1 Human impact on soil health and quality

2 Carla S.S. Ferreiraa,, Paulo Pereirab*, Zahra Kalantaric

4 a Research Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (CERNAS), Polytechnic

5 Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra, Bencanta, 3045-601

6 Coimbra, Portugal

7 b Environmental Management Center, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-8303

8 Vilnius, Lithuania

9 c Department of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm

10 University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

11

12 Corresponding author: Paulo Pereira, email: pereiraub@gmail.com

13

14

15 Background

16 World population ranged from 1 billion in 1820 to 7 billion in 2012 (CIA, 2017), and it is

17 expected to reach 10 billion by 2056. With an exponential population growth, the need for

18 food, clean water, energy and biofuels has been rising substantially. In 2030, the population

19 supply will require an increase in food production and clean water supply by 50% and 30%,

20 respectively. This increase will induce a tremendous pressure on soil and water resources

21 (UN, 2017).

22 Soil supports all the earth system, including hydrological and geochemical processes, and

23 provides several ecosystem services (ES) (e.g. Pereira et al., 2018a). Soil affords 90% of all
24 food, feed and fibre production, and it provides raw material for several human activities

25 (EEA, 2017). It provides numerous regulation services, such as water storage and

26 purification (Rakshit et al., 2018), climate change regulation, since it is the second global

27 carbon sink (Paleari, 2017), and nutrient cycling. Soil supports biodiversity and comprises

28 the largest number of species (Brevik et al., 2016).

29 The intensified use of ES provided by soils and unsustainable human activities have resulted

30 in land degradation, and this trend is expected to continue (Paleari, 2017). According to

31 Rakshit et al. (2018), 33% of the global land area is degraded. In 2008, there were

32 approximately 1.38 billion hectares of arable land worldwide (FAO, 2010) and up to 5 million

33 hectares are lost every year because of degradation (Jónssona et al., 2016). Soil degradation

34 affects more than 1.5 billion people in 110 countries, 90% of which live in low-income

35 countries (Nellemann, 2009).

36 Soil degradation may assume different forms, such as physical, chemical and biological

37 degradation, and leads to several environmental, social and economic problems, such as

38 desertification and loss of biodiversity (e.g. Rakshit et al., 2018). In the EU, for example, 1)

39 artificial surfaces increased 8.8% between 1990 and 2006, and approximately half of these

40 surfaces are sealed (Sholte et al., 2015); 2) soil erosion by water is 1.6 times greater than soil

41 formation rate (Panagos et al., 2015); 3) there are 2.5 million contaminated sites identified

42 and 11.7 million are potentially contaminated (Panagos et al. 2015). Nowadays, more than

43 700 emerging pollutants (synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals or microorganisms),

44 their metabolites and transformation products, are present in the European environment

45 (Dulio, 2018).
46 The European Commission identified several soil threats: 1) erosion; 2) decline in organic

47 matter (OM); 3) soil contamination; 4) soil sealing; 5) soil compaction; 6) decline in soil

48 biodiversity; 7) salinization; 8) floods and 9) landslides (European Commission, 2006).

49 These threats are a consequence of human activities such as urbanization, intensive

50 agriculture and disturbances in forest environments, identified as major causes of

51 degradation (Jónsson et al., 2016; Ferreira et al., 2018a).

52 Soils often react slowly to changes in land use (e.g. urbanization), land-use intensity (e.g.

53 monoculture agricultural practices) and management (Bünemanna et al., 2018). Thus, it is

54 more difficult to detect changes in soil health and quality before non-reversible damages

55 have occurred comparing with water and air resources (Nortcliff, 2002). Since soil is a non-

56 renewable resource at the human time-scale (Rakshit et al., 2018), major concerns have been

57 rising over the last decades as a consequence of increasing urbanization and agriculture

58 intensification. Most of the strategies recently adopted by the EU in different environmental

59 policy areas highlight that soil preservation is a prerequisite to accomplish some of the

60 Sustainable Development Goals (Keesstra et al., 2016; Paleari, 2017). Soils are relevant to

61 fulfill, particularly, food security (goal 2: zero hunger), water security (goal 6: clean water

62 and sanitation), lives and livelihoods (goal 11: sustainable cities and communities) and

63 healthy ecosystems (goal 15: life on land) (UN, 2015). The need to ensure a sustainable use

64 of soils and protect their functions have been expressed by the European Commission,

65 through the Seventh Environment Action Programme (EP and Council, 2002) and the

66 Proposal for a Directive to establish a framework for the protection of soil (EC, 2006). The

67 United Nations has declared the period of 2015-2024 as International Decade of Soils to

68 enforce the importance of soil as a resource (Rakshit et al., 2018).

69

70 MAJOR SOIL THREATS IN DIFFERENT LAND USES

71 Deforestation

72 Deforestation is one of the major causes of soil and land degradation. Between 1990 and

73 2015 forest area declined 4.1 billion hectares (FAO, 2016). This decrease is inverse to human

74 population increase, denoting a reduction in per capita forest area. This was especially

75 observed in the countries with low income. The forest area reduction is mainly due to the

76 expansion of agriculture land. However, there was an increase in the total area of planted

77 forests (FAO, 2016). The plantation of flammable monocultures (e.g Eucalyptus, Pinus) for

78 industrial purposes are responsible for an important decline on biodiversity and habitat loss,

79 and increase the vulnerability to pest, diseases and wildfires, expected to be more frequent

80 and severe in a context of climate change. Reduced biological diversity is a major cause of

81 declining ES provide by forests (Brockerhoff et al., 2017; Farah et al., 2017; Neuer and Knoke,

82 2017; Shuler et al., 2017; Pereira et al., 2018b). Changes in wildfires regime are one of the

83 most evident consequences of forest monoculture, associated with increasing severity and

84 length of dry periods. The frequency of high severity fires, burning several hectares

85 (megafires), is increasing as a consequence of the complex interaction between climate

86 change, land abandonment, land use change and suppression measures (Pereira et al., 2016;

87 Ubeda et al., 2018). Good examples of the impacts of megafires were recorded in the summer

88 of 2017, in Portugal and California.

89 Although fires are a natural element of the ecosystems and affect earth's biomes since the

90 Sillurian, fire regime was tremendously affected by human activities throughout the history.

91 Nowadays, most of the wildfires that occur in the world are driven by criminal actions or
 92 negligence. In this case, human land management or activities influence directly or indirectly

93 the impacts of fire on soils (Pereira et al., 2016, 2018b).

94 On the other hand, low severity fires, such as prescribed fires applied for landscape

95 management, do not have or have minor negative impacts on soils and can be beneficial since

96 they can increase temporarily soil nutrients (Shakesby et al., 2015; Alcaniz et al., 2018). High

97 severity wildfires have direct negative impacts on soil by consuming enormous amounts of

98 soil OM, reducing the soil cover (Pereira et al., 2018b). All these factors will contribute to soil

99 degradation. This is especially relevant in areas where fire incidence is high, reducing the

100 capacity of soil to recover from wildfire disturbance, with negative consequences on soil

101 quality (Mayor et al., 2016) and vegetation recovery (Tessler et al., 2016). The impacts of

102 high severity fires on soil degradation are complex and depend on fire history, ash

103 properties, topography, post-fire weather, vegetation recovery and post-fire management.

104 Post-fire management options, can mitigate or increase the impacts of wildfire. Post-fire

105 interventions to protect the soil, such as mulching, have been well reported to reduce the

106 negative impacts on soil degradation. On the other hand, salvage logging and site preparation

107 have extremely negative impacts on soil, increasing substantially the disturbance produced

108 by the fire. In many cases, the human intervention has more detrimental impacts on soil than

109 the wildfire (Waggenbrenner et al., 2015; Pereira et al., 2018b).

110

111 Agriculture

112 Worldwide agriculture area is estimated at 4600 million ha, and from this, around 30-35%

113 is cultivated for crops (Montanarella and Vargas, 2012). Agriculture intensification is a

114 response to the increasing food demand and it is a cause of soil degradation, leading to
115 temporary or persistent loss of productive capacity (Arif et al., 2018). Research mostly deals

116 with individual degradation processes (e.g. erosion, compaction, salinization), with a lack of

117 general overview of the full problem (Bednář and Šarapatka, 2018). The impacts of modern

118 agriculture practices are still not well assessed, since they differ according to crops,

119 operations, cropping sequences and soil type (e.g. Squire et al., 2015). Although physical and

120 chemical soil degradation has been relatively well investigated, the impacts of intensive soil

121 management on soil microbiology are not so well understood. Microbial community

122 structure has an important role, for example, on soil organic matter dynamics and nutrient

123 cycling (Li et al., 2018). Soil enzyme activity is a more vital contributor to soil quality than

124 soil nutrients (Thies and Rillig, 2009).

125 About 24 billion tons of topsoil is lost annually on Earth (Montanarella and Vargas, 2012),

126 covering an area of 20–50,000 km2, with losses two to six times higher in Africa, Latin

127 America and Asia than in North America and Europe (UNEP, 2012). Soil erosion in Africa

128 provides a mean annual loss of 8.2% on yield production, and 36 million tons of cereal

129 equivalent in south Asia. Estimated annual cost of erosion reaches US$400 billion worldwide

130 and US$44 billion in USA (Eswaran et al., 2001).

131 Soil compaction in agricultural areas is a worldwide problem, as a consequence of

132 mechanization and livestock trampling. It can cause several agronomic and environmental

133 problems, including increased leaching of agrochemicals to water bodies, emission of

134 greenhouse gases, crop yield losses, erosion and flooding (e.g. Alaoui et al., 2018). Soil

135 compaction affects 33 million hectares of the European agriculture soils (Birkas, 2008). It

136 has caused a yield reduction of 25 to 50% in some regions of Europe and North America, and

137 between 40 and 90% in West African countries (Eswaran et al., 2001).
138 The low content of OM is another problem of arable lands, and it is a consequence of

139 intensive agriculture practices such as tillage, and losses through erosion. In Europe,

140 approximately 45% of land contains low or very low OM (i.e. 0–2%) (Bednář and Šarapatka,

141 2018). Impacts of land degradation on productivity are masked by the use of additional

142 inputs, such as fertilizers and phytosanitary products. There is an urgent need to manage

143 agriculture soils with less negative impacts, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development

144 Goals and to provide fertile soils for future generations (Kanter et al., 2018). Several types

145 of conservation agriculture practices, such as no or reduced tillage (e.g. Ferreira et al.,

146 2018b), and soil amendments with animal and green manure (Himmelstein et al., 2014),

147 compost (Bonanomi et al., 2017) and biochar (Lone et al., 2015), have been widely practiced

148 to mitigate soil degradation driven by conventional management practices. Conservation

149 agriculture is currently practiced in about 11% of the global arable cropland (Kassam et al.,

150 2014).

151 The impact of conservation agriculture practices on the effectiveness of soil protection

152 differs according to the agroecological zone and farming system (Kanter et al., 2018), and

153 requires further research. A better knowledge on the impacts of soil amendments on the

154 environment are also required, since the application of wastewater, manure and biosolids,

155 may lead to the addition of large quantities of antibiotics to agricultural fields worldwide

156 (Pan and Chu, 2016). Contamination of agriculture soils with glyphosate is also a major

157 problem in both conventional and some conservation agriculture fields (e.g. reduced/no till),

158 due to the widespread use of pesticides to control the growth of annual and perennial weeds,

159 both broad-leaved and grasses (Silva et al., 2017). The potential risk of increasing soil

160 contamination driven by management practices should be evaluated (Nguyen et al., 2018).
161

162 Urban

163 Urban sprawl is a global concern. In Europe, urbanization expanded by 78% since 1950

164 (EEA, 2017). Urban areas comprise a variety of soils under distinct pressures, ranging from

165 undisturbed green spaces to soils formed by artificial material (rubble, spoil) or translocated

166 from other sites (Morel et al., 2005). Soil degradation in urban areas, including sealing,

167 compaction and erosion, has several detrimental impacts on urban welfare and

168 sustainability (e.g. Yang and Zhang, 2015).

169 Urbanization usually increases the content of pollutants in the soil (e.g. trace elements or

170 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), although not necessarily exceeding risk levels in soil

171 (Stolte et al., 2016). In urban areas, soil contamination is mainly associated with industrial

172 activities (37%), industrial/commercial sector (33%) (Stolte et al., 2016), transport and

173 inadequate waste disposal (Huber et al., 2008). Mineral oil and heavy metals are the main

174 contaminants contributing to 60% of the contamination in urban soils (Stolte et al., 2016).

175 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, for example, are adsorbed to soil particles and difficult to

176 degrade, thus can be accumulated in soil, which is the most important environmental sink

177 for these contaminants (Wang et al., 2018). Contamination of urban soils with plant available

178 trace metals were frequently recorded (Cheng et al., 2014), as consequence of the rapid

179 socio-economic development (Jia et al., 2018).

180 Different studies evidence that electronic waste (e-waste) includes a large range of toxic

181 compounds (Liu et al., 2008; Ma et al., 2008; Shen et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2011; Hu et al.,

182 2013). Through e-waste recycling processes different toxicants, such as polychlorinated

183 biphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants and toxic metals, polychlorinated dibenzo–
184 p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), can be released or transferred to the soil matrix,

185 inducing a serious risk to human health and environment.

186

187 SPECIAL ISSUE OBJECTIVES AND TOPICS INCLUDED

188 Since soil degradation presents a serious threat to its ability to provide ES and fulfill the

189 demands of an increasing population. There is an urgent need to assess the current state of

190 soil quality and health. Besides knowledge advance on the impacts of human activity on soil

191 properties (including the lateral and vertical extents of physical, chemical and biological

192 impacts), understanding of best ways for sustainable management and protection of soil is a

193 major research and socio-economic challenge.

194 The objective of this special issue is to bring to the light the latest advances in the studies

195 about human impacts on soils. In total 21 manuscripts were published from several regions

196 of Europe (Spain, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Russia, Poland) and Asia (Armenia, China, India).

197 They mainly focus in forest, agriculture and urban soils. Regarding forest areas, this special

198 issue includes manuscripts on post-fire management impact on soil properties (Gonzalez-

199 Romero et al., 2018-in this issue; Francos et al., 2018-in this issue; Moya et al. 2018-in this

200 issue). Concerning agricultural land uses, it comprises the manuscripts (Ballabio et al., 2018-in

201 this issue; Jiang et al., 2018-in this issue; Lipiec et al., 2018-in this issue; Nath et al., 2018a-in this

202 issue, Nath et al., 2018b-in this issue, Novara et al., 2018-in this issue; Rodrigo-Comino et al.,

203 2018-in this issue. Manuscripts addressing urban impacts include soil properties (Bretzel et al.,

204 2018-in this issue and Minkina et al., 2018a-in this issue), the influence of building and industrial

205 activities (Horvath et al., 2018b-in this issue; Kocheleva et al., 2018-in this issue; Minkina et al.,

206 2018b-in this issue) and the impact of dumpsites (Chakraborty et al., 2018-in this issue).
207 Furthermore, this special issue includes research papers investigating steepe (Bauer et al., 2018-

208 in this issue), the impact of mining activities on soils and human health (Tepanosyan et al., 2018-

209 in this issue; Sushkova et al., 2018-in this issue), the impact of mine explorations (Timofeev et al.,

210 2018-in this issue) and sediment accumulation areas (Valjavec et al., 2018-in this issue).

211

212 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

213 The Guest Editorial Team are thankful to (1) the editor in chief, prof. Damia Barcelo for the

214 opportunity to host this special issue, and to Jia Yang and Pallavi Das for the or the support

215 given and professionalism demonstrated in handling technical issues; (2) the authors for the

216 high quality of the research developed and manuscripts and (3) the reviewers for their time

217 and relevant comments which helped authors to improve the quality of their manuscripts.

218 Dr. Carla Ferreira was supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation,

219 through the Post-Doctoral Fellowship SFRH/BPD/120093/2016. This work was supported

220 by Croatian Science Foundation throughunder the project "Soil erosion and degradation in

221 Croatia" (UIP-2017-05-7834) (SEDCRO, Pereira).

222

223 REFERENCES

224 Alaoui A, Rogger M, Peth A, Blöschl F., 2018. Does soil compaction increase floods? A review.
225 J. Hydrol. 557, 631–642.

226 Alcaniz, M., Outeiro, L., Francos, M., Ubeda, X., 2018. Effects of prescribed fires on soil
227 properties. Sci. Total. Environ. 613-614, 944–957.

228 Arif, M.S., Riaz, M., Shahzad, S.M., Yasmeen, t., Ashraf, M., Siddique, M., Mubarik, M.S.,
229 Bragazza, L., Buttler A., 2018. Fresh and composted industrial sludge restore soil functions
230 in surface soil of degraded agricultural land. Sci. Total Environ. 619-620, 517–527.
231 Ballabio, C., Panagos, P., Lugato, E., Huang, J.H., Orgiazzi, A., Jones, A., Fernandez-Ugalde, O.,
232 Borrelli, P., Montanarella, L. , 2018. Copper distribution in European topsoils: An assessment
233 based on LUCAS soil survey. Sci. Total Environ. 636, 282–298.

234 Bauer, T., Pinskii, D., Minkina, T., Nevidomskaya, D., Mandzhieva, M., Burachevskaya, M.,
235 Chaplygin, V., Popileshko, Y., 2018. Time effect on the stabilization of technogenic copper
236 compounds in solid phases of Haplic Chernozem. Sci. Total. Environ. 626, 1100–1107.

237 Bednář, M., Šarapatka, B., 2018. Relationships between physical–geographical factors and
238 soil degradationon agricultural land. Environ. Res. 164, 660–668.

239 Birkas, M.. 2008. Environmentally sound adaptable tillage. Akademia Kiado, Budapest,
240 Hungary. Available at http://static.akkrt.hu/media/2/2/1/3/4/22134.pdf

241 Bonanomi, G., Gaglione, S.A., Cesarano, G., Sarker, T.C., Pascale, M., Scala, F., Zoina, A., 2017.
242 Frequent Applications of Organic Matter to Agricultural Soil Increase Fungistasis.
243 Pedosphere 27, 86–95.

244 Bretzel, F., Caudai, C., Tassi, E., Rosellini, I., Scatena, M., Pini, R. (2018) Culture and
245 Horticulture; protecting soil quality in urban gardening. Sci. Total. Environ. (In press)

246 Brevik, E.C., Calzolari, C., Miller, B.A., Pereira, P., Kabala, C., Baumgarten, A., Jordán, A., 2016.
247 Soil mapping, classification, and pedologic modeling: history and future directions.
248 Geoderma 264, 256–274.

249 Brockerhoff, E.G., Barbaro, L., Castagneyrol, B., Forrester, D.I., Gardiner, B., Gonzalez-
250 Olabarria, J.R., Lyver, P.O’B., Meurisse, N., Oxbrough, A., Taki, H., Thompson, I.D., van der Plas,
251 F., Jactel, H., 2017. Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem
252 services. Biodivers. Conserv. 26, 3005–3035.

253 Bünemanna, E.K., Bongiorno, G., Bai, Z., Creamerb, R.E., Deynb, G.,Goedeb, R., Fleskensd, L.,
254 Geissend, V., Kuyperb, T.W., Mädera, P., Pullemanb, M., Sukkelf, W., Groenigenb, J.W.v.,
255 Brussaard, L., 2018. Soil quality – A critical review. Soil Biol. Biochem. 120, 105–125.

256 CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The World Factbook 2017. Washington, DC: Central
257 Intelligence Agency, 2017. Available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-
258 world-factbook/geos/xx.html
259 Chakraborty, P., Selvaraj, S., Nakamura, M., Prithiviraj, B., Cincinelli, A., Bang, J.J., 2018. PCBs
260 and PCDD/Fs in soil from informal e-waste recycling sites and open dumpsites in India:
261 Levels, congener profiles and health risk assessment. Sci. Total. Environ. 621, 930–938.

262 Cheng, H., Li, M., Zhao, C., Li, K., Peng, M., Qin, A., Cheng, X., 2014. Overview of trace metals in
263 the urban soil of 31 metropolises in China. J Geochem Explor 139, 31–52.

264 Dulio, V., Bavel, B.V., Brorström-Lundén, E., Harmsen, J., Hollender, J., Schlabach, M.,
265 Slobodnik, J., Thomas, K., Koschorreck, J., 2018. Emerging pollutants in the EU: 10 years of
266 NORMAN in support of environmental policies and regulations. Environ. Sci. Eur. 30, 1–13.

267 EEA (European Environment Agency). Landscapes in transition - an account of 25 years of

268 land cover change in Europe. European Environment Agency; 2017. Report No 10/2017.

269 EP and Council, 2002 Decision No 1600/2002/EC Laying Down the Sixth Community
270 Environmental Action Programme. OJ L242/1. Brussels, p. 1–15.

271 Eswaran, H., Lal, R., Reich, P.F., 2001. Land degradation: an overview. In: Bridges, E.M.,
272 Hannam, I.D., Oldeman, L.R., Pening de Vries, F.W.T., Scherr, S.J., Sompatpanit S. (eds.).
273 Responses to Land Degradation. Proc. 2nd. International Conference on Land Degradation
274 and Desertification, Khon Kaen, thailand. Oxford Press, New Delhi, India.

275 European Commission, 2006. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the
276 European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
277 Regions. In: Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (COM 2006.231). Commission of the
278 European Communities, Brussels.

279 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization), 2010. Statistical Yearbook. Rome. Available at
280 http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/am081m/PDF/am081m00b.pdf

281 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization), 2016. Global forest resources assessment 2015.
282 How are the world forests changing? Rome, pp. 45.

283 Farah, F.T., Muylaert, R.L., Ribeiro, M.C., Ribeiro, J.W., Mangueira, J.R.S.A., Souza, V.C.,
284 Rodrigues, R.R., 2017. Integrating plant richness in forest patches can rescue overall
285 biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. For. Ecol. Manage. 397, 78–88.
286 Ferreira, C.S.S., Walsh, R.P.D., Ferreira, A.J.D., 2018a. Degradation in urban areas. Current
287 Opinion in Environmental Science & Health 5, 19–25.

288 Ferreira, C.S.S., Keizer, J.J., Santos, L.M.B., Serpa, D., Silva, V., Cerqueira, M., Ferreira, A.J.D.,
289 Abrantes, N., 2018. Runoff, sediment and nutrient exports from a Mediterranean vineyard
290 under integrated production: an experiment at plot scale. Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 256, 184–
291 193.

292 Francos, M., Pereira, P., Alcaniz, M., Ubeda, X., 2018. Post-fire management effects on short-
293 term evolution of soil properties (Catalonia, Spain, SW-Europe). Sci. Total Environ. 633, 285–
294 292.

295 Gonzalez-Romero, J., Lucas-Borja, M., Plaza-Alvarez, P., Sagra, J., Moya, D., De Las Heras, J.,
296 2018. Temporal effects of post-fire check dam construction on soil functionality in SE Spain.
297 Sci. Total Environ. 642, 117–124.

298 Himmelstein, J.C., Maul, J.E., Everts, K.L., 2014. Impact of five cover crop green manures and
299 Actinovate on Fusarium wilt of watermelon. Plant. Dis. 98, 965–972.

300 Horvath, A., Kalicz, P., Farsang, A., Balazs, P., Berki, I., Bidlo, A., 2018. Influence of human
301 impacts on trace metal accumulation in soils of two Hungarian cities. Sci. Total. Environ.,
302 637-638, 1197–1208.

303 Hu, J., Xiao, X., Pa, Peng, Huang, W., Chen, D., Cai, Y., 2013. Spatial distribution of
304 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo-furans (PCDDs/Fs) in dust, soil, sediment
305 and health risk assessment from an intensive electronic waste recycling site in Southern
306 China. Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts 15, 1889–1896.

307 Huber, S., Prokop, G., Arrouays, D., Banko, G., Bispo, A., Jones, R.J.A., Kibblewhite, M.G., Lexer,
308 W., Möller, A., Rickson, R.J., Shishkov, T., Stephens, M., Toth, G., Van den Akker, J.J.H.,
309 Varallyay, G., Verheijen, F.G.A., Jones, A.R., 2008. Environmental Assessment of Soil for
310 Monitoring - Volume I: Indicators & Criteria. European Commission, Joint Research Centre,
311 Institute for Environment and Sustainability 2008, EUR 23490 EN/1.
312 Jia, Z., Li, S., Wang, L., 2018. Assessment of soil heavy metals for eco-environment and human
313 health in a rapidly urbanization area of the upper Yangtze Basin. Scientific Reports. 8(1),
314 3256.

315 Jiang, Y., Rao, L., Sun, K., Han, H., Guo, X., 2018. Spatio-temporal distribution of soil nitrogen
316 in Poyang lake ecological economic zone (South-China). Sci. Total. Environ. 626, 235–243.

317 Jónsson, J.Ö., Davíðsdóttir, B., Jónsdóttir, E.M., Kristinsdóttir, S.M., Ragnarsdóttir, K.V., 2016.
318 Soil indicators for sustainable development: A transdisciplinary approach for indicator
319 development using expert stakeholders. Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 232, 179–189.

320 Kanter, D.R., Musumba, M., Wood, W.L.R., Palm, C., Antle, J., Balvanera, P., Dale, V.H., Havlik,
321 P., Kline, K.L., Scholes, R.J., Thornton, P., Tittonell, P., Andelman, S., 2018. Evaluating
322 agricultural trade-offs in the age of sustainable development. Agr. Sys 163, 73–88.

323 Kassam, A., Derpsch, R., & Friedrich, T., 2014. Global achievements in soil and water
324 conservation: The case of Conservation Agriculture. International Soil and Water
325 Conservation Research. 2(1), 5-13.

326 Keesstra, S. D., Bouma, J., Wallinga, J., Tittonell, P., Smith, P., Cerdà, A., Montanarella, L.,
327 Quinton, J. N., Pachepsky, Y., van der Putten, W. H., Bardgett, R. D., Moolenaar, S., Mol, G.,
328 Jansen, B., and Fresco, L. O.,2016. The significance of soils and soil science towards
329 realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Soil 2, 111-128.

330 Kocheleva, N.E., Vlasov, D., Korlyakov, I.D., Kasimov, N., 2018. Сontamination of urban soils
331 with heavy metals in Moscow as affected by building development. Sci. Total. Environ. 639,
332 854–863.

333 Li, Y., Chang, S.X., Tian, L., Zhang, Q., 2018. Conservation agriculture practices increase soil
334 microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in agricultural soils: A global meta-analysis. Soil Biol.
335 Biochem. 121, 50–58.

336 Lipiec, J., Usowicz, B., 2018. Spatial relationships among cereal yields and selected soil
337 physical and chemical properties. Sci. Total. Environ. 633, 1579–1590.
338 Liu, H., Zhou, Q., Wang, Y., Zhang, Q., Cai, Z., Jiang, G., 2008. E-waste recycling induced
339 polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-
340 dioxins and dibenzo-furans pollution in the ambient environment. Environ. Int. 34, 67–72.

341 Lone, A.H., Najar, G.R., Ganie, M.A., Sofi, J.A., Ali, T., 2015. Biochar for Sustainable Soil Health:
342 A Review of Prospects and Concerns. Pedosphere 25, 639–653.

343 Ma, J., Kannan, K., Cheng, J., Horii, Y., Wu, Q., Wang, W., 2008. Concentrations, profiles, and
344 estimated human exposures for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans from
345 electronic waste recycling facilities and a chemical industrial complex in Eastern China.
346 Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 8252–8259.

347 Mayor, A.G., Valdecantos, A., Vallejo, R., Keizer, J.J., Bloem, J., Baeza, J., Gonzalez-Pelayo, O.,
348 Machado, I., de Ruiter, P.C., 2016. Fire-induced pine woodland to scrubland transitions in
349 southern Europe may promote shifts in soil fertility. Sci. Total. Environ. 573, 1232–1241.

350 Minkina, T., Nevidomskaya, D., Bauer, T., Shuvaeva, V., Soldatov, A., Mandzihieva, Y.,
351 Zubavichius, Y., Trigub, A., 2018a. Determining the speciation of Zn in soils around the
352 sediment ponds of chemical plants by XRD and XAFS spectroscopy and sequential extraction.
353 Sci. Total. Environ. 634, 1165–1173.

354 Minkina, T., Fedroenko, H., Nevidomskaya, D., Fedorenko, A., Chaplygin, V., Mandhzieva, S.,
355 2018b. Morphological and anatomical changes of Phragmites australis Cav. due to the uptake
356 and accumulation of heavy metals from polluted soils. Sci. Total Environ. 638, 392-401.

357 Montanarella, L., Vargas, R., 2012. Global governance of soil resources as a necessary
358 condition for sustainable development. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4,
359 559–564.

360 Morel, J.L., Schwartz, C., Florentin, L., de Kimpe, C., 2005. Urban Soils A2, in Hillel, D. (Eds.),
361 Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment. Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 202-208.

362 Moya, D., Gonzalez-De Vega, S., Garcia-Orenes, F., Morugan-Coronado, A., Arcenegui, V.,
363 Mataix-Solera, J., Lucas-Borja, M.E., De las Hera, J., 2018. Temporal characterisation of soil-
364 plant natural recovery related to fire severity in burned Pinus halepensis Mill. forests. Sci.
365 Total. Environ. 640-641, 42–51.
366 Nath, A.J., Lal, R., Sileshi, G.W., Das, A.K., 2018a. Managing India's small landholder farms for
367 food security and achieving the “4 per Thousand” target. Sci. Total. Environ. 634, 1024–1033.

368 Nath, A.J., Brahma, B., Sileshi, G.W., Das, .K., 2018b. Impact of land use changes on the storage
369 of soil organic carbon in active and recalcitrant pools in a humid tropical region of India. Sci.
370 Total. Environ. 624, 908–917.

371 Nellemann, C., MacDevette, M., Manders, T., Eickhout, B., Svihus, B., Prins, A. G., Kaltenborn,
372 B. P. (Eds), 2009. The environmental food crisis – The environment’s role in averting future
373 food crises. A UNEP rapid response assessment. United Nations Environment Programme,
374 GRID-Arendal.

375 Neuer, S., Knoke, T., 2017. Economic consequences of altered survival of mixed or pure
376 Norway spruce under a dryer and warmer climate. Climatic Change 140, 519–531.

377 Nguyen, N.K., Dörfler, U., Welzl, G., Munch, J.C., Schroll, R., Suhadolc, M., 2018. Large variation
378 in glyphosate mineralization in 21 different agricultural soils explained by soil properties.
379 Sci. Total Environ. 627, 544–552.

380 Nortcliff, S., 2002. Standardisation of soil quality attributes. Agr. Ecosys. Environ. 88, 161–
381 168.

382 Novara, A., Pisciotta, A., Minacapilli, M., Maltese, A., Capodici, F., Cerda, A., Gristina, L., 2018.
383 The impact of soil erosion on soil fertility and vine vigor. A multidisciplinary approach based
384 on field, laboratory and remote sensing approaches. Sci. Total. Environ. 622-623, 474–480.

385 Paleari, S., 2017. Is the European Union protecting soil? A critical analysis of Community
386 environmental policy and law. Land Use Policy 64, 163–173.

387 Pan, M., Chu, L.M., 2016. Adsorption and degradation of five selected antibiotics in
388 agricultural soil. Sci. Total Environ. 545-546, 48–56.

389 Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, E., Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L.,
390 Alewell, C., 2015. The new assessment of soil loss by water erosion in Europe. Environ. Sci.
391 Policy 54, 438–47.
392 Pereira, P., Bogunovic, I. Muñoz-Rojas, M., Brevik, E.C., 2018a. Soil ecosystem services,
393 sustainability, valuation and management. Current Opinion in Environmental Science &
394 Health 5, 7–13.

395 Pereira, P., Francos, M., Brevik, E.C., Ubeda, X., Bogunovic, I., 2018b. Post-fire soil
396 management. Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health 5, 26 - 32.

397 Pereira, P., Rein, G., Martin, D.A., 2016. Past and present post-fire environments. Sci. Total.
398 Environ. 573, 1275–1277.

399 Rakshit, A., Abhilash, P.C., Singh, H.B., Ghosh, S., 2017. Managing soil resources for sustainable
400 development Adaptive soil management: From theory to practices. J Clean. Produ. 174, 199–
401 200.

402 Rodrigo-Comino, J., Brevik, E.C., Cerda, A., 2018. The age of vines as a controlling factor of soil
403 erosion processes in Mediterranean vineyards. Sci. Total. Environ. 616-617, 1163–1173.

404 Shakesby, R.A., Bento, C.P., Ferreira, C.S., Ferreira, A.J., Stoof, C.R., Urbanek, E., Walsh, R.P.,
405 2015. Impacts of prescribed fire on soil loss and soil quality: an assessment based on an
406 experimentally-burned catchment in central Portugal. Catena 128, 278-293.

407 Shen, C., Chen, Y., Huang, S., Wang, Z., Yu, C., Qiao, M., Xu, Y., Setty, K., Zhang, J., Zhu, Y., Lin, Q.,
408 2009. Dioxin-like compounds in agricultural soils near e-waste recycling sites from Taizhou
409 area, China: chemical and bioanalytical characterization. Environ. Int. 35, 50–55.

410 Shuler, L.J., Bugmann, H., Snell, R., 2017. From monocultures to mixed-species forests: is tree
411 diversity key for providing ecosystem services at landscape scale? Landscape Ecology 32,
412 1499–1516.

413 Silva, V., Montanarella, L., Jones, A., Fernández-Ugalde, O., Mol, H.G.J., Ritsema, C.J., Geissen,
414 V., 2018. Distribution of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in
415 agricultural topsoils of the European Union. Sci. Total Environ. 621, 1352–1359.

416 Squire, G.R., Hawes, C., Valentine, T.A., Young, M.W., 2015. Degradation rate of soil function
417 varies with trajectory of agricultural intensification. Agr. Ecosys. Environ 202, 160–167.
418 Sushkova, S., Deryabkina, I., Antonenki, E., Kizilkaya, R., Rajput, V., Vasilyeva, G., 2018.
419 Benzo[a]pyrene degradation and bioaccumulation in soil-plant system under artificial
420 contamination. Sci. Total. Environ. 633, 1386–1391.

421 Stolte, J., Tesfai, M., Øygarden, L., Kværnø, S., Keizer, J., Verheijen, F., Panagos, P., Ballabio, C.,
422 Hessel, R., 2016. Soil threats in Europe: status, methods, drivers and effects on ecosystem
423 services. A review report, deliverable 2.1 of the RECARE project 2016. Available at
424 https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/shared_folder/doc_pub/EUR27607.pdf

425 Tessler, N., Sapir, Y., Wittenberg, L., Greenbaum, N., 2016. Recovery of mediterranean
426 vegetation after recurrent forest fires: Insight from the 2010 forest fire in Mount Carmell,
427 Israel. Land Degrad. Develop. 27, 1424–1431.

428 Tepanosyan, G., Sahakyan, L., Belayaeva, O., Asmaryan, S., Saghatelyan, A., 2018. Continuous
429 impact of mining activities on soil heavy metals levels and human health. Sci. Total. Environ.
430 639, 900–909.

431 Thies, E.J., Rilling, M.C., 2009. Characteristics of biochar: biological properties. Lehmann, J.,
432 Joseph, S. (Eds.), Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology.
433 Earthscan, London, pp. 85–102

434 Timofeev, I., Kocheleva, N., Kasimov, N., 2018. Contamination of soils by potentially toxic
435 elements in the impact zone of tungsten‑molybdenum ore mine in the Baikal region: A survey
436 and risk assessment. Sci. Total. Environ. 642, 63–76.

437 Ubeda, X., Pereira, P., Badia, D. (2018) Prescribed fires. Sci. Tot. Environ. 637-638, 385–388.

438 UN (United Nations), 2015. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
439 Development. United Nations General Assembly Resolution, 2015 September 18. Available
440 at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld

441 UN (United Nation), 2017. World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. Department of
442 Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division 2017. Available at
443 www.Worldometers.info.
444 UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), 2012. Global Environmental Outlook:
445 Environment for the future we want. Available at
446 http://www.unep.org/geo/sites/unep.org.geo/files/documents/geo5 frontmatter.pdf.

447 Valjavec, M.B., Zorn, M., Carni, A., 2018. Bioindication of human-induced soil degradation in
448 enclosed karst depressions (dolines) using Ellenberg indicator values (Classical Karst,
449 Slovenia). Sci. Total. Environ. 640-641, 117–126.

450 Waggenbrenner, J.W., McDonald, L.H., Coats, R.N., Robichaud, P.R., Brown, R.E., 2015. Effects
451 of post-fire salvage logging and skid trail treatment on ground cover, soils and sediment
452 production in the interior western United States. Forest Ecol. Manage. 335, 176–193.

453 Wang, Y., Luo, C.-L., Li, J., Yin, H., Li, X.-D., Zhang, G., 2011. Characterization and risk
454 assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls in soils and vegetations near an electronic waste
455 recycling site, South China. Chemosphere 85, 344–350.

456 Wang, C., Zhou, S., Song, J., Wu, S., 2018. Human health risks of polycyclic aromatic
457 hydrocarbons in the urban soils of Nanjing, China. Sci. Total. Environ. 612, 750–757.

458 Yang, J.-L., and Zhang G.-L., 2015. Formation, characteristics and eco-environmental
459 implications of urban soils – A review. Soil Sci. Plant Nutri. 61, 30–46.

460
461 Graphical Abstract

462