What is the difference between land and soil

The main difference between the land and soil: The lithospheric part of the earth, which is comprised of solid rock material is known as land. On the other hand, the soil is the surface covering of land and it is present in the water bodies.

Moreover, the soil can also be found in the water bodies. Upvote 8. Prity Kumari replied Dec 21, Abhi Prajapati replied Dec 21, This discussion on What is difference between Land and soil? The Questions and Answers of What is difference between Land and soil? If the answer is not available please wait for a while and a community member will probably answer this soon. You can study other questions, MCQs, videos and tests for Class 10 on EduRev and even discuss your questions like What is difference between Land and soil?

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Forgot Password. Roads, railways, canals and cities fragment the landscape , confining species to increasingly smaller areas and thus harming biodiversity. The way we use land in Europe is one of the reasons why the EU is not on track to achieve its target of halting biodiversity loss.

Farmland and semi-natural land continue to be taken by cities and by commercial and industrial sites. Many sectors — industry, agriculture, households and even waste water treatment — also release pollutants to land and soil. These pollutants can accumulate in soil and then enter groundwater, rivers and seas. Even pollutants initially released into the atmosphere can later be deposited on land surfaces.

Today, traces of different contaminants are found even in the most remote parts of our continent. In recent decades, Europe has decreased the total area used for agriculture while increasing yields.

Intensification of agriculture has enabled us to produce food for a growing population. Intensive agriculture , which relies mainly on synthetic fertilisers and plant protection measures, is also putting pressure on the very resource that sustains it: healthy and productive soil.

At the same time, we also see some agricultural land being abandoned in remote regions. Land abandonment affects, in particular, rural communities where local economies rely mainly on small farm holdings with limited economic prospects and low productivity, with younger generations tending to move to urban areas.

Land use has a global dimension. Many of the activities linked to land and its resources, in particular food production and resource extraction, are subject to global market forces. For example, global demand for fodder, food and bioenergy affect local agricultural production in many parts of the world, including Europe.

Droughts and production shortages in exporting countries affect the global prices of, for instance, rice — a staple food for billions of people. Multinational companies can buy productive agricultural land in Africa and South America with a view to selling their products throughout the world. The way we use land and soil is also directly linked to climate change.

Soil contains significant amounts of carbon and nitrogen, which can be released into the atmosphere depending on how we use the land. Clearing tropical forests for cattle grazing or planting forests in Europe can tilt the global greenhouse gas emission balance one way or the other. The melting of permafrost due to rising average global temperatures can release significant amounts of greenhouse gases, methane in particular, and accelerate temperature rise.

Climate change can also substantially alter what European farmers can produce and where. It includes the total land mass including continents and islands. It consists of rocks, stones, soil, vegetation, animals, ponds, buildings, etc.

Land can be covered by different types of vegetation e. Soil is one of the essential components of land. It consists of particles of rock, sand and clay as well as organic material such as plant residues, soil-dwelling animals and organisms such as bacteria and fungi, along with the air and water in soil pores.

Soil properties e. Topsoil is the layer closest to the surface usually the densely rooted zone or plough layer, down to cm. It contains the highest amount of organic carbon and, given this, it is the most productive layer. One centimetre of topsoil can take from a few hundred to thousands of years to form. Given this, it is considered a non-renewable resource. Deeper layers in the crust can contain other natural resources, including groundwater, minerals and fossil fuels.

Given this, many global policy frameworks, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals , directly and indirectly address land and soil. European policies aim to tackle land take, reduce landscape fragmentation, pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas emissions, and protect biodiversity and soil. However, in some of these policy domains, protecting the condition of soil in particular, European and global policies fall short of setting targets and commitments — let alone binding ones.

In other areas, where targets do exist, including those related to protecting nature and biodiversity, we are not achieving our policy goals. One of the challenges in setting and meeting targets is overcoming knowledge gaps. Monitoring progress towards a specific target needs to be backed by knowledge, agreed methods and tools.

For example, we can add different information layers to this picture to assess the potential impacts of climate change on soil moisture and hence agricultural productivity. This enhanced knowledge offers us new opportunities to take more targeted action on the ground. At the same time, there are many aspects of land and soil that we need to understand better to address specific problems, in particular with regard to biodiversity.

To be effective, actions will also need to take into account information on, for instance, the composition of the soil and how much carbon and nutrients the soil contains in a given area.

This kind of information requires a better monitoring system. The way forward is clear: we urgently need to change the way we use and manage land and the resources it provides. This will require looking at the landscape as a whole, with all its activities and elements. The way we build and connect cities should not entail covering surrounding areas with concrete and asphalt but should be based on reusing and re-purposing land already taken.

Moreover, compact cities with well-connected mobility options often provide the highest quality of urban life with fewer direct environmental impacts. We also need to step up our efforts to protect land ecosystems better.

We can connect natural areas and create corridors for wildlife by investing in green infrastructure. Healthy and resilient soil ecosystems are also essential to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. To achieve the sustainable management of our land resources, we need to significantly reduce pressure from economic activities , especially agriculture.

To ensure sustainable and productive agriculture, we must tackle pollution and find new solutions for using land efficiently. We will also need to take into account livelihoods and the quality of life of rural communities. We need to rely on and work with farmers to take care of the land and rural biodiversity. Sustainable agriculture cannot be achieved without significant changes in diets and reductions in food waste in Europe and globally.

Land governance is complex but we all benefit from the services that healthy land and soil provide — be it nutritious food or clean water, protection against diseases or construction materials.

To ensure that future generations continue to benefit from these services, we need to take decisive action today. The responsibility to protect these vital resources lies with us all — from consumers to farmers, and from local to European and global policymakers.