Soil securityPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100182
Aman D. Sharma
{"title":"Can biochar amendment alter the sorption of glyphosate in the Australian Vertosol soil system?","authors":"Aman D. Sharma","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100182","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100182","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biochar has the potential to adsorb glyphosate, a potential groundwater pollutant in areas having indiscriminate use in farming activities. Batch sorption experiments were conducted at the University of Sydney, Australia. 14C radiolabeled glyphosate was used to study the behaviour of glyphosate in Vertosol soil systems using the liquid scintillation counting method. Radiotracer data showed no effect of char application on the adsorption behaviour of glyphosate in Vertosols due to the presence of clay.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"19 ","pages":"Article 100182"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143715056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2025-03-11DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100180
Mark Morrison , Kirsty McKenzie , Darla Hatton MacDonald , Felicity Small , Tahmid Nayeem , Jenni Greig
{"title":"Connecting consumers and soil: Development of a conceptual model for shaping the consumer market for soil stewardship in Australia","authors":"Mark Morrison , Kirsty McKenzie , Darla Hatton MacDonald , Felicity Small , Tahmid Nayeem , Jenni Greig","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100180","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100180","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil health is declining globally, with farmers typically receiving weak financial incentives to maintain or improve soil quality. Increasing consumer awareness of the importance of soil health could stimulate demand for products made using soil stewardship, which would then flow on to demand at the farmgate. However, there is a need to communicate with consumers about soil to motivate them to pay for products grown or produced using soil stewardship. The study aims to develop a conceptual model of how to stimulate consumer willingness to pay for soil stewardship and build consumer profiles to inform social marketing campaigns. We used an exploratory approach employing a focus group methodology. Five focus groups of participants (<em>n</em> = 36) took place in Australia (New South Wales and Tasmania). Data were analysed using thematic analysis and qualitative segmentation analysis. Our qualitative findings confirmed our initial conceptual model, but the findings suggest the model should be extended to include consumer trust through certification. Four potential market segments were identified and profiled based on the different concerns of consumers. Connecting consumers and soil is vital to incentivise producers to look after their soil, but simply educating consumers about the importance of soil may be insufficient to lead to change. Our conceptual model may be used to inform social marketing campaigns and stimulate further research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"19 ","pages":"Article 100180"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143621409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2025-03-01DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100179
D.K. Pal , Ashim Datta , D. Vasu , Ranjan Paul , K. Karthikeyan , Pramod Tiwary
{"title":"Pedological and taxonomical research of Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the UN SDGs: Current status and the future scope","authors":"D.K. Pal , Ashim Datta , D. Vasu , Ranjan Paul , K. Karthikeyan , Pramod Tiwary","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100179","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100179","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The tropical soils of the world including India have hardly been considered as a viable substrate for successful agriculture. Although ample research in India has been conducted but sustaining their productivity is a challenge for the land managers. To fulfil this challenge, acquiring new knowledge through soil care programmes become mandatory. Without such initiative, any attempt to bridge the disparity between food production and future population will be an uphill task. Realizing this urgency, during the last few decades, Indian pedologists and edaphologists took up research endeavours on the pedological and taxonomical nuances and subtilities on benchmark (BM) and identified large number of soil series. The main purpose was to provide a “carrier of information” of the major soil orders (Inceptisols, Mollisols, Alfisols, Ultisols, and Vertisols) of tropical India. Based on this, scientists developed a current status on soil health, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation and resilience. We explicitly reviewed these research endeavours on Indian tropical soils for fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals (UN SDGs). This information may possibly remove the long-standing misgivings about positive pedological functionalities, which may prove the Indian tropical soils as one of the important contributors in strengthening India's economic status. This status of Indian tropical soils, however, still needs to be worked out to establish a relationship between soil properties and ecosystem services at a larger scale, while accomplishing the UNSDGs for increasing crop productivity and sustaining soil and human wellbeing in Indian agricultural soils in the immediate future and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 100179"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143577750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2025-01-24DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100178
Esther Chidinma Chukwu, Coskun Gulser
{"title":"Morphological, physiological, and anatomical effects of heavy metals on soil and plant health and possible remediation technologies","authors":"Esther Chidinma Chukwu, Coskun Gulser","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100178","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100178","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil is an indispensable entity for agriculture, and its health is essential to ensure phenomenal and sustainable agricultural practices. However, the increasing need for food security and the growth of industrial urbanization have led to soil pollution posing a significant threat to soil health, the environment, and public health. This study investigates the effects of heavy metals on plant anatomy, physiology, and morphology, focusing on how these metals displace essential nutrient uptake. Despite considerable research on soil contamination, gaps remain in understanding the mechanisms involved in heavy metals influencing plant health and the soil properties that govern their transformation, transport, and bioavailability. This study addresses these gaps by examining the impacts and mechanisms of heavy metal contamination on plant growth and identifying soil conditions that can mitigate contamination risks and remediation mechanisms. Through a comprehensive analysis, this study finds that heavy metals displace essential metal ions, inhibiting enzyme activity and disrupting critical processes. High concentrations of heavy metals produce free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells. This results in uncontrolled oxidation and the initiation of chain reactions with cellular biomolecules, causing oxidative stress and cellular damage. Additionally, this study highlights phytoremediation, bioremediation, and biochar as potential frameworks for remediating heavy metals contamination in agricultural soils. It proposes recommendations for future research to understand the synergistic effects of combining phytoremediation, bioremediation, and biochar which could lead to comprehensive soil remediation frameworks that are both economically feasible and environmentally friendly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 100178"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143181357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2025-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100177
Melis Çerçioğlu , Ranjith P. Udawatta , Stephen H. Anderson
{"title":"Use of cover crops for sustainable management of soil condition and health: A review","authors":"Melis Çerçioğlu , Ranjith P. Udawatta , Stephen H. Anderson","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100177","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100177","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cover crops (CCs) are widely recognized for their numerous benefits to soil condition and health, the environment, and agricultural productivity. Despite extensive literature documenting these benefits, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews that consolidate the findings, hindering the broader adoption of effective practices. This review examines the impact of cover crops on key soil properties, including bulk density (BD), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), organic matter (OM) content, pore size distribution, and water infiltration. A total of 190 studies from various countries, climatic zones, and agricultural practices were analysed, with the majority of data originating from 2–3-year studies conducted in the USA. The findings reveal that cover crops reduce soil bulk density by 1–24 %, increase organic matter by 7–74 %, enhance macropores by 1–67 %, and improve water infiltration rates by 5–629 %. Additionally, cumulative infiltration rates increased by 29–170 %, and Ksat was elevated by 10–627 %. Long-term studies (spanning 15 to 34 years) indicated even greater improvements in Ksat and soil porosity. Overall, cover crops were found to enhance soil organic matter, hydraulic properties, and overall soil condition, thereby contributing to sustainable crop production across a range of climatic, soil, and management conditions. Long-term research is necessary to better understand the impact of cover crops on soil properties, nutrient availability, crop performance, and environmental outcomes, which will inform the development of optimal soil-site-climate specific cover crop management practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 100177"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143181355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2025-01-09DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100176
Alfred E. Hartemink , Alex.B. McBratney
{"title":"Defining ‘soil science’","authors":"Alfred E. Hartemink , Alex.B. McBratney","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100176","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2025.100176","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The term ‘soil science’ remains inadequately defined, despite numerous definitions of soil itself. While it is commonly understood as the scientific study of soil, the adjective ‘scientific’ typically denotes a systematic, methodological approach grounded in falsifiable principles. However, few attempts have been made to formally define the discipline of soil science itself. This paper proposes an integrated definition, aligning with contemporary perspectives that view soil not as a discrete entity but as a dynamic component of the Earth system. Our definition is: “Soil science is the study of the soil of the Earth and other planets, using evolving theories and knowledge to understand its role in sustaining ecosystem functioning, tackling environmental challenges, and supporting humanity.”</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"18 ","pages":"Article 100176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143181354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100174
F. Terribile , A. Basile , E. Bonifacio , G. Corti , G. Ferraro , F.A. Mileti , M. Munafò
{"title":"The sustainable use of soils: A journey from wicked problems to wicked solutions for soil policy","authors":"F. Terribile , A. Basile , E. Bonifacio , G. Corti , G. Ferraro , F.A. Mileti , M. Munafò","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100174","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100174","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This is the first of two connected papers challenging the wicked nature of soils and proposing a soil legislation based on wicked solutions towards soil sustainable use. This first contribution describes the research rationale behind this legislative proposal and analyse in detail the wicked nature of soils and possible solutions based on recent scientific knowledge.</div><div>The degradation of soils due to unsustainable management practices presents significant challenges to global agriculture and environmental protection. Despite numerous soil-related policies and scientific advancements, soil degradation persists. This evidence depicts the existence of a vast gap between the grand policy ambitions and statements and the weakness of their positive factual implementation in the real world, especially when dealing with large-scale soil protection (e.g., regional, national, and continental).</div><div>Here these difficulties have been explained by the fact that the sustainable use of soil is a wicked problem. In this specific case, there are two crucial questions: (i) can we identify all or at least the most important wicked problems which make it so difficult to produce an effective soil policy to challenge soil degradation and promote the sustainable use of soils? (ii) and then, once we have identified these problems, how can we challenge each of them?</div><div>Here, we shall briefly analyse systematically these wicked soil-related elements, which most often lay in the fringe between (environmental and agricultural) policies and technical-scientific means. We believe that an effective soil law must take on-board these wicked problems especially in view of an effective sustainable soil management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"17 ","pages":"Article 100174"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142756731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100175
Julio C. Pachón Maldonado , Emma C. Leonard , Damien J. Field , Katie McRobert , Richard Heath , Alex B. McBratney
{"title":"Quantifying the connectivity dimension of the soil security assessment framework","authors":"Julio C. Pachón Maldonado , Emma C. Leonard , Damien J. Field , Katie McRobert , Richard Heath , Alex B. McBratney","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100175","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100175","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Connectivity is one of the five dimensions within the Soil Security Assessment Framework, designed to measure the cognitive and experiential bonds that stakeholders have with soils. However, a quantifiable framework integrating soil connectivity with the broader assessment framework has been lacking. This study addresses this gap by introducing a novel framework that assesses soil connectivity through knowledge, action, and attitude indicators. Using an online self-evaluation tool, the framework was applied to Australian land managers, focusing on the connectivity of two soil functions and six soil threats. The framework includes: utility graphs for each indicator; a method for nuanced interpretation of each soil role and connectivity indicators; spatial components; and automatic feedback to stakeholders. Our results indicate that knowledge indicators are consistently high across the country, while attitude utilities vary most and are often lowest; education had no effect, and younger stakeholders stood out for significantly lower, though still high, utility values. The study also identifies specific soil roles which require strengthening in different geographic regions. Despite the generally high levels of connectivity, the threat to soils by salinisation emerges as the soil role with the lowest connectivity utility. However, no significant correlation was found between the threat to soils by salinisation utility values and stakeholders' age or educational level, suggesting that other factors, possibly spatial or environmental, are more important. This study displays the importance of assessing knowledge, action, and attitude indicators when assessing connectivity and obtaining spatial information for spatial analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"17 ","pages":"Article 100175"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2024-11-02DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100173
Ping Wen , Shi-wei Feng , Jie-Liang Liang , Pu Jia , Bin Liao , Wen-sheng Shu , Jin-tian Li , Xinzhu Yi
{"title":"Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities","authors":"Ping Wen , Shi-wei Feng , Jie-Liang Liang , Pu Jia , Bin Liao , Wen-sheng Shu , Jin-tian Li , Xinzhu Yi","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100173","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100173","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mining activities lead to significant heavy metal pollution in nearby farmland soils, affecting the soil's microbial community and functions. To comprehensively investigate the heavy metal contamination in farmland soils caused by mining activities and the impacts on soil microbial communities and functions, we collected 87 soil samples from farmlands near 29 mining sites nationwide, measured levels of cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc. Our findings revealed that 75.8% of the sampled farmlands exhibited varying degrees of heavy metal pollution. Cadmium contamination stood out, being 2.84 to 5.35 times higher compared to other metals. This pollution notably decreased microbial diversity in agricultural soils (P ≤ 0.04), causing a shift from intricate interconnected microbial co-occurrence modules to a higher number of simpler ones, indicating a fragmentation of the microbial interaction network. Additionally, heavy metal contamination led to a 10.9% increase in the importance of the heterogeneous selection process in community assembly. Despite reduced microbial alpha diversity, we observed an increase in the diversity and abundance of metal resistance genes (MRGs) and intensified microbe-MRG interaction. This suggests that microbial communities, even when altered, maintain functionality through enhanced redundancy, which probably facilitates the preservation of microbial activities. We also identified key taxa with intense connectivity in the microbial interaction networks, 58% of which have been recognized in previous studies for their predictive effects on soil health. These findings offer important insights for developing strategies to enhance soil health, such as promoting the presence of \"super-connectors\" in microbial networks for the maintenance of microbial community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"17 ","pages":"Article 100173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142662251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soil securityPub Date : 2024-10-19DOI: 10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100172
Niloufar Izadi , Fateme Aghamir
{"title":"Integration of indigenous and formal knowledge in the assessment of soil quality performance assessment using multiple factor analysis in Alborz central mountains","authors":"Niloufar Izadi , Fateme Aghamir","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100172","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.soisec.2024.100172","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite the data gap between researchers and farmers in soil fertility assessment, there are similarities and coincidences between the achievements of scientific versus local assessments. Farmers’ land management practices are a function of perceived soil fertility assessment in day-to-day management decisions. Despite the efforts made, studies have yielded different results when comparing soil fertility assessments in terms of indigenous and scientific knowledge, thus calling for closer assessments using extensive creative and systematic approaches. The current study uses Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA) to propose efficiency indicators based on the weighting of familiar, organizational, or productive variables in groups evaluating indigenous, scientific, and data variability. The end goal is to help identify the decision-makers’ training needs and decide on future institutional endeavors for developing productive skills and adopting better measures to evaluate soil fertility. By combining indigenous knowledge with innovations and improving the relationship between scientists and indigenous peoples and also promoting collaboration, thinking, and knowledge acquisition of farmers on how to maintain soil fertility and health, we hope to move towards sustainable agriculture as an institutional reform.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"17 ","pages":"Article 100172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142554592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}