Drylands (hyperarid, arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid ecosystems) cover almost half of Earth\uffe2\uff80\uff99s land surface and are highly vulnerable to environmental pressures. Here we provide an inventory of soil properties including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stocks within the current boundaries of drylands, aimed at serving as a benchmark in the face of future challenges including increased population, food security, desertification, and climate change. Aridity limits plant production and results in poorly developed soils, with coarse texture, low C:N and C:P, scarce organic matter, and high vulnerability to erosion. Dryland soils store 646 Pg of organic C to 2\uffe2\uff80\uff89m, the equivalent of 32% of the global soil organic C pool. The magnitude of the historic loss of C from dryland soils due to human land use and cover change and their typically low C:N and C:P suggest high potential to build up soil organic matter, but coarse soil textures may limit protection and stabilization processes. Restoring, preserving, and increasing soil organic matter in drylands may help slow down rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide by sequestering C, and is strongly needed to enhance food security and reduce the risk of land degradation and desertification. Due to their abilities to survive intense radiation and low water availability, hypersaline microbial mats are often suggested to be analogs of potential extraterrestrial life. However, even on Earth, the limitations imposed on microbial processes by saturation-level salinity have rarely been studied in situ . Effects of invasion of an aspen forest in the Canadian Rocky Mountains by the earthworm Dendrobaena octaedra (Savigny) on nutrient mineralization, soil microflora, and plant growth were investigated during the growth period of 1992. Experimental chambers with reconstructed forest floor were placed in the field and destructively sampled after 7 and 14 wk. D. octaedra enhanced the shoot biomass of the grass Agropyron trachycaulum (Link) Malte (Poaceae) and increased the shoot\uffe2\uff80\uff94to\uffe2\uff80\uff94root ratio during early plant growth. Microbial biomass, basal respiration and respiratory quotient qCO2 in L/F layer material were reduced by D. octaedra but increased in the H layer. The nutrient (NH4+, NO3\uffe2\uff80\uff94, PO43\uffe2\uff80\uff94) content in soil was also affected by D. octaedra but the effects were small. Effects of the earthworms on soil nutrient content were masked by the great variation in the data and by leaching of nutrients from experimental chambers.
", "keywords": ["roots", "microbes and plants", "soil chemistry", "growth", "populus", "microflora and plants", "Invasion effects on nutrients", "Alberta", "forest soils", "microflora and plants in aspen forest", "Dendrobaena octaedra (Oligochaeta): Element cycles", "Forest and woodland", "nutrients", "biomass production", "Invasion consequences for ecosystem processes in forest soils", "impacts of invasion in aspen forest soils", "mineralization", "Annelids", "effects", "invasion impacts on ecosystem processes", "forests", "2. Zero hunger", "plant morphology", "effects on nutrients", "biomass", "soil fertility", "grasslands", "Habitat colonization", "KananaskisValley", "woodland grasslands", "Dispersal", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "invasion", "Invasion of aspen forest soils effects on nutrients", "Invertebrates", "soil biology", "introduced species", "Soil habitat", "Aspen forest soils", "Nutrient mineralization", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "dendrobaena", "Impact on habitat", "root shoot ratio", "elymus trachycaulus", "soil fauna", "forest trees", "shoots"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Scheu, Stefan, Parkinson, Dennis,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.2307/1940889"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.2307/1940889", "name": "item", "description": "10.2307/1940889", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.2307/1940889"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "1994-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "11369/372709", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-16T16:24:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-09-07", "title": "Soil resources and element stocks in drylands to face global issues", "description": "AbstractDrylands (hyperarid, arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid ecosystems) cover almost half of Earth\uffe2\uff80\uff99s land surface and are highly vulnerable to environmental pressures. Here we provide an inventory of soil properties including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stocks within the current boundaries of drylands, aimed at serving as a benchmark in the face of future challenges including increased population, food security, desertification, and climate change. Aridity limits plant production and results in poorly developed soils, with coarse texture, low C:N and C:P, scarce organic matter, and high vulnerability to erosion. Dryland soils store 646 Pg of organic C to 2\uffe2\uff80\uff89m, the equivalent of 32% of the global soil organic C pool. The magnitude of the historic loss of C from dryland soils due to human land use and cover change and their typically low C:N and C:P suggest high potential to build up soil organic matter, but coarse soil textures may limit protection and stabilization processes. Restoring, preserving, and increasing soil organic matter in drylands may help slow down rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide by sequestering C, and is strongly needed to enhance food security and reduce the risk of land degradation and desertification. Due to their abilities to survive intense radiation and low water availability, hypersaline microbial mats are often suggested to be analogs of potential extraterrestrial life. However, even on Earth, the limitations imposed on microbial processes by saturation-level salinity have rarely been studied in situ .