Abstract
The future of biogeochemistry and its relationship with environmental change is largely based on how the discipline and associated sciences react to global events and the disciplinary and methodological developments that occur as a result. It may be hypothesized that future developments in such studies will be dominated by models, some analytical, others predictive and retrospective, considering the increasingly integrated nature of the relevant topics of biogeochemical analyses, technological developments, and the increasingly complex and trending nature of environmental change. Current evidence indicates that biogeochemistry has a key, even indispensable, role in the future of the environmental sciences, including biogeography, oceanography, Earth Systems Science, and even geomatics-based applications, but the strength of the role will depend on the structural organization of the discipline, in terms of its links with other related disciplines, its flexibility in reaction to academic, research, and human–environmental changes, and the deeper understanding of the factors (natural and socioeconomic) that contribute to environmental change. Research methodologies are advancing with technology, especially computer-generated developments such as geomatics, and the understanding of such applications may dominate the future as high-tech methods overtaking the older, less sophisticated research methods of the late twentieth century. This assessment contributes to a critical look at the future of biogeochemical applications.
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Campbell, M.O. (2023). The Future Developments in Biogeochemistry. In: Biogeochemistry and the Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47017-2_8
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