Some types of dirt are endangered -- and even extinct
UC Berkeley scientist urges 'saving soils on the basis of rareness or endangeredness'
Tuesday, November 11, 2003 - TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL
Soil doesn't have an elevated place in the English lexicon. Things are as common as dirt, as plentiful as dirt and as cheap as dirt.
However, if a scientist at the University of California-Berkeley has his way, we may soon start to hear about soil that is as rare, endangered and beloved as dirt.
Ronald Amundson and his co-workers analyzed the distribution of soil in the United States and came up with some astounding statistics about the perilous status of the seemingly ubiquitous earths of North America.
In a recent paper, the scientists argued that of the 13,129 soil series in the United States -- a series is roughly the dirt equivalent of a species in the plant and animal realm -- 4,540 are rare or "rare-unique." On top of this, 508 are endangered, that is, threatened with elimination by agricultural or building practices. And 31 species are "effectively" extinct, meaning that they are 90 to 100 percent obliterated.
The researchers recommend that at least some of the endangered North American dirt be preserved with the same zealousness devoted to saving the African rhino or the Siberian tiger. "Maybe some groups of soil are worthy of consideration of what we want to leave to the future," Amundson says.
So, when is a soil worth saving and how do you go about saving it?
"I wouldn't advocate saving soils on the basis of rareness or endangeredness alone," Amundson says. "Preserving undisturbed soils is coincident with saving unique ecosystems."
The California scientist proposes linking the development of what you might call soil refuges to the unique ecosystems that they spawn. As an example, he points to the virtue of saving nutrient-poor soils near Ione, because they provide a habitat for plants not found anywhere else in the United States.
Undisturbed? Just how did this guy figure the soil got there? Sheesh! Very few areas have soil directly derived from underlying bedrock without some sedimentation/erosion going on.
Oh. undisturbed by those nasty humans.....