"Soil is a vital part of the natural environment. It is just as important as plants, animals, rocks, landforms, lakes and rivers. It influences the distribution of plant species and provides a habitat for a wide range of organisms. It controls the flow of water and chemical substances between the atmosphere and the earth, and acts as both a source and store for gases (like oxygen and carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. Soils not only reflect natural processes but also record human activities both at present and in the past. They are therefore part of our cultural heritage. The modification of soils for agriculture and the burial of archaeological remains are good examples of this.

        Soil, together with the plant and animal life it supports, the rock on which it develops, its position in the landscape and the climate it experiences, form an amazingly intricate natural system – more powerful and complex than any machine that man has created. Soil may look still and lifeless, but this impression couldn’t be further from the truth. It is constantly changing and developing through time. Soil is always responding to changes in environmental factors, along with the influences of man and land use. Some changes in the soil will be of short duration and reversible, others will be a permanent feature of soil development."

http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-          line/livinglandscapes/soils/important.asp