Cristina Menta
University of Parma, Italy
Title: Soil biodiversity: A pivotal element that sustains soil functions
Biography
Biography: Cristina Menta
Abstract
During the last century, soils have been over-exploited by industrial and agriculture developments in many parts of the world. Soils play a key role in the maintenance of ecosystem services and their preservation, in relation to human impacts and long-term processes induced by climate change, has become a priority topic. Besides the obvious implications for agro-sylvo-pastoral production, soils take part in the provision of other services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, protection of plants from pests, genetic resources, and other functions. A wide range of ecosystem services depends on soils and the functions performed by soil biota can have an impact at the global scale, with the consequences for global climate. The complex processes carried out by soil organisms have significant effects on ecosystem operation, soil quality, and yields and crops. The still in part unknown relationships between soil living community and ecosystem functions are extremely intricate and the study of these relationships is essential for understanding soil ecological functions and their ability to provide services. The need to adopt soil biodiversity monitoring programs is induced by both the increasing pressures on soil biodiversity and the limited knowledge obtained up to now. It is widely reported that the planet is currently losing biodiversity and it can be assumed that this process is occurring to the variety of organisms living in the soil. Finally, the increasing recognition of problems derived from soil degradation has contributed to identifying soil biota research as a priority in soil quality assessments.
