Session: Special Session Symposium--Soil Systems Science II
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Division: Special Sessions

Title: Special Session Symposium--Soil Systems Science II

Moderators: Henry Lin , Peter M Groffman and Ronald G. Amundson
Organizers: Henry Lin , Peter M Groffman and Ronald G. Amundson
Lead Community Sponsor:
Cosponsor: SSSA Division: Soil and Water Management and Conservation, SSSA Division: Soils and Environmental Quality, SSSA Division: Soil Chemistry, SSSA Division: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, SSSA Division: Pedology, SSSA Division: Forest, Range and Wildland Soils
Community Cosponsor:
Format: Oral Symposium
Keywords: Complex Systems, Systems Approach, Systems Soil Science and Systems Theory

Session Description: Systems theory is a broad and powerful set of concepts that link interdependent components in ways that allow scientists to identify synergies, feedbacks, and emergent properties. The goal of systems theory is systematically discovering a system's dynamics, constraints, conditions, and elucidating principles that can be discerned and applied to systems at every level of a hierarchical organization. While the concepts of systems theory have advanced in ecology, geosciences, and other disciplines (with academic departments sometimes organized around these principles), their applications to soils -- and soils' interconnection with physical, biological, and social systems have languished.A systems approach is increasingly called for in addressing complex environmental, agricultural, ecological, and social issues. Thus systems sciences have blossomed, with emerging disciplines such as earth systems science, complex systems science, systems biology, systems chemistry, systems ecology, systems engineering, and many others. Given the diversity in soil types and soil properties around the world and the complex web of interactions among soil components and soil processes, many new frontiers have emerged that call for a systems understanding of soils and their complexity, offering a golden opportunity to develop a systems soil science.The purpose of this special session is to examine the outlines of systems theory, review its historical application in soil science and related disciplines, focus deeply on recent work, and identify fundamental questions and challenges that can be addressed to greatly improve our understanding of one of the earth'™s most complex systems: Soils. This special session topics are organized into 5 themes: 1) Introduction and Overviews of Systems Theory, 2) Bridging and Unification within Soil Science, 3) Alliance and Integration with Other Disciplines, 4) Socioeconomics and Regulations of Soils, and 5) Applications of Systems Soil Science.