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An applied hydropedological perspective on the rendering of ecosystem services from urban soils
Citation:
Shuster, W. AND S. Dadio. An applied hydropedological perspective on the rendering of ecosystem services from urban soils. Chapter 12, Advances in soil science: urban soils. CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, Boca Raton, FL, , 406, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
Although a technical perspective is necessary to classify and assess urban soils for their biogeochemical and hydrologic attributes, a purely practical perspective of soils as an urban natural resource is equally important to decision makers (e.g., city planners, wastewater professionals, governance, etc.). The concept of ecosystem services is one way to engage and communicate with a multicultural, pluralistic society.
Description:
Ecosystem services are benefits to human populations derived from natural capitals like soil. When a soil is urbanized during infrastructure and superstructure development, the related processes modulate the state and quality of natural resources, along with the form and function of the resultant soil. The functional aspects of the soil in turn create bounds on the presence, absence, and overall continuity of supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural types of ecosystem services. To support our assertions, we offer a unique, field-based perspective on the formation of urban soils and illustrative examples of how form and formation under disturbance may lead to the rendering of certain ecosystem services, or the cessation of others.
