Organic soil – Soil of the Year 2024

Soil, generally, is mostly associated with the farmer’s domain. This association appears to be accurate, as an essential role of soils is to produce food. However, it is important to remember that soil is also a very important part of the natural environment. The general knowledge of soils and their functions is limited. The unfavorable climate changes taking place practically in front of us make it necessary to create programs for the protection of water resources, biodiversity, and climate. Soil is a very important and essential element for all these activities. Soil, like water, biodiversity, and climate, should be subject to special protection.

Major soil information in a nutshell:

Over 90% of human and animal food is produced in the soil. Therefore, soil plays a huge role in ensuring access to food products, and this is of fundamental importance for the economy and functioning of human societies.
Soil accumulates organic matter, which contains organic carbon. Thanks to its ability to accumulate organic carbon, the soil is an extremely important factor in nature’s carbon cycle. Thus, soil influences the emission or the sequestration of greenhouse gasses (e.g. carbon dioxide) and hence affects the planet’s climate.
Soil provides a habitat for countless species of organisms and microorganisms, but its biodiversity has not been sufficiently understood so far. Soil degradation through improper soil management (caused, for instance by a lack of knowledge) results in the destruction of environmental biodiversity.
As a natural resource, soil is non-renewable. Once destroyed (e.g. by buildings or pollution), it will not renew itself at all, or it will take hundreds or thousands of years for the soil to renew itself.

Soil of the Year

To raise public awareness of the role of soils in our lives and the environment, in 2018. The Soil Science Society of Poland initiated the ‘Soil of the Year’ programme. Since then, each year a different type of soil has been selected by the Society members to focus people’s attention on it. The selection of the ‘Soil of the Year’ is made by members of the Commission for the Genesis, Classification, and Cartography of Soils of the Soil Science Society of Poland, which includes representatives of all major Polish academic centers, state forestry entities and the community of agricultural land classifiers.

The ‘Soil of the Year’ programme includes scientific, educational and promotional activities. The scientific objectives are mainly pursued during scientific symposia combined with field sessions. Each year, the Soil Science Annual journal publishes a booklet dedicated to ‘Soil of the Year’.

The educational and promotional activities include, for example, the ‘Soil of the Year’ logo, posters and a wall calendar, which can be found at http://ptg.sggw.pl/ ( ‘Soil of the Year’ tab). Furthermore, some special lectures and presentations are organized for various audience groups. The Centre for Soil Science Education – Museum of Soils, which has been operating since 2012 at the University of Agriculture in Krakow (for more information see: https://muzeumgleb.pl/), also plays an important role in these activities.

The selection of the ‘Soil of the Year’ is always determined by the important functions it performs both economically and environmentally. The Commission for the Genesis, Classification and Cartography of Soils of the Soil Science Society has chosen Organic Soil as the Soil of the Year 2024.

Information and resources to download on Soil of the Year 2024 can be found at http://ptg.sggw.pl/gleba-organiczna-gleba-roku-2024/.

Organic soils

Organic soils represent a very diverse soil group. Organic soils are composed of materials that contain ≥12% soil organic carbon. These materials include peat, organic mud, sewage sludge, as well as forest litter.

The specific properties of these soils, primarily high organic carbon content, low bulk density, and high porosity, distinguish them from mineral soils.

The classification of forest soils in Poland includes four main types of organic soils: peat soils, muck soils, limnological soils, and litter soils. As far as peat soils are concerned, organic matter is mainly derived from dead peat-forming plants. In limnological (gyttia or silty) soils, the genesis of soil materials is related to the sedimentation processes of substances suspended or dissolved in water.

In litter soils, the organic material of local origin (residual forest or meadow structures) is accumulated under conditions of good oxygenation (aeration).

The mucky soils are formed from peat or limn soils by drainage and transformation under aerobic conditions.

Organic soils cover about 5% of the territory of Poland. They occur mainly in drainless lands and river valleys, forming the soil cover of peat lands (mainly low peat lands) and gyttia lands. On the other hand, litter soils are found in highland areas (rocky outcrops or block covers) as well as in the lowlands and uplands, in areas of permanent accumulation of windblown plant litter.

In Poland, peat and muck soils cover the largest area as far as organic soils are concerned, whereas the other types occur locally in small areas. Organic soils perform some important environmental functions because of their vast stores of water, carbon, and nutrients. They are considered the largest natural terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon, of critical importance concerning climate change. Peatlands are the most effective environmental element for storing carbon, preventing it from entering the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide and methane (the primary greenhouse gases). Peatlands, while occupying about 10 times less land area on Earth than forests, can keep twice as much carbon from entering the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, organic soils are vulnerable to transformation by drainage, which dramatically modifies their properties. Following the decomposition (mineralisation) of organic matter, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, and nitrogen and phosphorus penetrate ground and surface waters, causing their eutrophication. The drained peatlands, constituting only about 5% of the agricultural area in Poland, emit more greenhouse gasses than other agricultural sources altogether. The dried-out organic soils represent 85% of the surface area of all organic soils and each year they emit 35 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or more than 10% of the entire Polish annual production.

Therefore, there is a great need to protect undrained organic soils and to rationally use the ones that have already been drained.

Furthermore, it must be taken into consideration that peatlands with organic soils are valuable plant and animal habitats, often covered by various forms of protection (e.g. national parks, and nature reserves). Formerly, organic soils were used by mankind as an energy resource (peat from peat lands was used for heating). Once the peatlands were drained, these soils were used as meadows and farm fields. Currently, it is mainly the peat and muck soils of the low peatlands that are subject to agricultural use, and some of gyttja and silt soils.

The Members of the Soil Science Society of Poland