Global black soil distribution

Highlights

● Global black soil distribution map developed by using country-driven approach.

● Black soils are key to global food security and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

● Black soils form under various pedoenvironments at global level.

● Black soils predominantly occur in Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Asia, and the northern and southern extremities of the Americas.

● Black soils hold a substantial global soil organic carbon stock, amounting to about 56 Gt.

Abstract

Black soils, characterized by their thick, dark horizons enriched with organic matter, epitomize highly fertile soils. However, their fertility precipitates intense land use, engendering challenges such as soil erosion, nutrient depletion, pollution, compaction, salinization, and acidification. Notably, these soils are significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily due to substantial losses in soil organic carbon. Despite these challenges, black soils are pivotal for global food production. This paper delineates the implementation of digital soil mapping for the global cartography of black soils and human interference on these soils. Predominantly distributed in Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Asia, and North and South America, black soils cover an approximate area of 725 Mha, with the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, and China collectively have over half of this area. Agriculturally, these soils underpin significant proportions of global crop yields, producing 66% of sunflower, 30% of wheat, and 26% of potato outputs. The organic carbon content in the upper 30 cm of these soils is estimated at 56 Gt. Sustainable management of black soils is imperative for ensuring food security and addressing climate change on a global scale.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Black soils / distribution map / food security / soil organic carbon

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Compliance with ethics guidelines

Yuxin Tong, Marcos E. AngelinI, Yusuf Yigini, and Isabel Luotto declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose. This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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The Author(s) 2024. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)