Summary
This paper, published in the inaugural issue of the EGU open-access journal Soil, synthesises current understanding of how biological diversity within soils underpins a range of ecosystem services critical to both agricultural production and wider environmental function. Drawing on existing literature, the authors — led by Diana H. Wall, a leading figure in soil ecology — likely argue that soil organisms across trophic levels (bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, and others) provide indispensable regulating, supporting, and provisioning services. The paper is expected to highlight the risks to these services from land-use intensification, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss, making a case for the conservation and restoration of soil biological communities.
UK applicability
The findings are broadly applicable to UK conditions, where soil biodiversity loss associated with intensive arable and livestock systems is a recognised policy concern; this work provides a relevant evidence base for UK agri-environment schemes, the Environmental Land Management (ELM) framework, and initiatives targeting soil health improvement under the 25 Year Environment Plan.
Key measures
Ecosystem service indicators (e.g. nutrient cycling, decomposition rates, soil structure); soil biodiversity metrics (species richness, functional diversity of soil biota)
Outcomes reported
The paper reviews the relationship between soil biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services, examining how soil organisms contribute to nutrient cycling, decomposition, disease suppression, and other processes that underpin agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability.
Topic tags
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