There are more organisms in one tablespoon of healthy soil than there are people living on Earth. And those people depend on the soil for 95 percent of their food every day.
However, a recently published study found that increasingly intense agricultural use across Europe has reduced the number and kinds of organisms living in the soil, which threatens the health of the very land needed for food production.
To highlight the importance of soil health and biodiversity, the United Nations has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils. It kicks off on Friday, Dec. 5, World Soil Day, with official UN celebrations in Bangkok, Rome, New York and Santiago, as well as other events around the world.
Dec. 5 is also the last day of the First Global Soil Biodiversity Conference in Dijon, France. The international meeting has attracted scientists and researchers from around the world to discuss soil biodiversity and its links to ecosystem functions, including the European agricultural findings.
Diana H. Wall, University Distinguished Professor and director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University and renowned soil ecologist, is chair of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, which is sponsoring the conference, and one of the featured speakers. Her lab led the recently published study of the diversity of microbes found in the soil of New York’s Central Park.
Wall is available to discuss the role of soil biodiversity in the environmental health of the planet as well as other global environmental topics; her research focus is in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica.
Wall is in Dijon through Dec. 5. Contact Kate Jeracki to arrange an interview.
For more information about the First Global Soil Biodiversity Conference, go to www.gsbiconference.elsevier.com/index.html
RSS