Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
3.1 Introduction
A comprehensive environmental history of world soils has yet to be written. It
would have to combine pedological, historical and archeological perspectives and
encompass a multitude of case studies. In such a story, a set of actors new to history
would play important roles: soil biota are among the main players. Earthworms do
not write history, but they are extremely important in making it, a fact recognized
by Charles Darwin, in a topic he considered as one of his most important:
The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man
'
s inventions; but long
before he existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still continues to be thus
ploughed by earth-worms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which
have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized
creatures.
1
Looking at environmental history from a soil perspective reveals several striking
cases of unsustainable soil use, but also by a steady stream of human knowledge
acquisition and technical ingenuity to deal more sustainably with this prime
resource. The biblical proverb that we all come from the soil and shall return to it
holds true in the very literal sense of the word: Our deceased bodies are decom-
posed by specialized soil organisms, releasing nutrients for the growth of vegetation
and hence, all life. Only some human cultures hold soils sacred,
2
only some cultures
have learned to produce fertile soils from barren ones,
3
but all cultures have
developed some sense of the importance of soils.
Soils are central to the biogeochemical cycles of the world; they interact with the
hydrosphere as well as with the atmosphere, and are themselves part of the bio-
sphere.
4
The soil sphere is called the pedosphere, recognizing its unique charac-
teristics. Dirt, although a recent popular topic on soils wishes to suggest otherwise,
is different from soils
5
: Dirt is under
ngernails; soil is the living matrix of life on
which we walk.
While concern about soils on the part of scientists has a long history, with
contributions such as Bennet
s plea to combat erosion of 1928
standing out,
6
a self-aware environmental history of soils is a relatively young
phenomenon.
7
But readers will
'
s and Chapline
'
nd discussions pertaining to the environmental
history of soils in the context of soil science, agricultural history, anthropology and
archaeology. In the following paragraphs, a soil science primer offers the necessary
1
Darwin (
1883
).
2
Winiwarter and Blum (
2009
).
3
Lehmann et al. (
2003
).
4
De Deyn and Van Ruijven (
2005
).
5
Montgomery (
2007
).
6
Bennett and Chapline (
1928
).
7
McNeill and Winiwarter (
2004
,
2006
).
