Abstract
Climate change has been identified by the draft Soil Strategy for England as one of the key pressures likely to affect our soils now and in the future, along with land-use practices. Current climate projections for the UK suggest scenarios of warming leading to hotter and drier summers, and milder wetter winters, coupled with a greater frequency of extreme weather events, particularly with respect to rainfall. Such climatic changes are likely to impact on soils and the soil biota, and potentially affect the ability of soils to maintain delivery of the range of ecosystem goods and services required of them. Soil organisms are directly involved in the provision of the majority of such ecosystem services, performing major roles in soil processes and functioning, including carbon and nutrient cycling, soil structural dynamics, detoxifying pollutants and supporting aboveground biodiversity. Soil organisms are likely to be directly and indirectly impacted by climate change, but the consequences of such effects are still poorly understood. Some studies have shown that there are complex relationships between belowground biodiversity and the ability of the soil to withstand and recover from perturbations.
United Kingdom