Summary
This review argues that soil hydraulic function is dynamically regulated by biological feedbacks from plants, macro-fauna and the soil microbiome—processes largely absent from current hydrological models. The authors contend that global environmental change will accelerate and modify these feedbacks, potentially triggering irreversible shifts to alternative stable states of soil moisture. They call for a new generation of land surface models that explicitly couple soil structure evolution with soil-plant-atmospheric and microbial processes to better forecast ecosystem and agricultural impacts.
UK applicability
The framework is globally applicable, including to UK soils. UK agricultural and hydrological models could benefit from incorporating dynamic soil structure and biological feedback mechanisms, particularly in predicting responses to intensifying droughts, floods and extreme weather events under climate change.
Key measures
Conceptual framework integrating soil hydraulic parameters, soil structure dynamics, and biophysical feedbacks; discussion of alternative stable states in soil moisture behaviour
Outcomes reported
The paper argues that biological feedbacks from plants, macro-fauna and microbiota influence soil structure and hydraulic parameters, and that these dynamic processes are inadequately represented in current hydrological models. It identifies the need for integrated models that couple soil-plant-atmosphere processes with evolving soil structure to better predict ecosystem responses to environmental change.
Topic tags
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