This webinar aims to discuss the global status, gaps and multiple benefits of soil biodiversity as a key contributor in sustaining life in this planet.

1. Wim van der Putten
Is soil biodiversity a nature-based
solution?

2. Soil biodiversity a solution for what?
Everything that we eat, drink, breath, clothes that we wear, and materials that
we use pass through soil and soil biodiversity over and over again.
So: soil biodiversity a solution for sustainability?

3. Half of all sustainable development goals (sdg’s) depend on soil (blue marks)
Global soil biodiversity assessment in progress

4. A hand full of soil: over 5,000 ‘species’ of microbes,
more individuals than humans on earth.

5. Bardgett and van der Putten Nature 2014
The main players: microbes, invertebrates, small vertebrates: 0.000 002 – 0.2 m

6. Is soil biodiversity a solution for sustainability,
and can we learn from nature?
Take home message: yes, but
1. We have to think beyond numbers only
2. Restoring soil biodiversity requires thinking
about ecosystem management

7. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sare.org/publications/explore/images/scenewide2.jpg
Contribute to
biodiversity
Suppress
pests (IPM)
Build soil
structure
Remove pesticides and
nutrients in buffer strips
Support plant
and
animals via
mutualism
Control and cycle
plant nutrients
Source/sink
of Green-
house gases
Biodegrade
pesticides
in field
Breakdown
wastes, make
compost
Develop antibiotic
resistence (or not)
Fix nitrogen
Build soil
organic matter
Sequester
carbon
Support farmer’s
digestion and immunity
Control parasitic
nematodes
Thanks to Kate Scow
Soil biodiversity is
multi-functional, contributing
to many ecosystem services;
Soil biota differ in activities,
across space,
and across time

8. Van den Hoogen, Geisen et al. Nature 2019Global nematode survey

9. Loss of soil biodiversity in Europe
owing to
intensification of agriculture
Tsiafouli et al.2014 Global Change Biology,973-985
Countries:
SE Sweden
UK United Kingdom
CZ Czech Republic
GR Greece
G=grassland
E=extensive agriculture
I=intensive agriculture

10. Morriën, Hannula, Snoek, & EcoFinders
Nature Communications (2017)
Hannula, Morriën et al. ISMEJ (2017)
Correlation-based networks in three phases of land abandonment: roughly 5, 15 and 30 years ago:
Network interaction strengths increased with time
Dense networks were more efficient in carbon and nitrogen uptake,
and they had fewer soil-borne pathogens

11. Soil biodiversity network
interaction strength increases
What can we do in agriculture?
Reduced tillage, soil organic matter, cover crops, less pesticides, etc.
Nature: early succession  Mid/later succession
less efficient soils more efficient soils
more pathogens more mutualistic symbionts

12. Soil biodiversity network
The problem: a sustainable soil biodiversity network ‘needs’ slow-growing
plant species to get the nutrients out
Nature:
early succession
fast growth
Nature:
mid/late succession:
slow growth

13. Nature-based agriculture:
increasing soil biodiversity
and network interaction strength
The point: increasing soil biodiversity also requires attention for crop traits
Intensive
agriculture
The challenge for
nature-based

14. Outlook:
There are currently several lines being explored for crops making better
use of enhanced soil biodiversity:
- going back to wild crop relatives: how do they make use of
microbiomes and can those traits be restored in current crops
- studying wild plant species along successional gradients to unravel
how plants may be productive in high-diversity soils

15. Conclusions:
• Considering soil biodiversity also requires considering traits,
interactions, and network structure (so, not only numbers)
• Soil biodiversity as a nature-based solution to enhance sustainability
is possible, but it takes two to tango: a nature-based soil biodiversity
also requires crops that can handle these soils

16. https://nioo.knaw.nl/en/calendar/soil-animal-days-2020
https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/ http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1196842/

17. Thank you for your attention!

19. Taxon Diversity per amount
soil or area (taxonomic
units indicated below)
Abundance
(approximate)
Prokaryotesa
100-9,000·cm-3
4-20·109
·cm-3
Fungib
200 m.g-1*
100 m.g-1
AMF (species) c
10-20 m-2
81-111 m.cm-3
Protistsd
150-1,200 (0.25 g)-1**
104
-107
·m-2
Nematodes (genera)e
10-100 m-2
2-90·105
m-2
Enchytraeidsf
1-15 ha-1
12,000-311,000 m-2
Tardigradesg
? ?
Collembolag
20·m-2
1-5 104
m-2
Mites (Oribatida) h
100-150 m-2
1-10 104
· m-2
Isopodag
10 ·100 m-2
10 · m-2
Diplopodag
10 ·2,500 m-2
110 · m-2
Earthworms (Oligochaeta)i
10-15 ha-1
300 · m-2
Estimated diversity and abundance of soil taxa according to
published literature, supported by expert judgment.
Bardgett and van der Putten Nature 2014