Valuing the ecosystem service benefits of agricultural soil natural capital

Soil natural capital underpins agricultural production and contributes to multiple ecosystem services providing both private and public benefits. The extent of provision of these services depends on an interaction of the properties of soil, its biophysical context, and the management of soils. Changing soil management to deliver multiple services may require additional policy support or participation in ecosystem service markets. A choice experiment assessed the degree of public support for improving different soil ecosystem services. We find public support for improving four soil ecosystem services: improved water quality through reducing nutrient and soil loss, reduced flood and drought risk through reduced runoff, increased soil carbon storage, and increased soil biodiversity. The estimated values were then applied to mapped soil properties data. The results demonstrated spatial patterns of soil ecosystem services benefits indicating where soil natural capital already provides benefits and where measures to improve soil management could be targeted. Relating the results to land capability for agriculture found that except for carbon storage, which was lower in better quality land, ecosystem services could be provided across capability classes suggesting that agricultural productivity and ecosystem services can be jointly provided.