Dear Colleagues,

Soils and the pedosphere they form play a key role in the Earth's biosphere. Soils are a unique habitat for living organisms, supporting their biodiversity. Plants, receiving mineral nutrition from soils, accumulate and distribute cosmic energy, providing an optimal balance of oxygen and other gases in the atmosphere. Soil fertility of agricultural land is a major factor in human food production. Providing a link between the biological and geological cycles of elements in terrestrial ecosystems, soils keep chemical elements from geochemical runoff into the World Ocean. The soil cover plays the role of a universal biological accumulator and neutralizer of many pollutants.

Changes in the composition and properties of soils as a result of anthropogenic activity lead to a change in their functions and are reflected both at the regional level and throughout the biosphere. The intensification of erosion, pollution and other types of soil degradation disrupts the normal functioning of the biosphere and increases the threat of a global ecological crisis.

The study of the processes of changing soils functioning as a result of various types of industrial and agricultural human activities, the ecological and economic significance of these processes is of paramount interest for the sustainable, environmentally-oriented development of human civilization, for the implementation of Academician V.I. Vernadsky ideas for the construction of the Noosphere, when the scientific activity of mankind, and not spontaneous processes, will control the biosphere development.

This section is devoted to the impact of soil changes on various aspects of the economy and ecosystem properties at different levels.

We are looking forward to your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Leonid Perelomov
Prof. Mohammed Assen
Prof. Dr. Tarun Kumar Lohani
Dr. Ahmed Alengebawy
Prof. Dr. Francesco De Mastro
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Söylemez
Prof. Dr.  Aniza binti Ibrahim
Section Editors