendations to shape the next European CAP, based on their analysis of different soil functions and identification of good soil farming practices. The European Commission aims to give more flexibility to regions in developing their own agricultural strategies, which will allow variations in soil functions, conditions and needs to be taken in to account.

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• An interesting platform for collecting and sharing soil health data to support better land management has launched in the US. “OpenTEAM will combine field-level carbon measurement with digital management records, remote sensing, predictive analytics and input and economic management decision support in a “connected platform that reduces the need for farmer data entry while improving access to a wide array of tools. The platform will support adaptive soil health management for farms of all scales, geographies and production systems,” according to a news release. It will also help scientists better understand soil health by providing better, more reliable data.” The programme will also help the ongoing research efforts around linking data on foods’ nutrient quality and land management practices.

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• A Fnnish startup is developing a technology to transmit soil data wirelessly in real time from up to 2m below the surface. “Soil Scout’s sensor is capable of transmitting moisture, temperature, and salinity data in near real-time from up to 2 meters below the surface, for up to 20 years, maintenance-free.“

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• As we introduce more exotic toxins into soils, removing them becomes a serious issue. In Alaska, a new incinerator technology is being tested out for its effectiveness is cleaning soils of per- and polyfluoralkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS.  The human-made, toxic compounds have been widely used since the 1940s, and are now known to be persistent in the environment and the human body.  Alaska is increasingly detecting contaminated groundwater linked to PFAS contamination from fire-fighting foams containing AFFF, used at airports and military installations. Other known sources of PFAS include some food packaging, stain- and water-repellent fabrics, and teflon-coated cooking pans.

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• The governance of land in cities is often linked to issues of soil toxicity. This editorial traces the story of a neighbourhood in Philadelphia built on an old dumping site, which has recently won a long battle with the city to clean-up and cover-up the toxic soil and regenerate the area.

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• Shifting management practices towards soil regeneration can pose a financial risk to farmers as effects may not be notable for many years. Companies in the US are developing ways of linking farms with investors to overcome this issue (it does beg questions about the extent of these companies’ control of land management practices…). There is also an interesting long read on the issue of carbon-linked investment in soil management here.

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• An unusual way of closing the loop from soil to soil – with waste paper. The US military must pulverise classified papers, and they have found that adding this paper waste to their degraded soils  can help restore them to health.

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• If you can’t use it, turn it into soil. In Paris, a social enterprise is turning food waste – which is being collected by cyclists from restaurants - into compost usable by farmers.

 

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Resources

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• PED Talks – a new series of talks on soil related issues – has launched. PED Talks combine soil-related topics including explanations of soil health, how we can improve it, and the progress that’s being made to ensure we have the healthy soils necessary to feed, clothe and fuel the world in the future. You can watch them on YouTube here.

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• The soil regeneration movement has a new movie. The Need To GROW explores both the opportunities, and the struggles, of challenging the status quo of agriculture based on soil destruction with real world solutions.

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Events

 

• The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity (GSOBI20), ‘Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity’ will be a science-policy meeting, held over three days, from 10-12 March, at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy. The main objective is to fill some critical knowledge gaps and promote discussion among policy makers, food producers, scientists, practitioners and other stakeholders on solutions to live in harmony with nature, and ultimately, achieve the SDGs through the conservation and sustainable use of soil biodiversity.

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