Good Things Come to Those Who Wait — Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative

By Dr. Frank Ashwood

Soil Ecologist, Soil Sustainability Research Group, Forest Research UK

Forget the parades and Guinness (actually, don’t forget the Guinness), Dublin saw a very different kind of celebration this St Patrick’s week - with folks from all around the world coming together to share their love for soil biodiversity. The long-awaited 3rd Global Soil Biodiversity Conference welcomed over 650 soil ecological researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, to discuss all the major threats, techniques, and opportunities for soil biodiversity conservation and restoration across the globe.

Keynote Speaker Tom Crowther, ETH-Zurich. Photo credit: Frank Ashwood

The sheer scale of the conference, and the inspirational keynote talks from leaders in the field left attendees feeling not only a bit wiser, but also with a palpable sense of belonging to a dynamic and forward-thinking community. To me, one of the golden threads weaving throughout the conference seemed to be how globally focussed much of the current research efforts are, including an increasing appreciation of the importance of soil biodiversity’s role in the restoration of degraded ecosystems around the world.

Perhaps inevitably, a conference on a topic as wide-ranging as ‘soil biodiversity’ consisted of a very broad range of research presentations and posters, and a lot of competing parallel sessions and workshops. The organising committee did a frankly heroic job of trying to group the hundreds of talks by general topic, such as ‘Global Drivers of Soil Biodiversity’, with a wide scope of talks per session. I particularly liked the push in many talks and workshops toward greater use of functional trait approaches and the collaborative development of trait databases for a wide variety of taxa. Whilst I would personally have preferred the sessions to have been based on taxa groups instead (reducing my need to sprint around campus to catch individual talks of relevance to my work), I ultimately think it was formatted well, as it exposed attendees to research topics and taxa from outside their usual circles and thus broadened our horizons and networks. For a social butterfly like myself, the best aspect of the conference was by far the networking opportunities it afforded, and I remarked on social media that it was like physically walking through my Twitter feed (but with only the good bits!). I met so many wonderful soil ecologists from around the world that I’ve only ever had email/social media conversations with, and established a number of exciting potential research collaborations. It was also very nice to see mine and Andy Murray’s macrophotography on display to offer a quiet place for reflection, or a pretty backdrop for a team photograph.

Overall, the positive atmosphere and excitement for soil biodiversity left a lasting impression, and I know I’m not the only attendee who went home with recharged enthusiasm for their work. On my return journey to the airport, the taxi driver was bemused to learn that not only are there 31 species of earthworm in Ireland, but in fact a good portion of the world’s earthworm scientists were in town. I don’t know how many conference attendees stayed on for the St Patrick’s festivities, but if I learned anything at #GSB2023, it’s that we’re all part of a lively and positive community who come together to celebrate the important things – so I’m guessing a fair few did! Here’s to the next Global Soil Biodiversity Conference, it’ll be well worth the wait.

Check out Frank Ashwood’s beautiful soil fauna photography on his webpage: https://www.frankashwood.com/macrophotography and follow him on Twitter