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From Practices to Values: Farmers’ Relationship with Soil Biodiversity in Europe
Author(s) -
Hervé Morgane E.T.,
Renault Michel,
Plaas Elke,
Schuette Rebekka,
Potthoff Martin,
Cluzeau Daniel,
Nicolai Annegret
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sociologia ruralis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-9523
pISSN - 0038-0199
DOI - 10.1111/soru.12303
Subject(s) - biota , soil biology , plural , soil water , biodiversity , soil functions , environmental science , agriculture , ecosystem services , environmental resource management , ecosystem , soil biodiversity , agroforestry , geography , ecology , soil science , soil fertility , biology , linguistics , philosophy
Agriculture benefits from soil functions, whereof many depend on soil biota, but some management practices can threaten soil organisms. We inventoried values that European farmers associate to soils and soil biota into their soil management decisions. We used Dewey’s pragmatic epistemology, stating that values can be observed through active behaviours, attitudes and communication acts. We applied a plural values framework on a dataset composed of 35 scientific articles and five focus groups. Farmers saw the soil as a single object. They hardly distinguished soil biota from other elements in their soils. Soil biota remained poorly known and little valued. Besides instrumental values, many other values, such as soil ecosystem resilience, influence farmers’ management choices. We conclude that soils and soil biota values are plural and that they can evolve along with changes in farmers’ practices. Further studies investigating values dynamics in time and space could be beneficial for designing an effective European soil conservation policy.