Soil biodiversity, nature conservation and sustainability

Michael B. Usher

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541926.020

19 - Soil biodiversity, nature conservation and sustainability

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 September 2009

Edited by

Michael Usher and

Michael B. Usher: Affiliation:
University of Stirling
Richard Bardgett: Affiliation:
Lancaster University
Michael Usher: Affiliation:
University of Stirling
David Hopkins: Affiliation:
University of Stirling

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SUMMARY

Soils have hardly featured in nature conservation thinking. Criteria have been developed for selecting networks of important Earth science sites, but these have not included criteria for soils.
Above ground, nature conservation has focused on communities of plants and the animals that they support, and criteria have been developed for selecting the ‘best’ sites. There has been scant attention to the soils on which those plant communities depend.
Although species rich, soils do not contain the charismatic species that have been favoured by conservationists. There is no giant panda, corncrake or lady's slipper orchid.
Both the increasing concentration on biodiversity and ‘the ecosystem approach’ are shifting thinking in relation to soils. Despite limited taxonomic knowledge, some attention is being paid to fungi (e.g. the waxcaps, Hygrocybe spp.) and the larger soil-inhabiting invertebrates (e.g. the mole cricket, Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, and earthworms). The ‘ecosystem approach’ is forcing a more holistic view, focusing on the function of terrestrial ecosystems.
Soils are intimately involved in many ecosystem processes that contribute to the sustainable use of the planet's land resources. The contribution of soils and their biota to sustainable development will ultimately be far more important than the protection of either individual soil types or individual species.

Introduction

Although it is true that nature conservationists have generally neglected soils, there is one notable exception, that relating to peat soils (e.g. Heathwaite & Göttlich 1990).

Type: Chapter
Information: Biological Diversity and Function in Soils , pp. 363 - 378

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541926.020 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2005

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19 - Soil biodiversity, nature conservation and sustainability

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