ABSTRACT
Soil is the foundation of terrestrial ecosystems and the majority of ecosystem services needed for human survival arise from soil (Kibblewhite et al., 2008). Ecosystem services provided by soil can be supporting (e.g. primary production and biodiversity) or regulatory (e.g. erosion control, water infiltration, nutrient retention, atmospheric gas regulation and pest control). By definition, ecosystem services benefit human welfare and represent nature’s capital (Costanza et al., 1997; Robinson et al., 2012). For example, the economic value of soil microbial metabolic pathways in removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, abating nutrients, eradicating pathogens and degrading organic pollutants has been estimated to be double that of the gross annual product (Guimaraes et al., 2010). Many ecosystem services inherently depend on soil health and biodiversity of the soil biota (Barrios, 2007; Brussaard, 2013). Soil health refers to the capacity of soil to function, meaning to sustain or improve productivity and health of plants and higher trophic levels, as well as air and water quality in natural and managed ecosystems (Kibblewhite et al., 2008).
