Forest soils in the Anthropocene

Abstract The formation of forest soils continues across centuries and millennia. Many of the key characteristics of soils develop very slowly. The slow, long-term development of soils is coupled with much faster processes that substantially change soils over a period of years and decades. A century ago, soil scientists looked for explanations of soil development using concepts limited by simple assumptions and expectations. Quantification became more important as the 20th century advanced, with concepts retreating into the background. Case studies illustrate both these long-term and more-rapid processes and patterns of change. Detecting, monitoring, understanding and predicting change will be a key focus for forest soil science and management. In the Anthropocene, the breadth of human influences will be the major soil-forming factor in forest soils.