Basic Principles of Soil Carbon Management for Multiple Ecosystem Benefits - Soil Carbon: Science, Management and Policy for Multiple Benefits - page 267

Ecosystem Services and
Soil-based Processes

with manageable properties such as nutri-
ent availability, SOM, pH, etc. ( Fig. 22.1 ).
These properties can change under the in-
fluence of natural processes, such as climate
and geological processes, or due to an-
thropogenic factors, such as land use and
farming technology. Through the natural
capital of soils, ecosystem services can be
defined that fulfil human needs ( Fig. 22.1) .
Most of the manageable soil properties
can be directly related to soil C. For in-
stance, SOM contains more than 50% of
total soil C; nitrogen and sulfur availabil-
ity are directly linked to the C cycle (Cadisch
et al ., 1996); macroporosity, aggregate size,
bulk density and other soil physical
properties have been shown to be dir-
ectly related to soil C (Plante and McGill,
2002; Scott et al ., 2002; Six et al ., 2002a,
2004; Holeplass et al ., 2004; Dexter et al .,
2008; Noellemeyer et al ., 2008; Urbanek
et al ., 2011).

Regardless of the type of ecosystem service,
soil processes provide key functioning to
satisfy human needs. These soil-based pro-
cesses can provide agricultural goods in
the form of food and fibre, as well as non-
agricultural services ( Fig. 22.2 ).
The non-agricultural services provided
by soil-based processes are vital to human
needs, and all of the processes that deliver
these services are directly related to the
soil's C stocks and cycle. Soil management
for sustaining water supply and quality will
also improve erosion control, atmospheric
composition and climate regulation. All
these ecosystem services are very intimately
dependent on the soil's structure and soil
organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. The basic
principles for soil management that im-
proves SOC and soil structure consist of

Soil natural capital Ecosystem services

• Inherent properties • Cultural

Human needs

• slope

• spirituality

• orientation
• depth
• clay types
• texture
• subsoil aggregates
• stoniness
• subsoil strength
• wetness

• Social

• knowledge
• sense of place
• aesthetics

• Self-actualization

• Regulating
• flood mitigation
• filtering of nutrients
• biological control of pests
• recycling of wastes and
detoxification
• carbon storage and
regulation of N 2 O and CH 4
• Provisioning
• physical support
• food, wood and fibre
• raw materials

• Psychological, esteem

• Safety and security

• Manageable properties

• soluble phosphate
• mineral nitrogen
• soil organic matter
• carbon content
• temperature
• pH
• land cover
• macroporosity
• bulk density
• topsoil strength
• topsoil aggregates

• Physiological

Fig. 22.1. Soil natural capital, ecosystem services and human needs. (From Dominati et al ., 2010.)