Understanding the roots of a sense of place in farmlands is crucial for stopping rural exodus to urban areas. Farmers’ experiences related to their way of life, peace and quiet, rootedness, pleasure, and inspiration are fundamental components of a sense of place in farmlands. Here, we used the city of Pereira located in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) to examine the role of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in forming meanings and attachments that shape their sense of place to this region. This region has experienced intense agricultural lands abandonment due to rapid urbanization over the last decades. To do so, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods was used, including semi-structured interviews, observation, and dialogue, to capture farmers’ perceptions and emotions associated with farmlands, reasons for remaining, and the diversity of NCPs. Results indicated that farmers recognized farmlands as a quiet and safe space that support family cohesion. Results also showed that the characteristics of the farms (e.g., agricultural practices, distance to cities, and gender) play an important role in articulating a farmer’s attachment to farmlands. Finally, farmers identified nonmaterial NCP (e.g., physical and psychological experiences and supportive identities) to be the most important contributions for shaping their sense of place. We call for the need to include robust and transparent deliberative and negotiation mechanisms that are inclusive of all relevant stakeholders, to aim to address unequal power, and to recognize and strengthen communities’ mechanisms of action on the CCLC.

Phillips et al . (Reports, 25 October 2019, p. 480) incorrectly conclude that tropical earthworm communities are less diverse and abundant than temperate communities. This result is an artifact generated by some low-quality datasets, lower sampling intensity in the tropics, different patterns in richness-area relationships, the occurrence of invasive species in managed soils, and a focus on local rather than regional richness.

The relationship between changes in land use and soil carbon and nitrogen was assessed in Alcalá (Colombian coffee growing region), between 900 and 1600 m. Soils are Argiudolls and Melanudands and sampling units were defined according to the altitudinal gradient. Carbon and nitrogen content, C:N ratio, bulk density and 13C and 15N abundances were measured. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found due to altitude effect, differentiating the high zone by high C (37.06 -42.88 t ha-1), N (3.12-3.86 t ha-1) and C: N (11.17-11.97), low bulk density (0.56-0.65 g cm-3) and 15N abundance (4.59-5.15 %o). Fallow and monocultures stored more carbon in deeper layers of the soil, while most preserved sites showed low C, N contents. The 13C in land uses ranged between -25.18%o and -21.17 %o, indicating that carbon was fixed mainly by C3 plants. It was concluded that land use changes affect C stocks, due to practices like chemical fertilization; and Alcalá soils have high potential for ecosystem services related with edaphic carbon capture.