Who Cares About Soil?! (Part 7)

Ok - I hope I didn't lose anyone, or worse yet, offend anyone with my previous article. I can appreciate it that it may have been uncomfortable to read. Admittedly, it was uncomfortable for me to write and put out there too. I hope you can get past it though and understand that why that discussion was necessary to appreciate the place of Soil Science in modern-day popular ideas about the Natural Sciences and our relationship to soil. Believe it or not, we are still really only in the early stages of our journey of understanding Who Cares About Soil?! In this article, I'm going to present some ideas to you which will hopefully pick a bit more at your subconscious and really open the flood gates of understanding just how important it truly is to care about soil.

As we continue on our journey, I'm going to ask you to take a look at the images of creatures that I am including along the way. Think about what comes to your mind as you look at them. What emotions do they evoke in you? What memories to they bring up? What fears? What intrigue? All of the images in this article were specifically chosen to remind you of what lives underfoot, or what depends on soil in some important way for its existence.

Some of these animals are found pretty much everywhere, while others might only be found in specific parts of the world. The point here is to reflect within yourself what YOU think about when you immerse yourself in the images. Some of the animals pictured are mentioned in religious texts. Some of them are included in children's story books. Some of them have been popularized in present-day western society as symbols to mean certain things to us. Some of them are emblems on currency, and some of them are emblazoned on the logos of sports teams.

Why do snakes scare us? Why do spiders make our skin crawl? Why do worms gross us out? Why do ants irritate us just a little (or a lot)? If you are reading this article, tell me what you think in the comments. What are the words you would use to describe the first four images in this article I just presented (first set)? As we proceed to the next set of images, think about what changes for you intellectually and emotionally. Does your stress levels go up or down? Do you read faster or slower? Do you want to scroll back to the beginning and take a closer look at the images I presented so far? Do you spend more or less time looking at the images compared to the text?

While it is more or less obvious in the first four images how these animals rely on the soil for their existence, it becomes a little less obvious when we look at some of these other images. Take salmon for example - ocean dwelling fish who rely on shallow, rocky freshwater rivers and creeks to climb up to their spawning grounds, which are watersheds fed by nutrient-rich runoff from the surrounding soils, and support the entire ecosystem what makes the salmon run possible.

And what of the majestic lion? The 'king' of the African savannah? An emblem of bravery, power, and royalty? Where is this lion without the herbivores of the animal kingdom, which stay healthy by eating the natural produce of the soil? What do you think of when you look at the lion? Do you think about soil? ...didn't think so...it's ok, neither do I... personally, I think of the British Empire, of African Safaris, of the Zoo, of "The Lion King". A lot of things, but not soil.

What about the bears that hibernate in soil-covered dens formed by fallen trees, and rely primarily on the natural produce of the soil for the vast majority of their diet of grass and berries? When you think of the great Grizzly Bear of the Alberta Rocky Mountains, do you think about how dependent they are on healthy soil? Yea probably not.

You might be thinking of children's cartoons, or hunting, or sports team mascots, but soil is probably not even in your Top 5. You might not be able to avoid thinking about the prospect of it looking at you as if you were lunch if you came upon one in the wild, but healthy soil to support its survival is still further down the list.

As it happens, even though the habitat of the big horn sheep is pretty rough and rugged, and the soil is thin, nutrient poor and very little grows in their high elevation ranges, it is actually surprisingly challenging to legitimately convince oneself that their habitat can be reclaimed successfully after industrial-scale disturbance. Ironic, yes, but as we continue our journey to understand Soil Science, you will learn to dispel many misconceptions and challenge the conventional wisdom that largely takes Soil Science for granted.

In the last image of this set, consider the bald eagle. Even to this day, I cannot look at a bald eagle without thinking of democracy, of the great civilization known as the United States of America - the pursuit of life, liberty, and justice for all. It soars above, ruling the skies. But without healthy soil, how would it build its nest? How would the tree it roosts on be tall enough to protect their young from scavenging predators? How would it catch the salmon (which rely on the nutrients running-off from the soil around their spawning grounds) to eat, or find ground-dwelling critters to feed their young?

And in this last set - what comes to mind when you think of these animals? Do you think 'vermin', 'pests', or do you think of 'cute', 'cuddly', 'swift', and 'fuzzy' critters? Do you think of the animal, or their home in the soil? Do you think of the way the soil provides protection from enemies, denning for breeding, regulation of temperature for hibernation in the cold winter? Do you think that the snakes, spiders, worms, and ants bother them like they bother us? What comes to mind?

Do you think of the Easter Bunny and bunnies as pets? Do you think of Elmer Fudd and his nemesis, Bugs Bunny? Do you think about bioturbation and the aeration that burrows in the ground provide to the soil to enhance nutrient cycling? No? Oh, sorry - got carried away for a moment there.

When you look at the fox, are you thinking of your canine friends? How you'd like to have a fox of your own? How you like to think of yourself as swift as a fox, clever as a fox? What comes to mind? Now that we have gotten to the end of these three sets of images, tell me, why did I group them the way I did? Why did I order them the way I did? In one last self-reflection experiment, try this: go back to the beginning of this article and read it through at least once more (the more times the better). Does your perspective of the importance of Soil Science change the more times you read it? Are you more, or less put off by the idea of soil? Do you care about soil yet? Why? Why not?

Collen Middleton, P.Biol., RT(Ag) (def.)