The University of Queensland, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
Nanjing Agricultural University, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing 210095, China.
Environ Int. 2019 Nov;132:105078. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105078. Epub 2019 Aug 7.
Soils are the most complex and diverse ecosystem in the world. In addition to providing humanity with 98.8% of its food, soils provide a broad range of other services, from carbon storage and greenhouse gas regulation, to flood mitigation and providing support for our sprawling cities. But soil is a finite resource, and rapid human population growth coupled with increasing consumption is placing unprecedented pressure on soils through the intensification of agricultural production - the increasing of crop yield per unit area of soil. Indeed, the human population has increased from ca. 250 million in the year 1000, to 6.1 billion in the year 2000, and is projected to reach 9.8 billion by the year 2050. The current intensification of agricultural practices is already resulting in the unsustainable degradation of soils. Major forms of this degradation include the loss of organic matter and the release of greenhouse gases, the over-application of fertilizers, erosion, contamination, acidification, salinization, and loss of genetic diversity. This ongoing soil degradation is decreasing the long-term ability of soils to provide humans with services, including future food production, and is causing environmental harm. It is imperative that the global society is not shortsighted by focusing solely on the near-immediate benefits of soils, such as food supply. A failure to identify the importance of soil within increasingly intensive agricultural systems will undoubtedly have serious consequences for humanity and represents a failure to consider intergenerational equity. Of utmost importance is the need to unequivocally recognize that the degradation of soils leads to a clear economic cost through the loss of services, with such principles needing to be explicitly considered in economic frameworks and decision-making processes at all levels of governance. We contend that the concept of the Water-Food-Energy nexus must be expanded, forming the Water-Soil-Food-Energy nexus.
土壤是世界上最复杂和多样化的生态系统。除了为人类提供 98.8%的食物外，土壤还提供了广泛的其他服务，从碳储存和温室气体调节，到洪水缓解以及为我们不断扩张的城市提供支持。但是，土壤是一种有限的资源，快速的人口增长加上消费的增加，通过农业生产的集约化——即每单位土壤面积的作物产量的增加，给土壤带来了前所未有的压力。事实上，人口从公元 1000 年的约 2.5 亿增加到 2000 年的 61 亿，并预计到 2050 年将达到 98 亿。目前农业实践的集约化已经导致土壤不可持续的退化。这种退化的主要形式包括有机物的损失和温室气体的排放、化肥的过度施用、侵蚀、污染、酸化、盐渍化和遗传多样性的丧失。这种持续的土壤退化正在降低土壤为人类提供服务的长期能力，包括未来的粮食生产，并正在造成环境危害。全球社会不能只关注土壤的近期利益，如粮食供应，而目光短浅。如果不能认识到土壤在日益集约化的农业系统中的重要性，无疑将对人类产生严重后果，也代表着没有考虑代际公平。最重要的是，我们必须明确认识到，土壤退化通过服务的丧失导致了明确的经济成本，所有各级治理的经济框架和决策过程都需要明确考虑这些原则。我们认为，必须扩大水-粮食-能源关系的概念，形成水-土壤-粮食-能源关系。
