article · Frontiers in Soil Science
A circular bioeconomy focuses on the sustainable use of biological resources while minimising waste and environmental harm. Soil ecosystem services underpin this model by supporting agricultural yield, biodiversity conservation, and nutrient recycling. These services span provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting functions, which collectively supply food, fibre, and fuel, regulate erosion and temperature, and safeguard clean water and air. Furthermore, healthy soils protect human well-being against ecological shocks and provide essential inputs for bio-based industries. Policies and practices that convert farming, grazing, and woodland systems into renewable operations can protect core soil functions while easing strain on wider ecosystems. Successfully adopting circular practices across bioeconomy sectors therefore depends on a comprehensive understanding of soil ecosystem services, supported by systematic soil conservation and sustainable land management.
Healthy soils are essential not only for producing food, fibre, and fuel, but also for securing clean water and shielding communities from ecological disruptions. Recognising soil as an active foundation of the circular bioeconomy helps resource managers and planners design production models that minimise waste, restore natural capital, and support resilient human livelihoods over the long term.
This conceptual review applies to land managers, agricultural planners, and bio-based industries seeking to align operational models with circular economy principles. Potential applications centre on using sustainable land management to secure bio-based supply chains, such as fibre, food, and bioenergy feedstocks. Because the discussion focuses on high-level ecosystem principles and policy directions rather than specific technological solutions, the work sits at an early conceptual stage rather than near commercial deployment.
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The concept of a circular bioeconomy focuses on the sustainable use of biological resources, minimizing waste and negative environmental impacts. Soil ecosystem services are crucial in this context as they support agricultural production, biodiversity conservation, and nutrient recycling. The circular bioeconomy offers benefits like resource efficiency, reduced waste, lower environmental impacts, and economic opportunities, with soil ecosystem services playing a significant role in achieving these benefits. Soil provides various services for human well-being, including security, protection from ecological shocks, access to balanced diets, clean water, clean air, and energy for temperature control. This review highlights the importance of soil ecosystem services in circular resource management and bio-based sustainable production systems. These services encompass provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting roles, providing resources like food, fibre, and fuel, controlling erosion and temperature, offering aesthetic value, and sustaining plant and animal diversity. The bioeconomy comprises knowledge, research, technology, and innovation related to biological resource production, use, conservation, and regeneration. The application of circular bioeconomy strategies benefits from the ecological services soil provides to bio-based industries. The policy that converts farming, grazing, and woodland systems into renewable operations is bound to protect soil functions while relieving pressure on other critical ecosystem functions. Overall, a holistic understanding of soil ecosystem services is crucial for successfully implementing circular practices across different bioeconomy sectors. Soil conservation, sustainable management, and the protection of soil resources are vital for maintaining the services that support a circular bioeconomy.
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DOI: 10.3389/fsoil.2023.1209100
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