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Nancy Brett, postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Environmental Technology and Management, Linköping University.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Linköping University
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Soil Health Digitalization vs. Biological Complexity
The Core Concept: The increasing reliance on digital technologies and quantitative data to monitor soil health risks overlooking the complex biological life and local context essential to understanding soil as a living system.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Digital monitoring prioritizes measurable physical and chemical properties (such as pH levels and erosion) for agricultural output, whereas a holistic soil assessment requires the integration of local, experience-based biological observations (such as earthworm activity and soil texture).
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Digital Soil Indicators: Sensor-driven metrics that primarily track the physical and chemical properties of soil, often omitting critical biological processes.
- Experience-Based Knowledge: Practical, localized observations—such as assessing soil moisture, texture, and organism responses—that provide essential context absent in digital data.
- The EU's Soil Mission: A major policy and investment initiative driving the digital monitoring of European soil health, serving as a primary case study for how digital translations shape land valuation.
- AI Data Amplification: The technological risk that artificial intelligence, which relies strictly on digital information, will reinforce existing blind spots regarding soil ecology if those datasets are treated as complete.
Branch of Science: Environmental Science, Soil Ecology, and Digital Agronomy.
Future Application: Developing integrated policy frameworks and agricultural systems that treat digital sensor data as a baseline, supplementing it with local ecological knowledge to execute sustainable land use and conservation strategies.
Why It Matters: Defining soil purely through digital metrics reduces a complex, living ecosystem to a mere agricultural material, potentially leading to flawed environmental policies and a failure to recognize its full ecological value.
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| "When soil is described as dirt, it becomes easier to see it as something dirty or simply as a material, rather than as a living system," Brett says. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Linköping University |
How do we know whether soil is healthy? A new study from Linköping University shows that as knowledge about soil is increasingly translated into digital data, important insights about its biological life and local context risk being overlooked.
In her research, Nancy Brett examines how digitalization is changing the way we understand and value soil.
In the article "Making Soil Count: Digital Translations of Soil and Its Value," Nancy Brett, a postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Environmental Technology and Management at Linköping University, and Geneviève Metson, an associate professor at Western University in Canada, examine how digital technologies are shaping the way we understand and value soil.
The study is based on a qualitative analysis of policy documents, digital platforms, and other materials related to the EU's Soil Mission.
"Digitalization is not the problem in itself. The problem arises when digital knowledge becomes the only knowledge that counts. That risks excluding other important ways of understanding soil," Brett says.
More Than Numbers and Sensors
The European Union is investing heavily in digital tools to monitor soil health through its Soil Mission. While these technologies provide valuable information, the researchers argue that they cannot capture every aspect of healthy soil.
Local and experience-based knowledge, such as observing earthworms, feeling the texture and moisture of soil, or recognizing how different plants respond to changing conditions over time, is often left out of digital monitoring systems.
"Numbers and maps can easily be perceived as more objective or more truthful," Brett explains, "but understanding soil health requires both digital data and the knowledge developed through close interaction with the land."
The study shows that current soil health indicators primarily focus on the soil's physical and chemical properties, including erosion, pH levels, and contamination, as well as its role in agricultural production. At the same time, biological processes and soil organisms, including earthworms, receive much less attention.
How we measure soil health also influences how we value soil—and ultimately the decisions we make about land use, food production, and nature conservation.
Soil Health Depends on Context
The study shows that digital technologies can be an important tool, but they need to be complemented by local, practical, and experience-based knowledge to provide a more complete picture of soil health. Combining different ways of knowing can contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of soil.
"There is no universal checklist that determines whether soil is healthy. A healthy soil is one that is in balance with its specific environment, including both people and nature," Brett says.
Digital Data Are Only the Beginning
The rapid development of artificial intelligence makes the issue even more pressing. Since AI relies on digital information, it may reinforce existing blind spots if digital data are treated as the complete picture.
"Digital data are excellent for identifying problems and providing an overview," Brett says. "But solutions need to be developed together with the people who know the land. Digital information is a starting point, not the end of the story."
Brett hopes the research will encourage both scientists and policymakers to broaden their understanding of soil.
"We need to see soil as a living system rather than simply a medium for agriculture or construction. Only then can we make decisions that reflect its full ecological value," she says.
Published in journal: Intellect Discover
Title: Making Soil Count: Digital Translations of Soil and Its Value
Authors: Nancy Brett, and Geneviève S. Metson
Source/Credit: Linköping University | Caroline Holm
Edited by: Scientific Frontline
Reference Number: env070626_01
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