Soil erosion remains one of the most serious threats to soil health, food security, and ecosystem resilience worldwide. But is erosion science rising to this challenge? The broader socio-economic and environmental consequences of erosion-induced soil degradation remain poorly constrained by data and are insufficiently integrated into land management decisions and policy frameworks. Measuring lateral soil fluxes beyond small plots remains technically challenging, while erosion modelling has stagnated and is increasingly dependent on extrapolated empirical equations developed in the 1960s.
This session will foster an open and critical discussion of the major scientific challenges in erosion research – from measurements and models to management and policy – in order to push the field forward. By bringing together conceptual, methodological, and applied perspectives, the session seeks to advance the state of knowledge and identify pathways for future research. We therefore welcome a broad range of contributions, from critical perspectives to applied research. We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following subjects:
- New or improved approaches to measuring and modelling soil erosion;
- Impacts of erosion on soil functions, fertility, water resources, and ecosystem services;
- Socio-economic dimensions of erosion and conservation: adoption, incentives and costs;
- Evidence-based soil conservation practices and nature-based solutions: what works and what doesn’t;
- Translating (uncertain) modelled erosion rates into risk assessments for policymakers and managers;
- New or improved methods for calibrating and testing soil erosion models – particularly approaches that increase model falsifiability and/or that report case studies of model invalidation (if you have “bad” results, we want to hear about it!)