The concept of one health highlights that human health is not isolated but connected to the health of animals, plants and environments. In this Review, we demonstrate that soils are a cornerstone of one health and serve as a source and reservoir of pathogens, beneficial microorganisms and the overall microbial diversity in a wide range of organisms and ecosystems. We list more than 40 soil microbiome functions that either directly or indirectly contribute to soil, plant, animal and human health. We identify microorganisms that are shared between different one health compartments and show that soil, plant and human microbiomes are perhaps more interconnected than previously thought. Our Review further evaluates soil microbial contributions to one health in the light of dysbiosis and global change and demonstrates that microbial diversity is generally positively associated with one health. Finally, we present future challenges in one health research and formulate recommendations for practice and evaluation. One health links human, animal and environmental health, and microorganisms have a central role in this connection. In this Review, Banerjee and van der Heijden outline the central role of the soil microbiome for one health and its detrimental or beneficial effects. 

/pdf/soil-microbiomes-and-one-health-1idj5x2q.pdf

Soil microbiomes and one health

Abstract Not only do soils provide 98.7% of the calories consumed by humans, they also provide numerous other functions upon which planetary survivability closely depends. However, our continuously increasing focus on soils for biomass provision (food, fiber, and energy) through intensive agriculture is rapidly degrading soils and diminishing their capacity to deliver other vital functions. These tradeoffs in soil functionality – the increased provision of one function at the expense of other critical planetary functions – are the focus of this review. We examine how land-use change for biomass provision has decreased the ability of soils to regulate the carbon pool and thereby contribute profoundly to climate change, to cycle the nutrients that sustain plant growth and ecosystem health, to protect the soil biodiversity upon which many other functions depend, and to cycle the Earth’s freshwater supplies. We also examine how this decreasing ability of soil to provide these other functions can be halted and reversed. Despite the complexity and the interconnectedness of soil functions, we show that soil organic carbon plays a central role and is a master indicator for soil functioning and that we require a better understanding of the factors controlling the behavior and persistence of C in soils. Given the threats facing humanity and their economies, it is imperative that we recognize that Soil Security is itself an existential challenge and that we need to increase our focus on the multiple functions of soils for long-term human welfare and survivability of the planet. Graphical abstract

/pdf/ensuring-planetary-survival-the-centrality-of-organic-carbon-300om6fy.pdf

Ensuring planetary survival: the centrality of organic carbon in balancing the multifunctional nature of soils

Non-target organisms are globally exposed to herbicides. While many herbicides - for example, glyphosate - were initially considered safe, increasing evidence demonstrates that they have profound effects on ecosystem functions via altered microbial communities. We provide a comprehensive framework on how herbicide residues may modulate ecosystem-level outcomes via alteration of microbiomes. The changes in soil microbiome are likely to influence key nutrient cycling and plant-soil processes. Herbicide-altered microbiome affects plant and animal performance and can influence trophic interactions such as herbivory and pollination. These changes are expected to lead to ecosystem and even evolutionary consequences for both microbes and hosts. Tackling the threats caused by agrochemicals to ecosystem functions and services requires tools and solutions based on a comprehensive understanding of microbe-mediated risks. 

http://www.cell.com/article/S0169534722002294/pdf

Ecosystem consequences of herbicides: the role of microbiome.

For decades, conservation tillage has been promoted as a measure to increase carbon stocks in arable soils. Since organic farming improves soil quality and soil carbon storage, reduced tillage under organic farming conditions may further enhance this potential. Therefore, we assessed soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of reduced tillage compared with mouldboard ploughing in nine organic farming field trials in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland with the same sampling and analytical protocol. We sampled soil cores until a depth of 100 cm to determine soil carbon stocks that are relevant for climate change mitigation but are often overlooked in tillage studies with shallow sampling depths. The studied field experiments were between 8 and 21 years old and comprised different soil types with clay contents ranging from 10% to 50%. SOC stocks increased with increasing clay-to-silt ratio, precipitation and organic fertiliser input. Across sites, reduced tillage in comparison with ploughing increased SOC stocks in the surface layer (0–10/15 cm) by 20.8% or 3.8 Mg ha−1, depleted SOC stocks in the intermediate soil layers to 50 cm soil depth with a maximum depletion of 6.6% or 1.6 Mg ha−1 in 15/20–30 cm and increased SOC stocks in the deepest (70–100 cm) soil layer by 14.4% or 2.5 Mg ha−1. The subsoil SOC stock increase may be linked to the inherent soil heterogeneity. Cumulative SOC stocks increased by 1.7% or 1.5 Mg ha−1 (0–50 cm, n = 9) and 3.6% or 4.0 Mg ha−1 (0–100 cm, n = 7) by reduced tillage compared with ploughing with estimated mean C sequestration rates of 0.09 and 0.27 Mg ha−1 yr−1, respectively. There was no effect of field trial duration on tillage induced cumulative SOC stocks differences. Under reduced tillage, biomass production was 8% lower resulting in a decrease of crop C input by 6%. However, this reduction may have been outbalanced by increased C inputs from weed biomass resulting from a higher weed incidence in reduced tillage, which warrants further research. Thus, reduced tillage in organic farming has the potential to increase total SOC stocks, while crop management has to be improved to increase productivity.

Reduced tillage in organic farming affects soil organic carbon stocks in temperate Europe

Belowground processes and sustainability in agroecosystems with intercropping

Ecosystems provide multiple services to humans. However, agricultural systems are usually evaluated on their productivity and economic performance, and a systematic and quantitative assessment of the multifunctionality of agroecosystems including environmental services is missing. Using a long-term farming system experiment, we evaluated and compared the agronomic, economic, and ecological performance of the most widespread arable cropping systems in Europe: organic, conservation, and conventional agriculture. We analyzed 43 agroecosystem properties and determined overall agroecosystem multifunctionality. We show that organic and conservation agriculture promoted ecosystem multifunctionality, especially by enhancing regulating and supporting services, including biodiversity preservation, soil and water quality, and climate mitigation. In contrast, conventional cropping showed reduced multifunctionality but delivered highest yield. Organic production resulted in higher economic performance, thanks to higher product prices and additional support payments. Our results demonstrate that different cropping systems provide opposing services, enforcing the productivity–environmental protection dilemma for agroecosystem functioning.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/7/34/eabg6995.full.pdf

Organic and conservation agriculture promote ecosystem multifunctionality.

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Organic and conservation agriculture promote ecosystem multifunctionality.