Human Impact on Soil and Landscape Dynamics

Human activities such as agriculture, deforestation, mining and urban expansion have profoundly altered soil properties and geomorphic processes worldwide. Ploughing, livestock grazing and land clearance disrupt soil structure, accelerate erosion and deplete organic carbon stocks. In mountainous and floodplain terrains, mining operations and infrastructure construction modify relief and drainage patterns, triggering rapid sediment mobilisation and the development of gullies. Colluvial deposits in valleys and kettle holes archive the intensity and timing of past land use, while overbank sediments on floodplains reflect the interplay between fluvial dynamics and human flood management. Disentangling natural versus anthropogenic drivers of soil formation and degradation demands an integration of geochronological dating, high-resolution field surveys and laboratory analyses. Such multidisciplinary insights are vital for sustainable land management, hazard mitigation and the preservation of ecosystem services under accelerating environmental change.

Research from Nature Portfolio

High-resolution single-grain feldspar luminescence dating has recently enabled the direct quantification of the timing and rate of Chernozem and Phaeozem soil formation in central Europe. Analyses of buried profiles demonstrate that bioturbation dominated soil reworking in the Early Holocene—well before Neolithic settlement—and ceased around 6–5 ka as the climate became more humid. Measured reworking rates show that earthworm activity in these soils exceeds that of natural ant-driven processes but remains lower than mechanical ploughing, offering a sedimentary fingerprint to identify prehistoric cultivation phases. This advance refines our understanding of natural versus anthropogenic drivers in fertile soil genesis and provides a framework for disentangling biotic and agricultural signals in palaeosols.

Human Impact on Soil and Landscape Dynamics publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in human impact on soil and landscape dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Bioturbation: The mixing and reworking of soil by living organisms, such as earthworms or ants, affecting texture and stratigraphy.

Colluvium: Unconsolidated sediment deposited at the base of slopes, often derived from soil erosion and gravity-driven processes.

Luminescence dating: A geochronological technique that measures the light emitted from mineral grains to determine the time since their last exposure to sunlight.

Chernozem/Phaeozem: Highly fertile, dark-coloured soils rich in organic matter, forming under grassland or steppe climates and valued for agriculture.

Overbank deposit: Fine-grained sediment laid down on floodplains during flood events, recording the history of river dynamics.

Headward erosion: The upstream extension of a gully or channel head, resulting from concentrated water flow that incises and lengthens the channel.

References

1. Enormous headward and gully erosion in a floodplain area reclaimed for open-cast lignite mining during the July 2021 flood in the Inde River valley (Western Germany). Environmental Sciences Europe (2024).
2. Deciphering timing and rates of Central German Chernozem/Phaeozem formation through high resolution single-grain luminescence dating. Scientific Reports (2023).
3. Reconstructing rates and patterns of colluvial soil redistribution in agrarian (hummocky) landscapes. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (2019).
4. Colluvial sediments originating from past land-use activities in the Erzgebirge Mountains, Central Europe: occurrence, properties, and historic environmental implications. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2021).