Soils are a fundamental natural resource but intensifying demands and increasing soil degradation necessitate focussed research into the sustainable use of soils. Since soil functioning is critical for the operations and performance of multiple industries, businesses and municipalities, soil scientists need to actively engage with these bodies to orientate research goals towards stakeholder needs. To achieve this, stakeholder views about the current and potential contributions of soil science to different sectors need to be taken into account when setting the future research agenda. Here, we assessed whether the current and future research priorities of soil science match the needs of four major industrial and environmental sectors: agriculture, ecosystem services and natural resources, waste management, and water management. We used an online questionnaire, distributed to 192 organisations and via social media, to compare stakeholders' and scientists' perceptions of (a) the contributions of soil science to date, (b) the areas not currently served by soil science and (c) future research needs in soil science. Stakeholders generally rated the contributions of soil science to date as ‘great’ or ‘fundamental’, but scientists rated the contributions more highly. Respondents identified numerous areas that soil research has not yet sufficiently addressed, which were mostly sector-specific and often overlapped with perceived future research needs. Importantly, stakeholders' and scientists' views of future research priorities differed strongly within sectors, with the notable exception of agriculture, where views were generally consistent. We conclude that soil science may hold unexplored potential in several industrial and environmental sectors. We call for improved research communication and greater stakeholder involvement to shape the future soils research agenda and ensure the sustainable use of soils across multiple areas of society.

中文翻译：

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土壤科学的贡献和未来优先事项：比较科学家和利益相关者的观点

土壤是一种基本的自然资源，但随着需求的增加和土壤退化的加剧，需要对土壤的可持续利用进行重点研究。由于土壤功能对多个行业、企业和市政当局的运营和绩效至关重要，土壤科学家需要积极与这些机构合作，将研究目标定位于利益相关者的需求。为了实现这一目标，在制定未来的研究议程时，需要考虑利益相关者对土壤科学对不同部门当前和潜在贡献的看法。在这里，我们评估了土壤科学当前和未来的研究重点是否符合四大工业和环境部门的需求：农业、生态系统服务和自然资源、废物管理和水资源管理。我们使用了一份在线问卷，通过社交媒体分发给 192 个组织，以比较利益相关者和科学家对 (a) 迄今为止土壤科学的贡献，(b) 目前土壤科学未服务的领域和 (c)土壤科学未来的研究需求。利益相关者普遍将迄今为止土壤科学的贡献评价为“伟大的”或“基本的”，但科学家们对这些贡献的评价更高。受访者指出了土壤研究尚未充分解决的许多领域，这些领域大多是针对特定部门的，并且经常与预期的未来研究需求重叠。重要的是，利益相关者和科学家对未来研究重点的看法在各部门之间存在很大差异，但农业除外，农业的看法大体上是一致的。我们得出的结论是，土壤科学在几个工业和环境部门中可能具有未开发的潜力。我们呼吁改善研究交流和更多的利益相关者参与，以塑造未来的土壤研究议程，并确保在社会的多个领域可持续利用土壤。