Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
other chemical inputs, such as the alternatives to methyl bromide, especially in tropical
countries, where pests, weeds, and pathogens can cause devastating loss (Fedoroff et al.,
2010; Godfray et al., 2010). Thus, manipulation of soil biodiversity in small-scale farming as
a means to increase biological control options becomes a more feasible option.
Another example of an environmental issue in which soils play a primary role is the soil-
plant-climate connection. On large scales, disruption of this connection can have devas-
tating effects. For instance, the Dust Bowl phenomenon of the United States in the 1930s
caused large-scale human migrations and socioeconomic and environmental disruption.
Currently, the desertification of one-third of Earth's land area (arid and semiarid lands as
well as dry subhumid tropics) greatly affects the world's poorest and most marginalized
people. The U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) since its beginnings in
1996 has had failures and changed focus to a more regional approach in 2005, with the
growing recognition that desertification is expected to worsen in the next 50 years. The
causes of cultivated and rangeland degradation are many: Droughts and human activi-
ties (e.g., deforestation, inappropriate irrigation practices leading to salinization, invasive
species introduction, and overgrazing) all alter biodiversity and plant productivity and
result in fewer available soil nutrients and massive erosion. Goals of the Convention are to
improve ecosystems and living conditions at regional scales. Management and restoration
of soils are linked to types of plant cover and stabilization of soils (e.g., use of nitrogen-
fixing plants, locally produced manures, securing soils with trees instead of fences), but
new knowledge is needed for sustaining and maintaining these dryland systems (Dregne,
1996; UNCCD, 2011).
A third example in which soils are recognized within a global environmental issue is the
Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), an international treaty that in 1993 called for action on
the rapid loss of biodiversity. It includes a focus on soil biodiversity through the objec-
tives of conservation, sustainable use of biodiversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from genetic resources. The CBD is striking in that it is not focused solely
on protection of species or ecosystems but instead notes that biodiversity will be used for
the benefit of humans and promotes sustainable use to avoid increased rates of decline in
biological diversity. The definition of biodiversity is broad and encompasses the biologi-
cal variation across all scales from genes to whole ecosystems; as a result, soil biodiversity
and its role in above- and belowground ecosystems is now considered in discussions on
climate change, farming, water and biogeochemical cycles, species and habitat exploita-
tion, and desertification (Wall et al., 2010). The endorsement of the International Initiative
for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity by the CBD Conference of
the Parties in 2006 acknowledged the importance of belowground diversity and called for
further research.
The Convention has had major effects in many countries, particularly in Europe, where
the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission provides scientific support
and technical support for E.U. policies, including the E.U. commitment to make significant
progress toward CBD targets to halt biodiversity loss. Besides publishing the
European
Atlas of Soil Biodiversity
(2010), the Commission has linked business and natural capital
(living and nonliving resources) by showing how soil biodiversity can be integrated into
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