Comprehensive tools for ecological restoration of soils foster sustainable use and resilience of agricultural land.

Neuenkamp L; García de León D; Hamer U; Hölzel N; McGale E; Hannula SE

Abstract

Soils are the backbone of terrestrial ecosystems, underpinning their biodiversity and functioning. They are also key to agricultural production and ecosystem development. Although focus on effective and profitable food production has led to severely degraded soils, the tools and standards for restoration strategies in agricultural soils are still largely underdeveloped. In this review, we summarize recent developments in ecological restoration practice for soils, evaluate whether these are in line with ecological theory, identify where they could be improved, and contextualize these to agricultural soil restoration. We identify restoration actions and success indicators that may best foster sustainable use of agricultural soils while also increasing their multifunctionality, that is their ability to simultaneously supply multiple ecosystem services including provisioning food and feed. Lastly, we explore actions available to improve soil health and focus on tool and indicator implementation. Calls for reductions in provisioning services, such as yield production, commonly used in ecological restoration practices conflict most directly with wider soil-ecosystem-service-focused restoration actions, including supporting and regulating services. Comprehensive restoration actions harnessing the interdependence of multiple soil properties, including contribution to vegetative yield, appear to be most efficient in agricultural settings with a central role of soil biodiversity in ecosystem service provisioning.