Urban Soils
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2020-11-16
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Citation of Original Publication
Yeakley JA. “Urban Soils,” pp. 237-247 In: Douglas I, Anderson PML, Goode DA, Houck ME, Maddox D, Nagendra H, Tan PY (eds) (2020) The Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology, 2nd ed. Routledge, London
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Abstract
While soils in cities remain challenging to characterize, continued studies by urban ecosystem scientists are revealing general characteristics of urban soils. While all soil formation factors as per Jenny (1941) remain in play in urban areas, the factor of time is particularly shortchanged, with urban soils regularly disturbed and soil formation reset, keeping most urban soil in a fairly immature development stage. Additionally, in many places in the city environment, such as lawns, median strips and vegetated landscapes near commercial buildings, topsoil is often either very thin or buried by subsoil or missing altogether. Humans nevertheless have long practiced gardening, even if mostly at an individual or household scale, and in so doing have helped promote mature soil profiles in otherwise rather sterile urban environments. As urban agriculture in cities world-wide increases, there is potential for further maturation of soils in urban areas. Additionally, the advent of novel urban soil systems associated with green infrastructure that support an important range of ecosystem services in urban areas will likely continue to enhance the value of urban soils and to promote higher quality of life for both humans as well as many other species of plants and animals in urban environments.