The Role of Soil in Ecosystem Services

Abstract

The contributions of the structure and functions of the ecosystem to human welfare are defined as ecosystem services. Soils provide a wide range of goods and services called ecosystem services, such as provisioning (e.g., freshwater, wood, food, and fiber), regulating (e.g., climate, erosion, and floods), cultural (e.g., aesthetic or spiritual values) and supporting (e.g., physical support to plants, animals and human infrastructure), important for human well-being and sustainable socioeconomic development. Understanding the multifunctional role of soil, which is the central interface between the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, in ecosystem services is extremely important. Soils play an active role in the fulfillment of ecosystem services together with other ecosystems. Ecosystem services are the results of the interaction between multiple ecosystems; therefore, ecosystem services cannot be explained only by soil. The production of food by agricultural activities may only be possible through soil characteristics along with the contribution of climatic variables such as precipitation, sunlight and temperature, and human interventions such as planting or fertilization. Therefore, soils serve as an important ecosystem in the provision of ecosystem services and determine how well some services will be supplied. In this study, the importance of soil, which contributes to human welfare along with other ecosystems, in the realization of ecosystem services has been revealed by compiling the currently published research.

Keywords

• ecosystem
• soil function
• ecosystem services
• provisioning services
• regulating services
• cultural services