GLOBAL SOIL CHANGE Report of an International lnstitute for Applied System Analysis, International Society of Soil Science, United Nations Environmental Programme Task Force on the Role of Soil in Global Change Editors: R. W. ARNOLD, I. SZABOLCS, V. 0. TARGULIAN International lnstitute for Applied Systems Analysis Laxenburg, Austria 1990 CONTENTS FtXd ........................................................ 7 Prefaae ........................................................ 9 Editorial Preface ............................................... 11 Q=@=I In- ...................................... 15 Chapter 11 Pedospkre ....................................... 21 Chapter I11 Soil axe.r of t.h?Wrld ........................... 31 Chapterm Types of Soil Prooesses and Changes ............... 41 Chapter v Pdleosols in the ca-ltext of Envirmm?ntal Changes .......................................... 63 Chaptern An-c Effects cm Soils .................... 69 Chapter VII EUture Changes of tk Pedospkre .................. 87 Chapter VIII Spatial Soil Databases ard kdeling ............... 91 mpter IX amclusions and &amendations ................... lo3 FOREWORD The International Institute for Applied Systems, is a non-governmental, interdisciplinary research organization founded in 1972. Arrang its mst relevant abjectives are "the initiation and supprt of individual and col- lakorative research on problems associated with environmental chanqe, and thereby to assist scientific camunities throughout the world in tackling such problems". One mans to this goal is by direct support of ICSU's In- ternational Geosphere-Biosphere Prcqrm, UNEP's International Panel on Climate Change, and similar organizations. IIASA's sixteen national mdr organizations, located in eastern and western Europe, Asia and North Arrerica, are scientific and professional bodies, rather than political ones. me Institute is particularly suitable for bringing together the appropriate personnel to solve scientific re- search problems involving east und *st. It dces so through the fomtim of program of study, presently addat enhancing mthds of mthemtical analysis /System Cecisim Support Program/ and at studying change in global pplation / Poplation Prqrarn/, technology /l'echnolog.i, Economy and Society Program/, and enviromnt /kvlromnt Program/. Tne present environrrental ,=Flange iictivities at IIASA are centred on the Environment Program. Tne prcqran includes a group of 25 research schol- ars working on three desiyrated projects. The projxts concentrate on m- agerrent of large international rives /International Water Resources Project/, &elling of EuroFean acid rain distributions /Transbundq Air Pollution Project/, and ecolcqically sustainable developnt of Lye biosphere /Bio- sphere Dynamics Project/. It is notable that each of the proj,ects ere developed inzependently of the other, but that each of these projects is aimd directly or indirectly at developnt and use of mathmatical rrodels of enviromntal phenana. The models are desiqned specifically to be interrcqated in order to re~~ealthe options available to political decision- rrakers on spcific envYrarmnta1 issues. Thus, the min gals of ea:A pro- ject also are derived diectly frm spcific issues of interest, rather than from e.g. a Fmdarrental curiosity of how the enviromnt functions. Global change issues which define both the nature of the Biosphere Project &elling aims, have a n-r of soil &elling requimnts. Both sptial and mralscales of the soils infomtion are needed. Tne pre- sent reprt gives som of the concepts underlying such soils infomtion. A. M. SOLOMON ~iosphereDynamics Project, IIASA, Vienna PREFACE 'lhe present report is ale of a series of documents by soil scientists in preparation of a coordinated input by the various national and interna- tional centres on soil research and m-nt into the International @o- s@ere-Biosmere Programs /IGBP or "Global Change" Proqrm/ initiated by the International Council of Scientific Unions /ICSU/. They are, in chrono- logical order; - TWO international task force rneetings on "W~ptof Global Soil Change", taken place bebeen 24-25 April 1989 and 15-17 Lk&r 1989 in Budapest /Hungary/ and Wcow /USSR/, respctively; organized by IIASA, Vienna. Proceedings, edited by R. W. mLD, I. SZABOLCS and V. TAFGULIA!!, published by IUSA /this report/. - An international conference on "Soils and the Greenhouse Effect"; the present status and future trends concerning the effect of soils and their cover on the fluxes of greenhouse qases, the surface energy balance and the water balance, taken place between 14-13 August 1989 in Wageninyen, the Netherlands; organized by the International Soil Wference and Inform- tion Centre /ISFUC/. Proceedings, edited by A.F. EOLW4?N, under the title "Soils and the Greenhouse Effect", published by John Wiley and as, Chichester UK, early 1990. - An international workshop on "Effects of Climatic Change on Soil Processes in the Trapics and Subtropics", to take place between 12-14 February 1990 in Nairohi, Kenya; organized by the International Society of Soil Science /IsSS/ and the United Natims EnvironnEnt Progrm /UNEP/. Proceedings, edited by H.P. SCHARPENSm and M. SMO-R, to be published in mid 1990 by Elsevier Science Publishers, hterdam, the Netherlands. - A syrrposium on "Global Soil Changes and their Dynamics in a Changing Rximmmt" in the frammrk of the 14th International Congress of Soil Sclence, 12-13 August 1990 in Kyoto, Japan. Proceehgs of the symposium to be edited by H. P. SWENSEEL and to be published by the Ja~~~e~eSociety of Soil Science in association with ISSS. The four activities were prmted by the ISSS standing Cornnittee on International Programrres /CIP/ and were financially supported by Ii. It is the intention of ISSS to prepare, m the basis of all above proceedings, a separate Executive Smmry m the Role of Soils in Climatic Change, to be subitted to the Scientific Advisory Council of IGBP and to appropriate intematimal fora, including the IN ss~cializedAgencies concerned. W. G. SOMBROEK Secretarq-CXneral of ISSS, Wageningen EDITORIAL PREFACE By an agreemnt ktmen IIASA and the Hungarian amnittee for @lied Systems Analysis, a Task Force meting on the Concept of Global Soil hge tcok place in Bdapest from 24 to 27 April, 1989. Tk participants agreed on the preparation of a publication on Global Soil Change addressed to tk mrld mmrunity of scientists involved in Imp, e.g. ecologists, climatolo- gists, hydrologists, biologists, etc. as m11 as decision- ad policy makers of high level, wbneed to elabrate the blistic and ccanpreknsive concept of global soil change as a part of the general concept of global geosphere- biosphere change. The main stuifor tk preparation of such publication =re: a. tk extreme necessity of t3-e global and blistic spheric approach to mrld soils and soil patterns, that is, to land pedosphere and to all interactions of the pedosphere with the other natural spheres and with all kids of human activity ad human life: b. the peculiarity of tk pedospkre as an independent genetical, struc- tural and functional subsystem within tk biosphere-geosphere with its own laws of evolution, distribtion and functioning; c. the international and interdisciplinary aspiration to urderstand the esEnce and spatial-tenpral distribtion of the mjor mchmisns of pedo- spheric changes due to bth natural and anthro-ic factors and forces; d. the desire to understand the major consequences and results of pedo- spheric cbnges on other Vnents of nature and society /feedback from -sphere to biosphere-geosphere-society systems/; e. and last but not least: the feeling of resentn-ent for the lack of scientific remgnition that pedology is such an interesting, attractive, exciting and profound science, and for such an important and plyfunctional natural Myas soil and the mrld's pedosphere. Tkpublication slmuld k scientifically sound and based on facts, but it is interded to & easily read and clearly understood by bth specialists and lapn. The bk, baaon an analysis of the existing kmwledge of tk past, present and future of soils of the mrld, &sides the description of procesEs and situations, sbdd als include scme predictions and reoxm%m- dations. After long discussions the sckof the chapters of the "kst-ellern was accepted and the mrsof tk task force tcok the respcnsibility to Erve as umrdinators and mntrihtors of the respective chapters. It was also agreed that tk book should k available at the 14th Con- gress of the International Society of Soil Science to k held in Kyoto, Japan in August, 1990, and ksides the interested soil scientists an qle nnhr of copies should k suhnitted to interested international organiza- tions as wll as to the amptent agencies and projects /e.g. I-, UNEP, MAB or federal agencies/. !RE second Task Farce Uting on the Concept of Global Soil Change was kld in bbscow betwen 15 and 17 Decemter, 1989 ad was supported by UNEP and bsted by tk Centre for International Projects of the USSR State Onr mittee for Envimnmental Protection. At this meting tk chapters of tk publication wre presented and discussed and a final decision was made on the context of the book as wll as on tk cwrdinators ad contribtors. R. W. ARNOLD, I. SZABOLCS ad V. 0. TARGULIAN ere appointed as editors of the publication. !RE coordinators and contributors of the different chapters are as follaus: Introduction V. 0. TAR- v. O. TAW;ULIAN Soil carer of tk World R. J. DUDAL N. A. Karavaeva, v. 0. TargLllian Tylzs of soil processes G. VARWYAY ad changes Paleosols in the context D. H. Yz-mLN