『Abstract
The visions,directions, and images of soil science are changing.
Historically, soil science has followed a circuitous path in its
evolution from a discipline with foundational roots in geology,
to an applied agricultural and environmental discipline, and now
to a bio- and geo-science through the Earth's Critical Zone investigations.
This closes the loop or spiral, but along the way, soil science
has become more comprehensive, extensive, integrative, analytical,
and quantitative. In spite of the challenges described in this
paper, now is a golden era for soil science to integrate its expertise
more closely with other bio- and geo-sciences. This will significantly
enhance the opportunity to obtain extramural funding and public
support, as well as the advancement of soil science. As such,
soil science needs to vigorously become more interactive and extend
its role beyond traditional agriculture. The knowledge of spatial
soil diversity and landscape dynamics is a fundamental underpinning
critical to success of this venture. Pedology, as a unique subdiscipline
of soil science, contributes inordinately to Earth science, including,
for example, elucidation of field variability, surficial weathering
processes, Earth system dynamics, and vadose zone flow and transport.
With the blooming of hydrogeosciences, hydropedology is a timely
addition in this era of interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary,
and systems approaches for developing comprehensive prioritization
of science and applications in Earth science. Hydropedology has
a niche in this march with other bio- and geo-sciences in addressing
global Earth science priorities. Soil scientists support changing
paradigms and favor closer linkages with the bio- and geo-sciences
community. In this regard, hydropedology has a unique role to
play.
Keywords: The Critical Zone; Earth science; Pedosphere; Hydropedology;
Pedology; Soil architecture; Soil function』
1. Introduction
2. Concepts and definitions
3. History of soil science and a changing paradigm
4. Soil science as a basic Earth science
5. Unique contributions of pedology to Earth science
6. Hydropedology and the blooming of hydrogeosciences
7. Soil architecture and soil function
8. Philosophy and the future
9. Closing remarks
Acknowledgements
References