**Preface**

Soil ecosystem services include people's direct and indirect benefits from soils. These include provisioning services, such as food, feed, fiber, and fresh water; regulating services, such as flood and disease control and climate regulation; and supporting services, such as soil formation, water and nutrient cycling, the production of atmospheric oxygen, and the provisioning of habitats.

Utilizing soil for agriculture inevitably changes soil properties, such as nutrient status, pH, organic matter content, and physical characteristics. In many cases, changes that are beneficial for food production are detrimental to other ecosystem services. Core farming practices, such as soil tillage, crop residue management, nutrient management, and pest management, impact a range of soil functions and ecosystem services, including water availability for crops, weed control, insect and pathogen control, soil quality and functioning, soil erosion control, soil organic carbon pool, environmental pollution control, greenhouse gas emissions, and crop yield productivity.

Since prevailing farming paradigms perceive high crop yields and low environmental impact as being in conflict, it is crucial to define an environmentally sound range of agronomic activities that would be considered tolerable at a certain extent of intensity. Sustainable agriculture mainly focuses on increasing the productivity of the soil and reducing the harmful effects of agricultural practices on climate, soil, water, environment, and human health. Increases in soil fertility, water protection, and biodiversity protection need to be considered.

Following sustainable agriculture principles, soil must be protected and developed, water and water resources must be protected, natural control of pests and diseases should be adopted, and different agricultural products should be cultivated. Managing soil organic carbon is central because soil organic matter influences numerous soil properties relevant to ecosystem functioning and crop growth.

> **Chiara Piccini and Rosa Francaviglia** *Editors*
