Preface:Special issue on soil ecology and sustainability for celebrating the 70thanniversary of ISSCAS

The Institute of Soil Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences(ISSAS)was founded in 1953.The institute aims to solve the problems of agricultural development,ecological conservation,and environmental protection and to promote the development of soil science.

China’s arable land is facing dual pressure of construction occupation and ecological degradation.This is because the rapid urbanization and industrialization continue to occupy high-quality arable land and the quality of complementary arable land is relatively low(Cumminget al.,2014;Wang S Tet al.,2021).To ensure national food security,agricultural product quality,and agricultural ecology security,it is particularly important to ensure soil health to maintain sustainable agricultural production.

Agriculture is the basis for human survival,and soil is fundamental to food security(Parret al.,1994).According to statistics,more than 80%of the calories,75%of the protein and plant fiber consumed daily by the world’s population,come directly from soil.Soil microorganisms,which in fact live in a pattern of microbial aggregates,play an important role in helping plants to obtain nutrients,resist diseases,and increase the tolerance to stresses such as drought,high salinity,and pollution.Therefore,maintaining soil health is crucial to ensure agricultural sustainability and human welfare.The following aspects are suggested to be focused.

Ensuring sustainable agriculture andsoildevelopment.The construction of a beautiful China is based on the sustainability of agriculture,and the soil health greatly affects the sustainability of agriculture(Yang and Liu,2014).In other words,beautiful China is rooted in healthy soils.Maintaining soil health is the only way to achieve sustainable development,healthy food,and healthy life.Important soil-related initiatives in sustainable agricultural development at least include three aspects:1) maintaining enough arable soil area;2)improving soil quality and preventing soil degradation;and 3)managing soil sustainably,improving water-holding capacity and nutrient utilization,and achieving food production and quality and ecological security.

Soilpollution prevention and control.At present,the whole society in China is highly concerned about the ecological safety and agricultural product quality and safety because of soil pollution and has gathered social consensus for soil pollution prevention and control legislation.To achieve sustainable soil use,some emerging nature-based solutions can be employed to prevent and control soil pollution(Moriet al.,2021),such as periphytic biofilms in paddy fields which can remove inorganic and organic pollutants (Wu,2017;Sunet al.,2021;Wang Yet al.,2021).Additionally,it is also necessary to vigorously promote all-round soil protection legislation,formulate stricter soil protection laws and regulations,and promote the implementation of sustainable soil resource management policies.

Preventing soildegradation.The rapid growth of global population and increasing food demand,combined with strong human intervention,have led to severe soil degradation and a continuous reduction in the food supply capacity of high-quality arable land (Plazaet al.,2019;Brandoliniet al.,2023).Soil degradation poses a huge challenge to ensuring food security and sustainable soil use,management,and protection.Therefore,there is an urgent need to find solutions for preventing soil degradation.

Enlarging soilnutrient pool and promoting nutrient recycling.Soil is the backbone of the terrestrial nutrient cycles (Honget al.,2023).Currently,population growth and economic development have put unprecedented pressure on global soil nutrient pool.Therefore,it is necessary to better protect and comprehensively manage and utilize soil to reduce soil nutrient loss and recycle nutrients.Therefore,exploring suitable soil nutrient input pathways and integrating different measures to reduce non-point source pollution,increase crop productivity,and decrease nutrient loss can achieve a win-win situation in terms of food security and environmental protection.Some nature-based solutions such as the regulation of periphytic biofilms in crop fields are needed,not only for improving nutrient bioavaiability and reducing non-point source pollution,but also for increasing soil productivity(Liuet al.,2019;Xuet al.,2020,2021;Sunet al.,2022a,b;Wanget al.,2022;Zhouet al.,2023).

Maintaining soilbiodiversity.Soil is the most biodiverse habitat on Earth and a huge gene pool that humans have not yet fully understood (Delgado-Baquerizoet al.,2020;Fanet al.,2023).Human interventions have posed great threats to global soil biodiversity,spatial and temporal distribution,and functional and ecological services and put forward higher requirements for how human beings can sustainably use and manage soil(Wallet al.,2015;Peixotoet al.,2022).Soil organisms need specific habitats when they serve the functions such as regulating plant growth,promoting soil formation,transforming nutrients,removing pollutants,regulating climate change,and maintaining ecosystem balance.Therefore,in order to achieve sustainable use of soil,it is necessary to consider the conditions required for the maintenance and functioning of soil biodiversity.

Thus,soil health is a major issue involving human wellbeing and strategic development and has become one of the important agricultural and environmental issues of global concern.Studies on soil ecology and sustainability could well contribute to soil health enhancement.Thus,a special issue on soil ecology and sustainability could not be more timely and was organized,with papers selected from the 20th Chinese Young Soil Scientists and the 15th Chinese Young Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Scientists Conference,held in July 21-25,2022,in Yan’an,China.

This special issue and the conference provide an exchange and cooperation platform for young workers in the fields of soil,fertilizer,plant nutrition,and other agricultural resource utilization,stimulate the vitality and intelligence of young scientific and technological workers,and promote the connection,intersection,and integration of various research fields of agronomy.Articles in the special issue show the new achievements and progress in soil health and sustainability,soil fertility,plant nutrition,and so on,made by young soil and fertilizer scientists in China in recent years.We hope that young researchers would find this special issue useful in their research activities and look forward to the development of more ecotechnologies that would eventually promote the connection,intersection,and integration of various research fields of soil science.

At last,it is suggested that China should support targeted innovation of soil science,strengthen cooperation between soil science and adjacent disciplines,actively call on the whole society to cherish and protect soil as a non-renewable resource,promote the sharing of soil science achievements,drive the coordination of soil use and management policies,and accelerate stricter soil protection legislation,so as to serve the protection of soil ecology and sustainability and ensure national agricultural and food security.