Agriculture benefits from soil functions, whereof many depend on soil biota, but some management practices can threaten soil organisms. We inventoried values that European farmers associate to soils and soil biota into their soil management decisions. We used Dewey’s pragmatic epistemology, stating that values can be observed through active behaviours, attitudes and communication acts. We applied a plural values framework on a dataset composed of 35 scientific articles and five focus groups. Farmers saw the soil as a single object. They hardly distinguished soil biota from other elements in their soils. Soil biota remained poorly known and little valued. Besides instrumental values, many other values, such as soil ecosystem resilience, influence farmers’ management choices. We conclude that soils and soil biota values are plural and that they can evolve along with changes in farmers’ practices. Further studies investigating values dynamics in time and space could be beneficial for designing an effective European soil conservation policy.

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从实践到价值观：欧洲农民与土壤生物多样性的关系

农业从土壤功能中受益，其中许多功能取决于土壤生物区系，但是某些管理实践可能威胁土壤生物。我们盘点了欧洲农民将土壤和土壤生物群与他们的土壤管理决策相关联的价值。我们使用了杜威的实用认识论，指出可以通过积极的行为，态度和交流行为来观察价值。我们在由35篇科学文章和5个焦点小组组成的数据集上应用了多元价值框架。农民把土壤视为一个单一的对象。他们很难将土壤生物区系与土壤中的其他元素区分开。土壤生物区系仍然鲜为人知，几乎没有价值。除了工具价值外，许多其他价值，例如土壤生态系统的复原力，也会影响农民的管理选择。我们得出结论，土壤和生物群系的价值是多元的，它们可以随着农民行为的变化而演变。进一步研究时间和空间价值动态可能有助于设计有效的欧洲土壤保持政策。