1. The Truth about Ecological Revitalization - Case Studies and Tools to Improve your Cleanups Sally Brown, University of Washington Soil Health

2. 1  Insert bullets A Guide to Soil Health (Value of soil ecosystem services) Sally Brown University of Washington Based on Costanza et al, 1997

3. 2 Soil - The living skin of the earth Soil - The living skin of the earth http://geosci.uchicago.edu/solids/images/earth_interior.jpg

4. 3  The earth is 71% water  (361 million km 2 ) Water in the World

5. 4 Soil - arable land 41.4 million km 2

6. 5 Soils are the foundation of ecosystem services  Net worth of these services set at $33 trillion  83% > than the gross world product  (Costanza et al., 1997)

7. 6 1.Gas regulation  Regulation of atmospheric chemical composition including CO 2 /O 2 balance What are these services? 6 CO 2 + 12 H 2 O → C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2 + 6 H 2 O

8. 7 What plants need  Physical support  Air  Water  Nutrients: C. B. HOPKiNS CaFe, Co Closed Monday Morning and Night See You (Cu) Zoon (Zn), the Mg

9. 8 2. Climate regulation including GHG regulation 38,000x10 6 Mg 760x10 6 Mg 560x10 6 Mg 2,500x10 6 Mg A mean residence time for carbon in soils is 22-32 years

10. 9 Global carbon cycles/pools 760x10 6 Mg 266x10 6 Mg > pre industrial 560x10 6 Mg 2,500x10 6 Mg 76x10 6 Mg every year 158x10 6 Mg released from 1850 - 1998

11. 10 3. Disturbance regulation  Storm protection, flood control, drought recovery…mainly controlled by vegetation structure

12. 11 Early grown of corn on control (left) and compost amended (right) Plots on Woodstown silt loam soil (Epstein and Chaney, 1974).

13. 12 Strongly wilted corn on control plot in experiment with biosolids Compost application to Woodstown silt loam (Epstein and Chaney)

14. 13 Corn on biosolids compost treated soil on same day as control plot corn was strongly wilted (Epstein and Chaney).

15. 14 4. Water regulation- regulation of hydrological flows

16. 15 Water 0.1 bar Control0.31 Compost0.48 % Change155 5. Water supply- storage and retention of water

17. 16 NRCS www.skyways.org/orgs/fordco/dustbowl/ 6. Erosion control and sediment retention

18. 17 7. Nutrient cycling – storage, cycling, acquisition of nutrients

19. 18 9. Waste treatment – recovery of nutrients, pollution control and detoxification

20. 19 10 & 11. Pollination and biological control – provisioning of pollinators and reduction of herbivory by top predators

21. 20 12. Refugia – habitat for resident and transient populations

22. 21 13. Food production – portion of primary production extractable as food

23. 22 Yield – pictures tell the story

24. 23 Not the only consumers

25. 24 14. Raw materials – the production of lumber, fuel, fodder

26. 25 15. Genetic resources – source of unique biological materials and products

27. 26 16. Recreation – providing opportunities for eco-tourism, fishing…

28. 27 17. Cultural – aesthetic, educational…

29. 28 To conclude…  Soil resources are an integral component of ecosystem function  Healthy soils – here shown as restored soils are able to provide these ecosystem services much more effectively than degraded soils

30. 29 My 5 minutes… http://media.nap.edu/podcasts/nax74dirtonsoil.mp3

31. Sally Brown University of Washington Phone: (206) 616-1299 Email: slb@u.washington.edu