Soils in polar and boreal regions play a decisive role on the environmental dynamics of the terrestrial ecosystem. Some of these areas have experienced very significant warming trends during the last decades, resulting in change of the dynamics of these soils with implications on the environment system.
Changes on the processes affecting polar and boreal soils may have significant consequences on the climate system (e.g. methane emissions, carbon cycle). Soils in these environments can be also strongly affected by climate (e.g. permafrost thawing, wildfires) and human activities (e.g. pollution), with possible major implications for human settlements.
A better understanding of the natural processes and human activity is important to understand the dynamics of polar and boreal soils and their feedbacks within the terrestrial ecosystems. The aim of the session “Soils in polar and boreal regions” is to bring to light the state of progress in knowledge of soils in these regions, considering human and natural dynamics.