The spatial organization and structure of soils, known as the soil architecture, has traditionally been assumed to be stable over timescales relevant to soil functions, such as carbon, nutrient, and water cycling. However, this assumption does not always hold, especially under biotic activity, changing land use and shifting climate conditions. Dynamics of pore structure and soil aggregates and redistribution of soil material through processes such as mixing and erosion continuously reshape the soil architecture over short to long timescales, affecting the functioning of soils. To comprehensively understand soil functionality in a changing world, it is imperative to view soils as dynamic, four-dimensional systems.
This session invites presentations that study soil dynamics using numerical and statistical modelling. The focus will be on the development of model-based representations, or digital twins, of soil systems to study soil processes, dynamics, and functions from the pore to the landscape scale and from diurnal dynamics to millennial evolution. By bringing together modellers and models that work on different spatiotemporal scales, we aim at synergies between soil hydrology, soil physics, soil geography and soil ecology to develop holistic models that consider soils and their functions as dynamic systems.