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Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Defining soil as a surface-coupled planetary system: separating pedogenesis from habitability(Wiley, 2026-07-23); ; ; ; The concept of soil is increasingly being examined within a planetary context, prompting renewed attention to the physical conditions that enable surface materials to support life. In parallel, planetary habitability has emerged as a framework for defining the minimum resources and conditions required for biological activity, independent of whether life is currently present. Here, we apply habitability principles to soils not to assert the presence of life, but to distinguish clearly between soil formation, biological viability, and functional performance. Habitability formalises a binary set of physical and chemical requirements—including accessible energy, liquid water, essential elements, and viable environmental conditions—that define whether an environment can support life in principle. By treating habitability as a state that applies to already formed soils, rather than as a defining criterion for soil existence, we resolve long-standing ambiguity around the role of biology in soil definition. This separation leads to a tightened planetary definition of soil as ‘an organised planetary surface system, comprising generally loose mineral and/or organic material, formed through sustained genesis via water-mediated surface coupling that produces internal physical, chemical, and/or biological organisation and enables system evolution through time, irrespective of the presence of extant life.’ Within this framework, soil health, soil quality, and soil security operate as continuous descriptors of function only within habitable or potentially habitable soils, while degradation is conceptualised as a contraction of habitable state space. Habitability thus provides a physically grounded foundation for interpreting soil function, selecting indicators, and differentiating soils from sediments and regolith across Earth and other planetary environments.Publicationtype: Journal Article16 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Exploring the Relation Between Soil Salinity on Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics in Global Terrestrial Ecosystems(2024-05); ; Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is a fundamental component of terrestrial ecosystems, connected to climate regulation, nutrient cycling, and soil health. The influence of soil salinity - referring to the concentration of soluble salts in the soil solution - on SOC content is acknowledged (1,2), but there is limited understanding regarding the precise direction and extent of SOC’s response to varying levels of soil salinity in real field conditions. This study explores the relationship between soil salinity and SOC content, necessary for understanding carbon sequestration processes, climate change mitigation, and terrestrial carbon stock stability. Using the SOC of 60,392 soil samples collected globally since 1950, we developed a statistical model (General Additive Model) and analyzed soil salinity’s relation with SOC dynamics while controlling the role of other environmental parameters. According to the results of the statistical analysis, we estimate that an increase in soil salinity from 1 to 5 dS m-1 would be correlated with a decrease in SOC, equivalent to dropping from 0.92 g kg-1 above the mean predicted SOC (31.77 g kg-1) to 6.34 g kg-1 below the mean predicted SOC (-700%), while considering other influencing environmental factors such as precipitation and temperature. Our results show the minor contribution of salinity to SOC while other factors such as climate, vegetation, and land management practices exert more substantial effects on SOC content. Key covariates in relation with SOC include soil nitrogen, anthropogenic phosphorous input, and soil pH. Additionally, our study estimates the effects of one standard deviation increases in soil salinity of the analyzed soil samples on topsoil (0 – 20 cm) SOC content, showing a 6.98% decrease in SOC. These findings highlight the importance of considering diverse factors in understanding SOC dynamics, providing insights into mitigating the impacts of soil salinity and climate change on terrestrial ecosystems.Publicationtype: Conference Paper24