Strategies for Environmentally Sound Soil Ecological Engineering: A Reply to Machado et al.

摘要

Recently, we proposed that soil ecological engineering can be used to enhance agricultural sustainability [1]. In their response to our article, Machado et al. [2] stress the point that potential undesirable side effects of soil ecological manipulations have to be considered and carefully investigated. We fully agree with their general appeal to consider ecological consequences of ecosystem manipulations (see also p. 447 in [1]). However, we want to recall that there are no human activities without a certain impact on ecosystems. Agricultural management of soils generally has strong adverse impacts on the structure and functioning of soil communities. The impacts of the ecological manipulations proposed in our article [1] therefore have to be considered in the light of the already existing management system to which they are applied.