Soil Change in the Anthropocene: Bridging Pedology, Land Use and Soil Management

Pedology is the science of soil change. Historically, this meant that pedology was mainly a basic science of natural soil processes and soil formations. Today, in the new geologic epoch that Crutzen (2002) has named the Anthropocene, pedology is fundamentally challenged to bring humanity entirely within the soil continuum (Dudal et al., 2002). During this period in which humanity exerts growing and predominant in¥uence over Earth’s systems, and especially Earth’s soil (Yaalen 2000), pedology is becoming a much more interdisciplinary science with basic and applied objectives, one that requires the natural and social sciences but also the humanities (Richter, 2007).