The substrate of life: soils

Sustaining soils requires that the amount of soil degraded and lost to erosion be minimized. Agricultural options can be used to reduce plowing and promote soil organic matter and carbon sequestration, nutrient retention, water and air quality, and soil biodiversity. These include contour planning and windbreaks, no-till farming, crop rotation, and reserve programs. More effort must be made to value and manage soil biodiversity for agricultural production in small and large-scale farming. Decisions on land-use change must also evaluate ways of using land and weigh options less damaging to soils and the environment. Consideration of multiple values of interacting ecosystem services for our environmental future will aid decision-makers. Humans are dependent on the regulating services provided by soils and their biota. To continue to degrade land and soils will undermine our welfare and degrade ecosystems upon which all life depends.