Professor Kabala: – Soil is a treasure buried under our feet

Man may be able to create or regenerate soil, but artificially regenerated soil is not the same as soil created by natural forces.
Soil is a link between the earthly spheres, which is why soil scientists’ work often covers various disciplines.

The working group of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources, or the WRB for short, consists of more than 30 soil scientists from every continent, and is one of the most active bodies of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS). – This appointment is not only a matter of prestige, but also a confirmation of the commitment and international recognition of Polish soil scientists – says Prof. Cezary Kabała, Director of the Institute of Soil Sciences, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection at the UPWr.

The WRB manages the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) International Soil Classification (WRB), which enables the correlation of local soil data for the development of regional and global databases, as well as maps of soil resources, soil productivity, soil degradation risks, climate impacts, etc. The WRB classification is also a basic tool of communication of soil scientists on the international forum, and is very useful, for example, when publishing in renowned scientific journals.

The losses we suffer from wasting good soil are enormous

Professor Cezary Kabała could talk about soil for hours. When asked about what soil is, he says – soil is life. – Not every piece of land, rock or glacier is soil. Soil is home not only to countless microorganisms, but also earthworms, ants and other organisms. And due to its rich nutrient content it has the ability to store water for a long time, making it an ideal environment for plant development. That's why we say that rock becomes soil when it allows life to develop – he explains.

Soil is only a partially renewable natural resource which we have been using for centuries. Although man can create or regenerate soil – such as in urban areas or post-mining spoil heaps, artificially regenerated soil is not the same as soil created by the forces of nature – in the same way as a forest planted by humans is not a primeval forest. – This is something not sufficiently discussed. The losses we suffer from wasting good soil are enormous. An example of this are the valuable black soil areas of Wrocław, located south of the city. These soils, although among the best in Poland, are continually and irretrievably disappearing due to the development of large distribution and shopping centres. This hurts, because these soils formed over thousands of years, only to then be destroyed in a couple of days. And even if one day these buildings are demolished, it will not be possible to regenerate the precious soil, even using the best recultivation techniques – says Prof. Cezary Kabała. 

The UPWr scientist regrets that there is still so little mention about the role and diversity of soil. – People have a certain sensitivity for rare species of birds or plants, because they are easy to see or hear, and it is more noticeable if they disappear. Soil, on the other hand, is a resource hidden under our feet and is difficult to appreciate without getting our hands dirty – Prof. Kabała laughs.

The UPWr scientist adds that although Poland is thought to have an overproduction of food, the war in Ukraine and other global turmoil have shaken our faith in everlasting sustainability of food security. – If we add climate change to the equation, it may well turn out that these highly fertile soils are a treasure trove that we absolutely must protect from degradation. It is naive to think that we can afford to lose them because they can easily be replaced with inferior soil maintained in high agricultural culture, and that any crop shortfalls can be compensated for with external food supplies – says Prof. Kabala, emphasising that soil also has many other equally important functions. It is the main cleansing element of the environment, capable of retaining and inactivating undesirable components, i.e. pollutants (both organic and inorganic, including heavy metals). Soil can act as a filter to purify water and as a storage absorbing excess water, and thereby reducing flood risk.

Working with different disciplines

In recent years Professor Cezary Kabała has been involved in interdisciplinary projects on palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, which are of great importance for the conservation of soils and ecosystems. – Soil is the link between the earth's spheres, which is why soil scientists often work with different disciplines. Soil remembers many climatic, vegetation and human influences, including those from prehistoric times. By analysing buried soil – that is, soil covered by new sediments made by nature or man, for example soil from underneath dunes or Neolithic barrows – we can understand the environmental conditions that prevailed when the soil was present on the surface – explains the scientist. The team of Prof. Kabala is currently working on a hypothesis that the entire loess area of southern Poland was in the past covered by black soil, which, as a result of changes in the climate and the composition of the vegetation, was transformed into today's mainly lessive soil, while black soil has survived on small patches of land permanently occupied by settlements and agriculture since the Neolithic period.

– Soil analysis allows us to pose questions and verify our knowledge, for example, of how nature has changed in a given area. And this is only possible thanks to working with geologists, archaeologists or biologists. These are sometimes important questions regarding environmental protection or the climate. Because when we say that we want to regenerate or protect a natural ecosystem, we should start by answering the following question: is this definitely its natural state, or is it a state shaped years ago by man? To put it simply, are these reconstructions, carried out mainly together with archaeologists, an attempt to find out more about the present and past environment? We're simply curious to find out. Can we use this knowledge in practice? Or should the question be: are we ready to use this knowledge? Studies have confirmed, for example, that many meadow areas in national parks in mountain regions, once considered a natural subalpine zone, were created by humans for animal grazing. But if we reforest them today or allow forests to develop naturally – the biodiversity present in these meadows today will disappear, such as numerous species of orchids. But if a decision was to be made to return an area to its natural state in line with current climatic conditions, environmental reconstructions will help guide scientists to know precisely what to do – says Prof. Cezary Kabała. 

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