Soil ecologists define research priorities — Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative

Nico Eisenhauer

Professor for Experimental Interaction Ecology

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research

Many, if not most, of the ecosystems on Earth are dependent on, or substantially influenced by, interactions and processes occurring within and among the planet’s soils. The remarkable biodiversity harbored in soil provides essential ecosystem services, and the sustainable management of soils has attracted ever-increasing scientific attention. Although soil ecology emerged as an independent field of research many decades ago, and we have gained important insights into the functioning of soils, there still are fundamental aspects that need to be better understood to ensure that the ecosystem services that soils provide are not lost and that soils can be used in a sustainable way. In a recent Opinion Paper (Eisenhauer et al. 2017; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2017.05.003), we highlight some of the major knowledge gaps that should be prioritized in soil ecological research. These research priorities were compiled based on an online survey of 32 editors of Pedobiologia – Journal of Soil Ecology. The questions were categorized into four themes:

(1) soil biodiversity and biogeography;

(2) interactions and the functioning of ecosystems;

(3) global change and soil management;

(4) new directions.

While some of the identified barriers to progress were technological in nature, many respondents cited a need for substantial leadership and goodwill among members of the soil ecology research community, including the need for multi-institutional partnerships, and had substantial concerns regarding the loss of taxonomic expertise. Global efforts such as the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative suggest that meaningful collaborative endeavors among researchers could be possible and may represent a starting point from which to build this concerted effort to address the questions presented in our Opinion Paper.

Interaction in the soil caught in the act: a predatory mite from the family Bdellidae feeding on the springtail Sminthurinus elegans. Image by Andy Murray. — Interaction in the soil caught in the act: a predatory mite from the family Bdellidae feeding on the springtail *Sminthurinus elegans*. Image by Andy Murray.

Reference:

Eisenhauer N, Antunes PM, Bennett AE, Birkhofer K, Bissett A, Bowker MA, Caruso T, Chen B, Coleman DC, de Boer W, de Ruiter P, DeLuca TH, Frati F, Griffiths BS, Hart MM, Hättenschwiler S, Haimi J, Heethoff M, Kaneko N, Kelly LC, Leinaas HP, Lindo Z, Macdonald C, Rillig MC, Ruess L, Scheu S, Schmidt O, Seastedt TR, van Straalen NM, Tiunov AV, Zimmer M, Powell JR (2017) Priorities for research in soil ecology. Pedobiologia 63: 1-7.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031405617301063