Urban Soil Ecosystem Dynamics

Urban soils underpin a rich suite of ecosystem services within densely inhabited landscapes, including carbon sequestration, water regulation, nutrient cycling and support for green infrastructure. They differ from natural soils through frequent disturbances such as sealing, compaction, pollution and modified vegetation cover, yet retain dynamic microbial and chemical interactions. Urban management practices, from organic matter amendments to green-roof design and park landscaping, can enhance soil structure, fertility and biodiversity while mediating greenhouse-gas fluxes. Understanding the interactions between soil physicochemical properties, microbial communities and urban form is essential for sustaining soil health, improving climate resilience and guiding nature-based solutions in cities worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have charted the global distribution of surface soil organic carbon in urban greenspaces, synthesising observations from hundreds of cities to reveal latitudinal and climatic controls on carbon density and to estimate a global stock of approximately 1.46 Pg C. Foundational research has explored how land-use changes associated with urbanisation alter nitrogen cycling, uncovering differences in denitrifier abundance between rural and turfgrass soils and highlighting the pivotal role of ammonia-oxidising archaea in urban nitrification pathways. Investigations into the microbial composition of soils along urban gradients have demonstrated that urban development reshapes bacterial diversity through shifts in pH and land fragmentation, indicating that urban planning can influence the functional resilience of soil communities.

Urban Soil Ecosystem Dynamics publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in urban soil ecosystem dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Soil organic carbon (SOC): The fraction of carbon stored within soil organic matter, crucial for nutrient retention, structure and climate regulation.

Impervious surface area (ISA): Urban land cover such as concrete or asphalt that prevents water infiltration, altering soil moisture and nutrient dynamics.

Microbial homogenization: The process by which soil microbial communities become more similar in composition across different sites due to urban disturbance.

Nitrogen cycling: The suite of biological and chemical processes that transform nitrogen compounds in soils, affecting fertility and greenhouse-gas fluxes.

Organic matter amendment: The addition of materials such as compost, biochar or biosolids to soil to enhance organic matter content and improve soil quality.

References

1. The ecosystem services of urban soils: A review. Geoderma (2021).
2. Global distribution of surface soil organic carbon in urban greenspaces. Nature Communications (2024).
3. Changes in land use driven by urbanization impact nitrogen cycling and the microbial community composition in soils. Scientific Reports (2017).
4. Urban-development-induced Changes in the Diversity and Composition of the Soil Bacterial Community in Beijing. Scientific Reports (2016).
5. Linking biodiversity and ecological function through extensive microeukaryotic movement across different habitats in six urban parks. iMeta (2023).
6. Impacts of organic matter amendments on urban soil carbon and soil quality: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production (2023).
7. The patterns of soil nitrogen stocks and C : N stoichiometry under impervious surfaces in China. Earth System Science Data (2023).