Connecting existing cemeteries saving good soils (for livings)

Background: Urban sprawl consumes and degrades productive soils worldwide. Fast and safe decomposition of corpses requires high-quality functional soils, and land use which competes with both agriculture and buildings. On one hand, cremation does not require much land, but it has a high energy footprint, produces atmospheric pollution, and is unacceptable to some religious communities. On the other hand, as exhumations are not practiced, "green burials" require more surface area than current burial practices, so a new paradigm for managing land use is required. Conclusions: In this paper, we propose a concept for 'green belt communalities' (i.e., ecological corridors with multiple, yet flexible, uses and services for future generations). With the expansion of urban centers, ecological corridors gradually disappear. Cemeteries for burial plots preclude alternative uses of the land for a long time. By combining these two aspects (need for connectivity and land take imposed by cemeteries), two positive results can be achieved: protecting memories of the past and connecting ecosystems with multiple-use corridors. This new paradigm works best in flat or hilly terrain where there are already several urban agglomerations that contain traditional cemeteries. Stakeholders who might consider this concept are local administrators, planners, and the communities of individuals who share specific beliefs on burial systems

The impractical supremacy of the local identity on the worthless soils of Mappano

Introduction: Soil is under pressure worldwide. In Italy, in the last two decades, land consumption has reached an average rate of 8 m2, demonstrating the failure of urban planning in controlling these phenomena. Despite the renewed recognition of the central role of soil resources, which has triggered numerous initiatives and actions, soil resources are still seen as a second-tier priority. No governance body exists to coordinate initiatives to ensure that soils are appropriately represented in decision-making processes. Global Soil Partnership draws our attention to the need for coordination to avoid fragmentation of efforts and wastage of resources. Both at a global and at a local level, the area of fertile soils is limited and is increasingly under pressure by competing land uses for settlement, infrastructure, raw materials extraction, agriculture, and forestry. Discussion and Evaluation: Here, we show that an administrative event, such as the creation of a new small municipality, can take place without any consideration of land and soil risks. This is particularly problematic in the Italian context as recent studies demonstrate that increasing local power in land use decisions coupled with weak control by the central administration and the high fragmentation and small dimension of municipalities has boosted land consumption. The fragmentation of municipalities has been detrimental to land conservation. Case description: The case study of Mappano (in the northwestern Italian region of Piedmont on the periphery of the regional capital city of Turin) is emblematic to demonstrate the role played by the supremacy of local identity or local interests despite the acknowledged importance of the key role played by soil everywhere. The contradiction highlighted by this case raises discussion amid some crucial issues as to the role of local urban planning and the protection of soil, which cannot be fragmented or subject to local short-term visions/interests. Conclusions: In this perspective, urban planning has to address soil and land issues by introducing new rules and competences at the local level and beyond

Extraterrestrial soils

Extraterrestrial soils may be defined as any of the solid granular crustal features of planets and moon other than those soils on planet Earth. Despite four decades of space exploration, which greatly expanded our understanding of the Solar System, there is considerable debate as to the loose covers of rocky planets and moons are soils in a pedological sense. On Earth, soil form thanks to the combined action of at least five factors: parent rock, climate, topography, living organisms and time. A few other factors can concur to drive pedogenesis. However, the necessity of biota as unavoidable soil forming factor is debated. In fact, important parts of Earth, such as the hyperarid Atacama Desert of Chile and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, host virtually life-free soils with advanced horizonation. Actually, although most people invokes the ability to support plant growth in its natural environment as condicio sine qua non for soil, a scientific definition considers soil to be any in situ weathered veneer of a planetary surface that retains information on its climatic and geochemical history. A current or past mineral weathering is hence the pivotal requisite for soil

Soil forming factors

The Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev (1846–1903), considered the father of soil science, was the first to identify and discuss, at the end of 19th century, what we know today as the “factors of soil formation”. He introduced the idea that soil is not something inert and stable, but it develops and evolves under the influence of climatic agents and vegetation that operate over time on a given geological substrat

Holocene as Anthropocene

Anthropocene seems a more reasonable name than Holocene for this combined time span, whose most characteristic trait is the human pressure on the planet. Holocene could possibly be the first stage of the Anthropocene, the one characterized by a soft and spotty human impact on Earth

The unseen world beneath our feet: Heliyon Soil Science. Exploring the cutting-edge techniques and ambitious goals of modern soil science

In the face of climate change, ecosystem destruction, desertification, and increasing food demand, soil conservation is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of life on Earth. The Soil Section of Heliyon aims to be a platform for basic and applied soil science research, emphasizing the central role of soils and their interactions with human activities. This editorial highlights recent research trends in soil science, including the evolving definition of soil, the multifunctionality of soils and their biodiversity, soil degradation and erosion, the role of soil microflora, advancements in soil mapping techniques, global change and the carbon cycle, soil health, the relationship between soil and buildings, and the importance of considering soil quality in land use planning and policies. The Heliyon Soil Science section seeks to publish scientifically accurate and valuable research that explores the diverse functions of soil and their significance in sustainable land-use systems

Carbon stocks in peri-urban areas: a case study of remote sensing capabilities

Peri-urban areas are the extension of cities into contiguous areas, where households and farms coexist. Carbon stocks (CSs) assessment, a concept here extended to urban features, has not yet been studied in depth over peri-urban areas due to uncertainties in such CSs quantification, level of detail required about construction materials, and the high spatial variability of those stocks. Remote sensing (RS)-based techniques have been successfully utilized in urban areas for assessing phenomena such as soil sealing, sprawl patterns, and dynamics of surface imperviousness, especially focusing on land cover classification at high to medium spatial scales. Over the floodplain study area of Emilia-Romagna region (Italy), we compared mapping products derived from Landsat multiseasonal data with different CSs, in soils and impervious surfaces, such as buildings and roads. A multiscale correlation analysis and regression assessment between CSs layers and satellite products were run at different grid cell sizes (100, 250, 500, and 1000 m). Results show that RS products from processing of mid-resolution satellite data can effectively perform well enough to estimate CSs in peri-urban areas, especially at 500\u20131000 m scale. Urban Fraction Cover method, derived through weighting urban land cover classes (including dense, sparse, and industrial urban features) can represent a good proxy of the ratio of anthropogenic over natural CSs (R2 up to 0.75). Imperviousness Index (II) product scored high positive correlation with CSs over built-up areas (R2 up to 0.77), and strong negative correlation with organic carbon density in soil (R2 up to 0.73

Describing urban soils by a faceted system ensures more informed decision-making

Urban areas are increasing worldwide at a dramatic rate and their soils definitely deserve more attention than they have received in the past. In urban environments, soils potentially provide the same ecosystem services as in rural and wild environments, although in some cases they are depleted of their basic functions, such as when they lose their productive and filtering capacities because of sealing, and become mere supports for infrastructures. In other cases, soils of urban areas acquire new functions that are unique to these environments. Current soil classifications fail to effectively account for the complexity of urban soils and the information that is required for their management. Additionally, the survey of urban soils is difficult, due to fragmentation and rapid land use change and the fact that due to human pressure their properties seldom vary linearly and predictably according to landforms, which hinders the effectiveness of geostatistics. The conventional practice of grouping similar soils and transferring their information in a concise manner is not viable for urban soils. We advocate the introduction of a faceted system - i.e., a scheme using semantic categories, either general or subject-specific, that are combined to create the full classification entry - to organize the information on urban soils to support decision making. The facets that such a system should be based on are not only the intrinsic physical and chemical properties that are usually used to describe any soil, but also other tangible or even immaterial properties that are particularly meaningful in an urban context, such as landscape metrics, or aesthetic, social and historical values. As well as providing more adequately the information of the type requested by urban planners and policymakers, a faceted system of classification of urban soil resources would have the flexibility to accommodate all available or future scattered, rapidly changing, or incomplete data