Reaching out from the soil-box in pursuit of soil security

Figures & data

Table 1 Ecosystem services (ES) with an important soil component (Dominati et al. 2014)

Provisioning services

1.Provision of food, wood and fiber.

2.Provision of raw materials.

3.Provision of support for human infrastructures and animals.

Regulating services

4.Flood mitigation

5.Filtering of nutrients and contaminants

6.Carbon storage and greenhouse gases regulation

7.Detoxification and the recycling of wastes

8.Regulation of pests and disease populations

Cultural services

9. Recreation

10.Aesthetics

11.Heritage values

12.Cultural identity

Table 2 The seven soil functions (SF) of EU (2006)

1.	biomass production, including agriculture and forestry
2.	storing, filtering and transforming nutrients, substances and water
3.	biodiversity pool, such as habitats, species and genes
4.	physical and cultural environment for humans and human activities
5.	source of raw material
6.	acting as Carbon pool
7.	archive of geological and archeological heritage

Table 3 The “Sustainable Development Goals” formulated by the UN for the period 2015–2030 (status July, 2014)

1.	End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2.	End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3.	Ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all ages.
4.	Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all
5.	Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls.
6.	Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
7.	Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8.	Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth,full and productive employment and decent work for all
9.	Build resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
10.	Reduce inequality within and between countries
11.	Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
12.	Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13.	Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
14.	Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
15.	Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managed forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16.	Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
17.	Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Table 4 Some selected results from the LCA analysis, comparing CTC farms with a control group of more traditional farms (from Dolman et al. 2014)

Energy use:	5.1 vs 5.9 MJ/kg milk	=−15%
Application chem.N fertilizer	128 vs 146 kg/ha	=−12%
Calculated nitrate leaching:	5.1 vs 7.0 kgN/ha/jr	=−30%
Calculated ammonia emission:	30 vs 35 kgN/ ha/jr	=−15%
Soil Organic Matter:	186 vs 156 ton C/ha	=+20%
Average farm income	8.3 vs 5.9 euro/100 kg milk	=+40%

Figure 1 Aerial photograph of part of the National Landscape Northern Frisian Woodlands with characteristic, relatively small, elongated fields separated by hedges with a high biodiversity.

Figure 2 Relatively steep slopes in the upper part of the Tana Basin in Kenya where tea and coffee are grown. Erosion is a problem here because of limited soil conservation measures.

Figure 3 The Upper Tana basin in Kenya with calculated erosion reduction when introducing soil conservation measures. Eleven measures were tested. Results for ridging are shown here.

Dominati E, Mackay A, Green S, Patterson M 2014: A soil change-based methodology for the quantification and valuation of ecosystem services from agro-ecosystems: a case study of pastoral agriculture in New Zealand. Ecol. Econ., 100, 119–129. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.02.008

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Dolman MA, Sonneveld MPW, Mollenhorst H, de Boer IJM 2014: Benchmarking the economic, environmental and societal performance of Dutch dairy farms aiming at internal recycling of nutrients. J. Clean. Prod., 73, 245–252. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.043

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