MISUNDERSTANDING SOIL ECOSYSTEMS: How flawed conceptions of soil have lead to flawed U. S. land, water and climate policies.
Flawed conceptual models of soil functions have been cited by soil ecologists and others
as contributing to missing policy and inadequate research on soil ecosystems. Although new soil
research methods and tools have provided much greater detail on the functioning of soil
ecosystems, U. S. soil policy and commonly accepted models of soil systems do not reflect that
knowledge. This work investigates the dominant conceptual models of soil underlying existing
U.S. policy along with the diverse and interdependent drivers of soil models and related land,
water and climate policies. These policy drivers include the history of U. S. land use, agriculture
and environmental policy, the development of reductionist views of soil systems and the
continued and often obscured interdependancies among business, farmers, legislators,
government agencies, educational institutions and policy makers. The final chapter evaluates soil
policy trends in the United States and abroad for their potential to positively or negatively affect