The Magic of Soil & Why We Study It

Written by Megan K. Nasto, Research Scientist, Working Lands Conservation

An example of a soil profile at Three Creeks – a mix of publicly- and privately-owned semiarid rangeland in Rich County, Utah.

Soil is the literal and metaphorical skin of the Earth. It is the thin layer where rock and life intersect to form the foundation of our existence. A mix of organisms both breathing and long-since passed, organic compounds from the complex to the simple, minerals ranging from common to rare, and water both stored and actively evaporating – soils are an entire ecosystem unto themselves. An ecosystem that – whether we realize it or not – provides the services that make life possible for humans. And an ecosystem – without which – humans would cease to exist.

With up to 1 billion bacteria, fungi, and other microfauna in a single teaspoon, soil supports our way of life. The microscopic animals that exist within the greater soil matrix facilitate the processing and cycling of organic matter that sustain our basic nutrition. They break down large compounds into small molecules – molecules small enough for plants to take up through their roots, fueling their growth. The same plants we eat, and the same plants that feed the animals we eat.

The stunning diversity of soil microorganisms also provide us with the medicines curing and treating our infections and diseases. From antibiotics to antifungals, and antidepressants to anticancer agents – soils animals that live mere hours help us to live decades.

Soils as a whole regulate the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the resources we use to build our civilizations. They store atmospheric carbon dioxide modulating the global climate, they filter toxins from fresh- and groundwater reserves providing clean drinking water, and they supply the medium for the materials in which we build our homes.

Without soil, our way of live would not be realized. We wouldn’t even have a life at all.

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Three Creeks contains a diverse set of soil coloes

But soils are more than just the sum of the services they provide us. Soils do not need to do something for humans in order to warrant our appreciation. They are precious, complex, interconnected systems that are worthy of respect and awe regardless of what we can get out of them.

Soils are beautiful, colorful, and charismatic. They are diverse and thriving. They are mysterious and elusive. With every layer, every inch downwards, they contain visual clues to how they formed and how they function. They are natural puzzles begging to be solved if one were to only take the time and dig in their hands and minds. 

Soils are our muse. They inspire paintings, music, books, movies – all forms of art far and wide. They have an intuitive and intangible value. An intrinsic value beyond the services they provide.

. . .

To some, soils are merely the ground beneath our feet, the medium for our food supply, the smell of the compost heap, the dirt on our collar, or even the receptacle for our dog’s excrement. But to me – to me – soils are enigmatic. Soils are central to my very being. They are my professional and personal sense of self. They are how I see the world.

I see the world for the soil.

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We – at Working Land Conservation – are building a soils program. We are furthering the work we already conduct to develop a holistic approach of understanding the working landscapes that make up much of the western United States. We are continuing to engage with our multi-stakeholder partners that either use, work, manage, or appreciate the ~57,000 hectares of public rangelands in Rich County, UT – otherwise known as Three Creeks. Together, we are examining how the legacy of different land management strategies related to livestock grazing affects soil health, and in particular, soil carbon.

Rangelands represent a vast store of soil carbon – 30% of the total terrestrial reserve and exceeding the amount found in the atmosphere. That being the case, any change in soil carbon has big implications for atmospheric carbon dioxide and the global climate. Though this pool of carbon in rangeland soils is large, it actually reflects a severe loss over time caused by poorly managed livestock grazing. When rangeland soils have been degraded and left in poor health, however, they have a high potential to store new carbon. And realizing this potential requires both a fundamental understanding of how livestock grazing affects soil carbon and the restoration of healthy soils.

In the summer of 2021, and in collaboration with our multi-stakeholder partners, we carried out pilot work to inform much larger and complex studies of how soil carbon varies across such a heterogenous working landscape under different historical management strategies. This work involved digging soil pits to characterize the diversity of soil profiles, as well as extracting soil samples to analyze for various metrics of soil health, including carbon. We are hands-deep in soil sieves processing our samples but we are optimistic that the data we generate will enable us to design a sampling strategy that accurately and robustly estimates soil carbon across all of Three Creeks.

Stay tuned because more information about what these projects specifically are and how we plan to tackle them are forthcoming!

Just some of the fun we had digging soil pits, characterizing soil profiles, and extracting soil samples on Three Creeks!

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While we strive to better understand the services that soils provide to working landscapes, and incorporate these services into best management practices for the maintenance and health of sustainable public lands, we won’t let go of their intrinsic value. We won’t let go of their inherent curiosity and wonder. We won’t let go of our sheer joy when digging a new soil pit. We won’t let go of the happiness our hands in dirt bring us. We won’t let go of their magic. 

So with every new project we begin, every new soil we unearth, every new color we expose, and every new clod we break apart, we will share it here with you. We will share it in hopes that you will walk away not only learning one more important fact about soil but appreciated the natural wonder that soil is. A beautiful cross-section of nature and human existence.