Shambhavi Arvind | Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) (original) (raw)
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Papers by Shambhavi Arvind
The ground beneath our feet is the reason for sustenance of all living forms on Earth. The soil f... more The ground beneath our feet is the reason for sustenance of all living forms on Earth. The soil forms the basis for existence and thriving of ecosystems. Besides being fundamental for plant growth, it supports different plant and animal biodiversities to flourish both above the soil and inside the soil. The presence and formation of aquifers is also greatly influenced by the soil present above it. In the recent past, it has been ascertained that the soils were not as they were before and have undergone a bleak transformation. The study published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2015 emphasizes the significance of the changes that have occurred in soils over the past few decades. The review paper by Chen et al. 2018 underscores the reasons for erosion of soil by water, wind and acidification and soil degradation by compaction of soil, water-logging and anthropogenic activities. A brief outlook on the status of soils across the six major continents of the world was also addressed in the paper. Soil is without doubt an all-encompassing entity which is responsible for the well-being of vegetation, animals, water and even in the maintenance of the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. This makes soil especially important to human beings and is reason enough to focus our attention on the current status of the world's soils. While the working paper by Chen et al. 2018 addresses the causes for soil erosion and degradation in different climatic regions by wind, water and a multitude of human factors, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2015 emphasize on understanding the function of soil in all areas of life before assessing the detrimental factors to soil health and subsequently uncovering a sustainable soil management system. This understanding of the complex soil system is highlighted in the form of nine principles by the World Soil Charter. Even though the working paper gives an overview about the different factors causing a decline in the quality of soils around the globe, Karlen and Rice 2015 describe that the main drivers of soil change are erosion by wind and water and loss of soil organic matter (SOM). Threats to Soils: Global Trends and Perspectives (Working Paper) 2017 state that among the different causes for soil erosion, erosion by water on a global scale related processes account for 20-30 Gt/year and erosion due to tilling of the land stand at about 5 Gt/year. Borrelli et al. 2017 examined the severity of soil erosion across the different continents and assigned classes from 1 to 7, where 1 and 2 indicated low levels of soil erosion, class 3 was moderate soil erosion, class 4 was high soil erosion and class 7 indicated severe soil erosion above the threshold value of 10 Mg/ha/yr. Their results are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Classes indicating the severity of water erosion in 2012
The ground beneath our feet is the reason for sustenance of all living forms on Earth. The soil f... more The ground beneath our feet is the reason for sustenance of all living forms on Earth. The soil forms the basis for existence and thriving of ecosystems. Besides being fundamental for plant growth, it supports different plant and animal biodiversities to flourish both above the soil and inside the soil. The presence and formation of aquifers is also greatly influenced by the soil present above it. In the recent past, it has been ascertained that the soils were not as they were before and have undergone a bleak transformation. The study published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2015 emphasizes the significance of the changes that have occurred in soils over the past few decades. The review paper by Chen et al. 2018 underscores the reasons for erosion of soil by water, wind and acidification and soil degradation by compaction of soil, water-logging and anthropogenic activities. A brief outlook on the status of soils across the six major continents of the world was also addressed in the paper. Soil is without doubt an all-encompassing entity which is responsible for the well-being of vegetation, animals, water and even in the maintenance of the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. This makes soil especially important to human beings and is reason enough to focus our attention on the current status of the world's soils. While the working paper by Chen et al. 2018 addresses the causes for soil erosion and degradation in different climatic regions by wind, water and a multitude of human factors, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2015 emphasize on understanding the function of soil in all areas of life before assessing the detrimental factors to soil health and subsequently uncovering a sustainable soil management system. This understanding of the complex soil system is highlighted in the form of nine principles by the World Soil Charter. Even though the working paper gives an overview about the different factors causing a decline in the quality of soils around the globe, Karlen and Rice 2015 describe that the main drivers of soil change are erosion by wind and water and loss of soil organic matter (SOM). Threats to Soils: Global Trends and Perspectives (Working Paper) 2017 state that among the different causes for soil erosion, erosion by water on a global scale related processes account for 20-30 Gt/year and erosion due to tilling of the land stand at about 5 Gt/year. Borrelli et al. 2017 examined the severity of soil erosion across the different continents and assigned classes from 1 to 7, where 1 and 2 indicated low levels of soil erosion, class 3 was moderate soil erosion, class 4 was high soil erosion and class 7 indicated severe soil erosion above the threshold value of 10 Mg/ha/yr. Their results are shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Classes indicating the severity of water erosion in 2012