LAUSR

Research on Soils in Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas (SUITMA) have been presented at biannual SUITMA conferences held in cities around the world. Soils from these areas often present environmental, ecological and health risks, and limit the ecological functions and ecosystem services. However, they are also an integral part of the local ecosystem, and can still play significant role as all soils do. In urban areas, in particular, soil is a critical resource and can play a key role in the long term sustainability and resiliency of cities. This special edition collects five papers with diverse topics that include urban soil properties, risk from contaminated soils, biological indicators for ecological functions, air deposition in urban gardens, and an international summer field school. The objective is to highlight research on anthropogenic soils conducted by the SUITMA community, and promote the better understanding and management of these soils. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.