Soil Management for Sustaining Ecosystem Services - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 521

19 Soil Management

for Sustaining
Ecosystem Services

Rattan Lal and Bobby A. Stewart

CONTENTS
19.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 521
19.2 Processes, Factors, and Causes of Soil Degradation .................................... 522
19.3 Soil Erosion and Other Degradation Processes ............................................ 523
19.4 Soil Degradation and ESs ............................................................................. 524
19.5 Technological Options .................................................................................. 526
19.5.1 Management of Cropland Soils ........................................................ 526
19.5.2 Pastureland Soils ............................................................................... 528
19.5.3 Management of Soils under Forestland Use ..................................... 529
19.5.4 SQ and Water Security ..................................................................... 529
19.6 Soil Quality Index and Sustainable Management ........................................ 531
19.7 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 531
Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 533
References .............................................................................................................. 533

19.1 INTRODUCTION
Soil degradation of cropland (Miao et al. 2011), pastureland (Muller et al. 2004;
Martinez and Zinck 2004), forestland (Kasel and Bennett 2007), and the land under
villages in tropical environments including footpaths (De Meyer et al. 2011) is a
serious global issue. The problem is also exacerbated by changing and uncertain
climate with an increasing frequency of extreme events. Climate change affects soil
moisture and thermal regimes, with strong impacts on soil productivity potential on
a global scale (Mueller et al. 2010). With a projected increase in food demand of 70%
between 2005 and 2050 (Lele 2010), sustainable management of soil resources fol-
lowing the basic principles discussed in this volume is crucial. As the critical review
of the Rio+20 declaration clearly states, there is a striking lack of awareness among
policy makers regarding the importance of soil resource management. World soil
resources support numerous ecosystem services (ESs) or a multitude of benefits that
humans derive from the upper layer of the earth's crust (e.g., food production, fresh-
water supply, decomposition of waste). Thus, sustainable management of world soils
is essential to the wellbeing of humans and other habitants of the planet Earth. Soil

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