Global Soil Biodiversity - Food Security.

Soil biodiversity is intimately tied to food and fiber production and to long-term sustainability of soils. Recent advances have shown that the hidden biodiversity in soils is crucial for the biogeochemical and ecological functioning of ecosystems and yet the importance of soil biodiversity has been slow to gain attention in international agendas relating to food security, soil degradation, climate change and biodiversity. This is despite increasing recognition of the many benefits of soil organisms to society such as providing nutrients to plants through decay of organic matter, regulating pests and pathogens, stabilizing soils and cleansing water and air. In 2006, the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) recognized these benefits and established a broad-scale initiative on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity within a program on agricultural diversity. Conservation of soil biodiversity is relevant because many studies on land use change, nitrogen enrichment and climate change indicate alterations to soil biodiversity - alterations that affect belowground and aboveground functioning and diversity. Other initiatives that address global issues such as food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation are still focused primarily on the chemical and physical properties of soils; a challenge will be to make soil biodiversity prominent in these global agendas by incorporating a new knowledge and understanding of soil biodiversity. For example, strategies that promote soil biodiversity and the functions that it drives in agroecosystems could be used to promote benefits such as plant disease control, improved crop production, soil fertility, soil structure and nutrient and water retention. The new Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative will assess knowledge of soil biodiversity in agriculture and identify management options that promote both food production and long-term benefits to society.