A New Look at Soil Health: How Healthy Is Our Soil?

An International Research Team Partnered with Freie Universität Berlin Analyzes Current Research on "Soil Health". No 185/2020 from Oct 06, 2020 Soil experts and ecologists, including Freie Universität Berlin biologist Professor Matthias Rillig, have been analyzing the current state of research on soil health in a new study. While the topic is clearly of scientific importance, it is also directly relevant in terms of government policy. Agriculture, industry, and construction are all fields that need clear legislation and guidelines on the sustainable use of soil. The study argues that soil health represents a complex ecosystem and that this must be taken into account when making policy decisions. Soil health is currently still assessed and measured in terms of chemical indicators, even though science increasingly recognizes the importance of biodiversity as a key criterion for healthy soil. The authors therefore recommend introducing new, more meaningful ways of evaluating soil in terms of health, including the use of different indicators and statistics that can provide reliable measurements for soil functionality.