Building resilient soils through agroecosystem redesign under fluctuating climatic regimes

Excerpt

Most current farming systems are designed to meet narrow goals of maximum production and short-term returns, a singular strategy that often leads to unexpected and undesirable emergent environmental consequences, such as loss of biodiversity, damage to the ecosystem, and other diminished ecosystem services. Responsible actions in agricultural practices and system design are needed to reverse this current trend and develop agroecosystems that will enhance resilience under increasing climatic fluctuations. Resilience refers to the ability of an agroecosystem to recover from external and internal stresses and adapt to changing conditions without significantly losing its key functions and services. Developing resilient soils and agroecosystems with “spring-like behavior” or elastic response is a priority in the face of unpredictable and increasing fluctuations of climate. The future can be characterized by conditions of extreme and more frequent droughts, excessive moisture in some areas due to intense rainstorms and flooding events, unexpected heat waves, and unseasonable snowstorms and frigid temperature conditions (Karl et al. 2009).

In the realm of soils, for example, resilient soils should have potential to rapidly dry out when weather is wet, retain available water when weather is dry and hot, and remain warm when weather is cold. Resilient soils are the…