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Dep. of Land, Air and Water Resources, Univ. of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616
* Corresponding author (jwhopmans{at}ucdavis.edu).
THESE PAST FEW YEARS THE DEBATE about soil science's future in education and research has been challenging. This is certainly not new, as documented in recent articles by Philippe Baveye and his colleagues (Baveye, 2006; Baveye et al., 2006), and in a booklet published by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS, 2006), offering perspectives of 55 soil scientists around the world. This letter summarizes my own perspectives on the future of soil science, though I hasten to note that my comments were sharpened by constructive input from faculty colleagues at University of California—Davis, and I believe that many may be shared by others.
The soil science discipline historically developed from the need to change and adopt land uses for agricultural crop production, so as to increase food supplies on a regional, national, or global scale. This brought about the traditional subdisciplines of soil physics, chemistry, fertility and plant nutrition, microbiology, pedology, mineralogy, and areas of soil management and conservation that still remain today. Soil science as a discipline was and is still intimately tied with agronomy, irrigation, and crop science, to provide a forum for expert soil science input in development and management of increasingly effective and efficient crop production systems. This connection proved crucial in the green revolution, as soil science contributed significantly to the productivity gains that were achieved, in addition to plant breeding (Hartemink, 2002). In the past few decennia, within industrialized countries, the focus has shifted increasingly from agricultural to environmental applications, and this has brought new soil science divisions with emphasis on management of land and water resources, water quality, and soil conservation, in part to ensure the sustainability of agricultural practices. Despite the fact that genetic yield potentials are being approached in developed countries, soil science education will remain essential in the future, to provide for global food security, and to feed increasing populations of many of the least-developed and developing countries. History leaves no doubt that soils and society are intimately linked.
As our society has become increasingly urban and environmentally conscious, so also have the priorities of college-bound students shifted, with their interests moving from agricultural to environmental sciences, or away from natural sciences altogether. Consequently, student numbers in soil science majors and graduate programs have dramatically dropped, nationally and globally. This trend jeopardizes the hiring of new soil science faculty in many universities that traditionally offered strong soil science curricula. In parallel, funding opportunities to study soils and soil processes within the context of agriculture have shifted toward other environmental disciplines such as ecology, hydrology, and civil engineering. The combined effect has been a decline in grant funding available for soil scientists, as competition steadily increased with the rise of other environmental science programs that may be lacking in a soil science component, and thus not fully functional as a comprehensive natural resource-based discipline.
Many would argue that the soil science discipline has been very successful in contributing to other scientific domains, such as environmental engineering, geosciences, environmental sciences, hydrology, and ecology, and has been key in development of solutions in the areas of site remediation, waste storage, plant science, biogeochemical cycling, environmental chemistry, microbiology, geomorphology, erosion, water resources, salt management, etc. As stated by Marc Parlange (personal communication, 2007), "Soil science needs to continue to make itself critical to other disciplines of ecology, water resources, and environmental engineering." Rather than existing as a science unto itself, soil science must recognize more than ever before, that it is a unique and indispensable interdisciplinary science that thrives when its knowledge is integrated with that of other disciplines. Across many scientific disciplines it is increasingly acknowledged that the world's future will require a better understanding of soil science. Climate change, biodiversity of ecosystems, continued soil physical and chemical degradation, desertification and soil salinization, soil fertility, food quality and quantity, and alternative energy production systems such as biofuels are just a few examples that demand sustained soil science expertise.
For the record, I must give some tangible examples of how the soil science discipline has beneficially changed the world. Soil fertility has provided mankind its understanding of the soil to provide the essential nutrients to promote crop productivity to feed a growing world population. Soil microbiology made an enormous contribution in the discovery of antibiotics for a wide range of diseases. Pedology has given us the scientific tools to map the land surface for suitable land uses. Soil chemistry made possible the understanding of C and N cycling from local to global scales. The theory of soil physical processes was key in calculating the water balance for a watershed and crop water demand, through studies of infiltration and evapotranspiration. These five areas of soil science are key elements of the area of biogeochemistry. Furthermore, soil scientists using knowledge of the subdisciplines waged the war against soil degradation by erosion and salinization. Soil scientists continue to play a key role in successful waste management through bioremediation, and in maintaining environmental quality as the soil serves as a filter and buffer that mitigates the effective transport of chemical and biological contaminants through the soil, thereby controlling the quality of surface and groundwaters. Increasingly, the soil is recognized as a major sink and source for global C and for such potent greenhouse gases as CH4 and N2O. Consequently, changes in soil management practices and land use will affect atmospheric greenhouse gases, thus directly affecting the magnitude of global climate change. Knowledge of soil processes has proven essential to understand the function and sustainability of both "natural" and strongly manipulated (e.g., agricultural) ecosystems. Most arguably, soil biological processes must be taken into account if we expect to gain an adequate understanding of the biodiversity and ecology of the above- and belowground functions of plants and ecosystems. The global importance of soil science research is further documented by a special issue of Science magazine published in 2004 (vol. 304, p. 1613–1637), and entitled "Soils—The Final Frontier."
However, for the soil science community to continue leading and influencing research in the other disciplines, to have a clear imprint on funding opportunities of basic and applied environmental research, and for providing societal solutions, I propose that a change in outlook is needed for our generation of soil scientists. Let me clarify.
First, university faculty must continue to accept the notion that student numbers are used as the yardstick to fund university teaching programs. Faculty in departments offering undergraduate programs in environmental sciences and engineering must become convinced that a solid understanding of soil science is critical to many of the global challenges today and in the far future. These include food security, energy, water quality and quantity, waste management, and climate change. Soil scientists, regardless of the department within which they reside, will have to adapt some of the existing courses and develop new courses so as to offer the essential knowledge base of soil science within the context of environmental curricula. Moreover, soil science faculty, individually and collectively, should take the lead in improving traditional soil science curricula to more broadly address issues of societal concern. A bold departure from our traditional attitudes and actions must be taken to provide innovation and opportunity for the inclusion of soil science in many undergraduate programs. For example, when these new curricula are being developed outside our own departments, we should initiate cooperation in the development of new soil science courses and argue that they significantly add to the curriculum. At the same time though, we must stand strong and advocate the continued existence of strong soil science graduate programs, so as to sustain the pool of Ph.D.-level expertise in soil science needed to deliver the unique and science-based soil component of academic programs in both soil and environmental sciences.
Second, soil science faculty must continue to engage in interdisciplinary research programs within and beyond their universities. Learning to apply our soil science expertise to scientific issues of broad societal importance is critical for increasing our research funding base, as well as to ensure that essential soil science components of the research agenda are not overlooked. Without question, this is a task that must involve professional societies, both nationally and internationally. In the past there have been plenty of opportunities, and many more are likely to present themselves. These include national research initiatives such as CUASHI, NEON, and CRITICAL ZONE research, offering significant research opportunities in hydrological, ecological, and biogeochemical sciences. I suggest that soil science faculty increasingly organize topical seminar series that are broad and integrative, with participation of scientists from diverse backgrounds.
Third, we must increasingly reach out to the scientific and general community. This might be the most difficult task at hand. Members of professional organizations are clearly aware of the need to diversify and to share their expert knowledge outside their immediate discipline, yet they are often slow to respond. As an example the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is still too narrow in its scope, with membership largely connected with institutions and agencies that have their primary focus in agricultural sciences. Even within the SSSA, membership is organized on the basis of a divisional structure, discouraging scientific interactions among soil scientists at their annual meetings. Clearly, there are also positive developments, such as the publication of the Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ), a SSSA journal that was started 4 yr ago to increase the breadth of the scientific community supported by the Society. It has been very successful, evidenced by the fact that 50% or more of the contributions to the journal in the past 2 yr have been from non-members. Also, the SSSA is partnering with the Geological Society of America (GSA) to organize a joint annual meeting in 2008. I argue that successful partnerships between professional societies are critical for sustained interdisciplinary research and teaching programs. What remains is outreach to the general public, which is the most difficult of all. I am not fully prepared to offer many suggestions, other than from my own experience. In my department we agreed to hire an outreach coordinator, who is charged to provide ideas and organize outreach toward the stakeholders and beneficiaries of faculty research. We plan to expand departmental outreach to state agencies, local interest groups, high schools, and community colleges, and engage more faculty and students in outreach activities, using innovative communication technologies. Hopefully, these initiatives will become success stories in due time.
In retrospect, many of points raised herein are not necessarily unique to my own thinking. When discussing the status quo of soil science among many of my colleagues, I sometimes hear strong pessimism on the grounds that modern society does not appreciate soil science, students are not interested or qualified, or funding agencies do not recognize the basic role of soil science for underpinning natural-resource based sciences. My usual response is to avoid dwelling on the negative aspects of our circumstances, and rather seek a positive course for improvement. Others are more optimistic, although realizing that much work lies ahead. Clearly, developing new courses requires major effort, but is very rewarding when student enrollment grows. In the end, I am convinced that soil science is highly appreciated across the environmental sciences, and will remain a sought-after and funded disciplinary science as long as we can ensure the offering of high quality soil science graduate programs, thereby ensuring a successful next generation of future soil scientists. I encourage others to express their views on the future direction of soil science in this journal or other disciplinary journals.
NOTES
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Received for publication February 26, 2007.
REFERENCES
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  D. A. Robinson, I. Lebron, and H. Vereecken On the Definition of the Natural Capital of Soils: A Framework for Description, Evaluation, and Monitoring Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., October 21, 2009; 73(6): 1904 - 1911. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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