Documents

Over the years, the JRC has produced many publications. These are found in this section. They have been sub-divided in various categories (see Subcategory buttons below). All more than 550 documents can also be inspected irrespective of the category (see 'All documents' below).

Publications in Journals include more than 390 published papers from the Soil Group in the JRC (EU Soil Observatory). Most of the papers refer to the last 10 years (2013-2023). In many cases the papers document the datasets published in ESDAC.

As example statistics, Since the establishement of the EUSO,  the group published:

  • 23 papers in 2020,
  • 27 papers in 2021
  • 40 papers in 2022
  • 46 papers in 2023

Most of them in high impact journals including Nature Communicaitons, Climate Change, Global Change Biology, etc. Almost all the publications are Open Access. As publications, we present articles published in peer-review journals indexed in Scopus or Web of Science.

 

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Soil Biodiversity: State-of-the-Art and Possible Implementation in Chemical Risk Assessment
Soil Biodiversity: State-of-the-Art and Possible Implementation in Chemical Risk Assessment
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Protecting the structure and functioning of soil ecosystems is one of the central aims of current regulations of chemicals. This is, for instance, shown by the emphasis on the protection of key drivers and ecosystem services as proposed in the protection goal options for soil organisms by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Such targets require insight into soil biodiversity, its role in the functioning of ecosystems, and the way it responds to stress. Also required are tools and methodologies for properly assessing biodiversity. To address these issues, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe 14th Special Science Symposium (SESSS14) was held 19 to 20 November 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. The central aim of the SESSS14 was to provide information on how to include soil biodiversity and soil functions as protection goal options in the risk assessment and quantification of the effects of chemicals and other stressors (including their respective regulations). This paper is based on the presentations and discussions at the SESSS14 and will give a brief update on the scientific state-of-the art on soil biodiversity, novel scientific developments, experimental and modeling approaches, as well as case studies. It will also discuss how these approaches could inform future risk assessment of chemicals and other stressors in the regulatory context of protecting soil ecosystems. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:541–551. © 2020 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)

10.1002/ieam.4371

Projections of soil loss by water erosion in Europe by 2050
Projections of soil loss by water erosion in Europe by 2050
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Changes in future soil erosion rates are driven by climatic conditions, land use patterns, socio-economic development, farmers’ choices, and importantly modified by agro-environmental policies. This study simulates the impact of expected climatic and land use change projections on future rates of soil erosion by water (sheet and rill processes) in 2050 within the agricultural areas of the European Union and the UK, compared to a current representative baseline (2016). We used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) adjusted at continental scale with projections of future rainfall erosivity and land use change. Future rainfall erosivity is predicted using an average composite of 19 Global Climate Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Projects (CMIP5) WorldClim dataset across three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Concerning future land use change and crop dynamics, we used the projections provided by the Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact Analysis (CAPRI) model.

Depending on the RCP scenario, we estimate a +13 %-22.5 % increase in the mean soil erosion rate in the EU and UK, rising from an estimated 3.07 t ha−1 yr−1 (2016) to between 3.46 t ha−1 yr−1 (RCP2.6 scenario) and 3.76 t ha−1 yr−1 (RCP8.5 scenario). Here, we disentangle the impact of land use change and climate change in relation to future soil losses. Projected land use change in the EU and UK indicates an overall increase of pasture coverage in place of croplands. This land use change is estimated to reduce soil erosion rates (-3%). In contrast, the increases in future rainfall erosivity (+15.7 %–25.5 %) will force important increases of soil erosion requiring further targeted intervention measures. Given that agro-environmental policies will be the most effective mechanisms to offset this future increase in soil erosion rates, this study proposes soil conservation instruments foreseen in the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to run policy scenarios. A targeted application of cover crops in soil erosion hotspots combined with limited soil disturbance measures can partially or completely mitigate the effect of climate change on soil losses. Effective mitigation of future soil losses requires policy measures for soil conservation on at least 50 % of agricultural land with erosion rates above 5 t ha−1 yr−1.

10.1016/j.envsci.2021.07.012

Tracking, targeting, and conserving soil biodiversity: A monitoring and indicator system can inform policy
Tracking, targeting, and conserving soil biodiversity: A monitoring and indicator system can inform policy
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Nature conservation literature and policy instruments mainly focus on the impacts of human development and the benefits of nature conservation for oceans and aboveground terrestrial organisms (e.g., birds and plants) and processes (e.g., food production), but these efforts almost completely ignore the majority of terrestrial biodiversity that is unseen and living in the soil (1). Little is known about the conservation status of most soil organisms and the effects of nature conservation policies on soil systems. Yet like “canaries in the coal mine,” when soil organisms begin to disappear, ecosystems will soon start to underperform, potentially hindering their vital functions for humankind. Soil biodiversity and its ecosystem functions thus require explicit consideration when establishing nature protection priorities and policies and when designing new conservation areas. To inform such efforts, we lay out a global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function monitoring framework to be considered in the context of the post-2020 discussions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). To support this framework, we suggest a suite of soil ecological indicators based on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) (2) (see the figure and table S3) that directly link to current global targets such as the ones established under the CBD, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement

10.1126/science.abd7926

An in-depth statistical analysis of the rainstorms erosivity in Europe
An in-depth statistical analysis of the rainstorms erosivity in Europe
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Heavy rainstorms play a central role in the water-driving soil erosion processes. An in-depth knowledge about temporal and spatial erosivity of rainfall events is required to gain a better understanding of soil erosion processes and optimize soil protection measures efficiency. In this study, the spatiotemporal distribution of more than 300,000 erosive events measured at 1181 locations, part of the Rainfall Erosivity Database at European Scale (REDES) database, is studied to shed some new light on the rainfall erosivity in Europe. Rainfall erosive events are statistically investigated through the Lorenz curve and derived coefficients such as the Gini coefficient (G). Additionally, seasonal characteristics of the most and the less erosive events are compared to investigate seasonal characteristics of rainstorms across Europe. The G shows largest values of inequality of the inter-annual temporal distribution of the rainfall erosive events in the Alpine region, mostly due to the large number of rainfall events with smaller rainfall erosivity. While for other parts of Europe, the inequality described by the G is mostly due to a small number of high erosive events. The G slightly decreases from south to north while no clear regional patterns can be detected. Additionally, in Europe, on average 11% (ranging from 1 to 24%) of all erosive events contribute to form 50% of the total rainfall erosivity. Furthermore, higher erosive rainfall events tend to occur later in the year compared to less erosive events that take place earlier. To our knowledge, this study is the first one addressing event scale rainfall erosivity distribution using more than 300,000 rainfall erosivity events and covering almost a whole continent. Scientifically our findings represent a major step towards large-scale process-based erosion modelling while, practically, they provide new elements that can support national and local soil erosion monitoring programs.

10.1016/j.catena.2021.105577

Large-scale drivers of relationships between soil microbial properties and organic carbon across Europe
Large-scale drivers of relationships between soil microbial properties and organic carbon across Europe
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

We collected 881 soil samples from across Europe in the framework of the Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS). We measured potential soil basal respiration at 20 ºC and microbial biomass (substrate-induced respiration) using an O2-microcompensation apparatus. Soil and climate data were obtained from the same LUCAS survey and online databases. Structural equation models (SEMs) were used to quantify relationships between variables, and equations extracted from SEMs were used to create predictive maps. Fatty acid methyl esters were measured in a subset of samples to distinguish fungal from bacterial biomass.Soil microbial properties in croplands were more heavily affected by climate variables than those in forests. Potential soil basal respiration and microbial biomass were correlated in forests but decoupled in grasslands and croplands, where microbial biomass depended on soil carbon. Forests had a higher ratio of fungi to bacteria than grasslands or croplands.
Soil microbial communities in grasslands and croplands are likely carbon-limited in comparison with those in forests, and forests have a higher dominance of fungi indicating differences in microbial community composition. Notably, the often already-degraded soils of croplands could be more vulnerable to climate change than more natural soils. The provided maps show potentially vulnerable areas that should be explicitly accounted for in future management plans to protect soil carbon and slow the increasing vulnerability of European soils to climate change.

10.1111/geb.13371

Arable lands under the pressure of multiple land degradation processes. A global perspective
Arable lands under the pressure of multiple land degradation processes. A global perspective
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

While agricultural systems are a major pillar in global food security, their productivity is currently threatened by many environmental issues triggered by anthropogenic climate change and human activities, such as land degradation. However, the planetary spatial footprint of land degradation processes on arable lands, which can be considered a major component of global agricultural systems, is still insufficiently well understood. This study analyzes the land degradation footprint on global arable lands, using complex geospatial data on certain major degradation processes, i.e. aridity, soil erosion, vegetation decline, soil salinization and soil organic carbon decline. By applying geostatistical techniques that are representative for identifying the incidence of the five land degradation processes in global arable lands, results showed that aridity is by far the largest singular pressure for these agricultural systems, affecting ~40% of the arable lands' area, which cover approximately 14 million km2 globally. It was found that soil erosion is another major degradation process, the unilateral impact of which affects ~20% of global arable systems. The results also showed that the two degradation processes simultaneously affect an additional ~7% of global arable lands, which makes this synergy the most common form of multiple pressure of land degradative conditions across the world's arable areas. The absolute statistical data showed that India, the United States, China, Brazil, Argentina, Russia and Australia are the most vulnerable countries in the world to the various pathways of arable land degradation. Also, in terms of percentages, statistical observations showed that African countries are the most heavily affected by arable system degradation. This study's findings can be useful for prioritizing agricultural management actions that can mitigate the negative effects of the two degradation processes or of others that currently affect many arable systems across the planet.

10.1016/j.envres.2020.110697

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties
Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2021

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-021-00912-z

 

Soil erosion modelling: A global review and statistical analysis
Soil erosion modelling: A global review and statistical analysis
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

To gain a better understanding of the global application of soil erosion prediction models, we comprehensively reviewed relevant peer-reviewed research literature on soil-erosion modelling published between 1994 and 2017. We aimed to identify (i) the processes and models most frequently addressed in the literature, (ii) the regions within which models are primarily applied, (iii) the regions which remain unaddressed and why, and (iv) how frequently studies are conducted to validate/evaluate model outcomes relative to measured data. To perform this task, we combined the collective knowledge of 67 soil-erosion scientists from 25 countries. The resulting database, named ‘Global Applications of Soil Erosion Modelling Tracker (GASEMT)’, includes 3030 individual modelling records from 126 countries, encompassing all continents (except Antarctica). Out of the 8471 articles identified as potentially relevant, we reviewed 1697 appropriate articles and systematically evaluated and transferred 42 relevant attributes into the database. This GASEMT database provides comprehensive insights into the state-of-the-art of soil- erosion models and model applications worldwide. This database intends to support the upcoming country-based United Nations global soil-erosion assessment in addition to helping to inform soil erosion research priorities by building a foundation for future targeted, in-depth analyses. GASEMT is an open-source database available to the entire user-community to develop research, rectify errors, and make future expansions.

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146494

Soil erosion modelling: A bibliometric analysis
Soil erosion modelling: A bibliometric analysis
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

oil erosion can present a major threat to agriculture due to loss of soil, nutrients, and organic carbon. Therefore, soil erosion modelling is one of the steps used to plan suitable soil protection measures and detect erosion hotspots. A bibliometric analysis of this topic can reveal research patterns and soil erosion modelling characteristics that can help identify steps needed to enhance the research conducted in this field. Therefore, a detailed bibliometric analysis, including investigation of collaboration networks and citation patterns, should be conducted. The updated version of the Global Applications of Soil Erosion Modelling Tracker (GASEMT) database contains information about citation characteristics and publication type. Here, we investigated the impact of the number of authors, the publication type and the selected journal on the number of citations. Generalized boosted regression tree (BRT) modelling was used to evaluate the most relevant variables related to soil erosion modelling. Additionally, bibliometric networks were analysed and visualized. This study revealed that the selection of the soil erosion model has the largest impact on the number of publication citations, followed by the modelling scale and the publication's CiteScore. Some of the other GASEMT database attributes such as model calibration and validation have negligible influence on the number of citations according to the BRT model. Although it is true that studies that conduct calibration, on average, received around 30% more citations, than studies where calibration was not performed. Moreover, the bibliographic coupling and citation networks show a clear continental pattern, although the co-authorship network does not show the same characteristics. Therefore, soil erosion modellers should conduct even more comprehensive review of past studies and focus not just on the research conducted in the same country or continent. Moreover, when evaluating soil erosion models, an additional focus should be given to field measurements, model calibration, performance assessment and uncertainty of modelling results. The results of this study indicate that these GASEMT database attributes had smaller impact on the number of citations, according to the BRT model, than anticipated, which could suggest that these attributes should be given additional attention by the soil erosion modelling community. This study provides a kind of bibliographic benchmark for soil erosion modelling research papers as modellers can estimate the influence of their paper.

10.1016/j.envres.2021.111087

Soil conservation and sustainable development goals(SDGs) achievement in Europe and central Asia: Which role for the European soil partnership?
Soil conservation and sustainable development goals(SDGs) achievement in Europe and central Asia: Which role for the European soil partnership?
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Voluntary soil protection measures are not sufficient to achieve sustainable soil management at a global scale. Additionally, binding soil protection legislation at national and international levels has also proved to be insufficient for the effective protection of this almost non-renewable natural resource. The European Soil Partnership (ESP) and its sub-regional partnerships (Eurasian Sub-Regional Soil Partnership, Alpine Soil Partnership) were established in the context of FAO's Global Soil Partnership (GSP) with the mission to facilitate and contribute to the exchange of knowledge and technologies related to soils, to develop dialogue and to raise awareness for the need to establish a binding global agreement for sustainable soil management. The ESP has taken a role of an umbrella network covering countries in Europe and Central Asia. It aims to improve the dialogue in the whole region and has encouraged establishing goals that would promote sustainable soil management, taking into account various national and local approaches and priorities, as well as cultural specificities. The ESP first regional implementation plan for the 2017–2020 period was adopted and implemented along the five GSP pillars of action. Building on the experience of the last four years, this study demonstrates that establishing sub-regional and national partnerships is an additional step in a concrete sustainable soil management implementation process. It also suggests that a complementary approach between legal instruments and voluntary initiatives linked to the development of efficient communication and strong commitment is the key to success.

10.1016/j.iswcr.2021.02.003

Aridity and geochemical drivers of soil micronutrient and contaminant availability in European drylands
Aridity and geochemical drivers of soil micronutrient and contaminant availability in European drylands
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Dryland soils provide different societal and environmental services, such as food supply and biodiversity support. In Europe, most of the dryland areas are devoted to agriculture. In the next decades, both European and worldwide drylands are expected to suffer with increased intensity due to the expected climate change-derived rise in aridity. Many studies have focussed on aridity-induced changes in major nutrients in drylands, but little is known of the impact of environmental and biogeochemical factors on micronutrients with critical roles in life, and as inorganic contaminants with ecotoxicological implications. We analysed and explored drivers of total and available concentrations of micronutrients (Co, Cu, Fe, Mo, Mn, Ni and Zn) and contaminants (As, Cd and Pb) in 148 soil samples collected from European drylands covering a wide range of aridity and of other geochemical parameters. The availability of micronutrients increased with their total content, decreased with pH and was enhanced by organic C content. Aridity decreased the availability of Fe, a key element in human diet. Our findings also highlight the scarcity of this micronutrient in European drylands, as well as of some other important micronutrients like Zn and Mo in agricultural soils. Total content was the main driver of the availability of Cd and Pb, and organic matter exerted synergistic effects on contaminant release. Our data show the need for precise management practices to be incentivised by agricultural and environmental policies in order to ensure micronutrient supply and avoid contamination, thus maintaining adequate levels of agricultural productivity and simultaneously preserving dryland ecosystems

10.1111/ejss.13163
 

Manure management and soil biodiversity: Towards more sustainable food systems in the EU
Manure management and soil biodiversity: Towards more sustainable food systems in the EU
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

In the European Union (EU-27) and UK, animal farming generated annually more than 1.4 billion tonnes of manure during the period 2016–2019. Of this, more than 90% is directly re-applied to soils as organic fertiliser. Manure promotes plant growth, provides nutritious food to soil organisms, adds genetic and functional diversity to soils and improves the chemical and physical soil properties. However, it can also cause pollution by introducing toxic elements (i.e., heavy metals, antibiotics, pathogens) and contribute to nutrient losses. Soil organisms play an essential role in manure transformation into the soil and the degradation of any potential toxic constitutes; however, manure management practices often neglect soil biodiversity.
In this review, we explored the impact of manure from farmed animals on soil biodiversity by considering factors that determine the effects of manure and vice versa. By evaluating manure's potential to enhance soil biodiversity, but also its environmental risks, we assessed current and future EU policy and legislations with the ultimate aim of providing recommendations that can enable a more sustainable management of farm manures.

10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103251

 

A ‘debt’ based approach to land degradation as an indicator of global change
A ‘debt’ based approach to land degradation as an indicator of global change
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

We propose a way to synthesize different approaches to globally map land degradation by combining vegetation and soil indicators into a consistent framework for assessing land degradation as an environmental ‘debt’. our combined approach reveals a broader lens for land degradation through global change, in particular, identifying hot-spots for the different kinds of land degradation.
Earth's life support systems require a healthy biosphere with diverse ecosystems. Degradation of these ecosystems and the soils that support their functioning is a threat to human activity and wildlife

10.1111/gcb.15830

Soil multifunctionality: Synergies and trade-offs across European climatic zones and land uses
Soil multifunctionality: Synergies and trade-offs across European climatic zones and land uses
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

With increasing societal demands for food security and environmental sustainability on land, the question arises: to what extent do synergies and trade-offs exist between soil functions and how can they be measured across Europe? To address this challenge, we followed the functional land management approach and assessed five soil functions: primary productivity, water regulation and purification, climate regulation, soil biodiversity and nutrient cycling. Soil, management and climate data were collected from 94 sites covering 13 countries, five climatic zones and two land-use types (arable and grassland). This dataset was analysed using the Soil Navigator, a multicriteria decision support system developed to assess the supply of the five soil functions simultaneously. Most sites scored high for two to three soil functions, demonstrating that managing for multifunctionality in soil is possible but that local constraints and trade-offs do exist. Nutrient cycling, biodiversity and climate regulation were less frequently delivered at high capacity than the other two soil functions. Using correlation and co-occurrence analyses, we also found that synergies and trade-offs between soil functions vary among climatic zones and land-use types. This study provides a new framework for monitoring soil quality at the European scale where both the supply of soil functions and their interactions are considered.

10.1111/ejss.13051

Different climate sensitivity of particulate and mineral-associated soil organic matter
Different climate sensitivity of particulate and mineral-associated soil organic matter
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2021

Soil carbon sequestration is seen as an effective means to draw down atmospheric CO2, but at the same time warming may accelerate the loss of extant soil carbon, so an accurate estimation of soil carbon stocks and their vulnerability to climate change is required. Here we demonstrate how separating soil carbon into particulate and mineral-associated organic matter (POM and MAOM, respectively) aids in the understanding of its vulnerability to climate change and identification of carbon sequestration strategies. By coupling European-wide databases with soil organic matter physical fractionation, we assessed the current geographical distribution of mineral topsoil carbon in POM and MAOM by land cover using a machine-learning approach. Further, using observed climate relationships, we projected the vulnerability of carbon in POM and MAOM to future climate change. Arable and coniferous forest soils contain the largest and most vulnerable carbon stocks when cumulated at the European scale. Although we show a lower carbon loss from mineral topsoils with climate change (2.5 ± 1.2 PgC by 2080) than those in some previous predictions, we urge the implementation of coniferous forest management practices that increase plant inputs to soils to offset POM losses, and the adoption of best management practices to avert the loss of and to build up both POM and MAOM in arable soils.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00744-x

What is soil biodiversity?
What is soil biodiversity?
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

I received an email from a colleague working on the development of soil-related policies, posing a “simple” question: How do you (scientists) define soil biodiversity? Is there a common definition? That was an unexpected query. It made me think and I realized that the answer is “no.” Although this is an apparently easy question, answers can be as diverse as soil biodiversity. Depending on the respondent (e.g., scientist, policymaker, farmer), definitions of soil biodiversity can vary and can lead to completely different actions in terms of conservation initiatives.

From a preservation point of view, the principle is simple: if you want to protect anything, you need to know what this thing is and be able to monitor it. Policymakers need to know what soil biodiversity is, in order to propose and monitor targeted measures. In this context, the soil biodiversity scientific community still faces two main issues. The first is the lack of indicators and thresholds that can be proposed to policymakers to ensure reliable monitoring and impact assessment schemes

10.1111/conl.12845

A spatial assessment of mercury content in the European Union topsoil
A spatial assessment of mercury content in the European Union topsoil
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Mapping of surface soil Hg concentrations, a priority pollutant, at continental scale is important in order to identify hotspots of soil Hg distribution (e.g. mining or industrial pollution) and identify factors that influence soil Hg concentrations (e.g. climate, soil properties, vegetation). Here we present soil Hg concentrations from the LUCAS topsoil (0–20 cm) survey including 21,591 samples from 26 European Union countries (one sample every ~200 km2). Deep Neural Network (DNN) learning models were used to map the European soil Hg distribution. DNN estimated a median Hg concentration of 38.3 μg kg−1 (2.6 to 84.7 μg kg−1) excluding contaminated sites. At continental scale, we found that soil Hg concentrations increased with latitude from south to north and with altitude. A GLMM revealed a correlation (R2 = 0.35) of soil Hg concentrations with vegetation activity, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and soil organic carbon content. This observation corroborates the importance of atmospheric Hg0 uptake by plants and the build-up of the soil Hg pool by litterfall over continental scales. The correlation of Hg concentrations with NDVI was amplified by higher soil organic matter content, known to stabilize Hg in soils through thiol bonds. We find a statistically significant relation between soil Hg levels and coal use in large power plants, proving that emissions from power plants are associated with higher mercury deposition in their proximity. In total 209 hotspots were identified, defined as the top percentile in Hg concentration (>422 μg kg−1). 87 sites (42% of all hotspots) were associated with known mining areas. The sources of the other hotspots could not be identified and may relate to unmined geogenic Hg or industrial pollution. The mapping effort in the framework of LUCAS can serve as a starting point to guide local and regional authorities in identifying Hg contamination hotspots in soils.

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144755

Regulations on Nitrate Use and Management
Regulations on Nitrate Use and Management
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2021

Provides an overview of the entire nitrate cycle and the processes influencing nitrate transformation, and clearly identifies its role as an essential nutrient in plant growth, food preservation, and human health. It explains the discrepancies between public perceptions on nitrate harm versus the beneficial effects on human health.

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The Relevance of Black Soils for Sustainable Development
The Relevance of Black Soils for Sustainable Development
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2021

Black Soils have attracted renewed attention from policy-makers and the public thanks to strong interest from China; an International Network on Black Soils was launched in 2017 and the first plenary meeting held in Harbin in 2018. The Chernozem originally defined by Dokuchaev in 1883 is the central concept of Black Soils but, more than 140 years on, these soils have been much changed by human intervention and there is a need for a new definition—including Chernozem but, also, other soils with similar properties. The term Black Soils is taken to encompass Chernozem, Kastanozem and Phaeozem—all characterized by thick, dark-coloured, humus-rich topsoil originally developed under grassland. Chernozems, in particular, are known for their granular structure, optimal bulk density, and goodly stock of plant nutrients; however, all these favorable properties are only present in soils within virgin ecosystems that are now rare. Black Soils make up only 7% of the land surface but they are of fundamental importance to food security; UN Sustainable Development Goal 2—to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030—will only be achieved if we introduce a mandatory framework for their sustainable management. Sustainable management means arrest of soil erosion, compaction, salinity, sodicity, pollution and soil sealing; maintenance of protective cover, a stable stock of soil organic matter both as a store of plant nutrients and as a carbon sink; maintenance of capacity to infiltrate and hold rainfall and irrigation water but drain any excess to streams and groundwater; and conservation of biodiversity to maintain essential soil functions.

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Soil Security for the European Union
Soil Security for the European Union
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2021

Soil security has emerged during the recent years as a new paradigm for addressing sustainable soil management. Soil security was first presented in the literature in 2013–2014 (Koch et al., 2013; McBratney et al., 2014). Both publications defined soil security as the maintenance and improvement of the world's soil resources so that they can continue to provide food and fresh water, make major contributions to energy and climate sustainability, and help maintaining biodiversity and the overall protection of ecosystem goods and services. After the first publications on soil security, some regional studies addressed the subject in Australia (Bennett et al., 2019) and Tasmania (Kidd et al., 2018). Meanwhile, soil security starts to gain the momentum as it is linked to crop production and global climate (Beerling et al., 2018), soil contamination and human health (Carre et al., 2017; Brevik et al., 2017), farming and ecosystem services (Dazzi et al., 2019) and with the Sustainable Development Goals (Bouma, 2020).

Therefore, soil security is developed as a concept in analogy with the other six existential global environmental challenges (e.g. provision of food, fresh water, energy, climate sustainability, maintenance of biodiversity, protection of ecosystem goods and services). Soil security is described by five dimensions known as 5Cs: soil Capability, Condition, Capital, Connectivity & Codification (Koch et al., 2013; McBratney et al., 2014). Here, we discuss the implications of soil security for the European Union's sustainability.

Link: 10.1016/j.soisec.2021.100009

A Soil Erosion Indicator for Supporting Agricultural, Environmental and Climate Policies in the European Union
A Soil Erosion Indicator for Supporting Agricultural, Environmental and Climate Policies in the European Union
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2020
Publisher: Remote Sensing

Soil erosion is one of the eight threats in the Soil Thematic Strategy, the main policy instrument dedicated to soil protection in the European Union (EU). During the last decade, soil erosion indicators have been included in monitoring the performance of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study comes five years after the assessment of soil loss by water erosion in the EU [Environmental science & policy 54, 438–447 (2015)], where a soil erosion modelling baseline for 2010 was developed. Here, we present an update of the EU assessment of soil loss by water erosion for the year 2016. The estimated long-term average erosion rate decreased by 0.4% between 2010 and 2016. This small decrease of soil loss was due to a limited increase of applied soil conservation practices and land cover change observed at the EU level. The modelling results suggest that, currently, ca. 25% of the EU land has erosion rates higher than the recommended sustainable threshold (2 t ha−1 yr−1) and more than 6% of agricultural lands suffer from severe erosion (11 t ha−1 yr−1). The results suggest that a more incisive set of measures of soil conservation is needed to mitigate soil erosion across the EU. However, targeted measures are recommendable at regional and national level as soil erosion trends are diverse between countries which show heterogeneous application of conservation practices.

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/9/1365

 

Towards an Assessment of the Ephemeral Gully Erosion Potential in Greece Using Google Earth
Towards an Assessment of the Ephemeral Gully Erosion Potential in Greece Using Google Earth
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2020

Gully erosion may cause considerable soil losses and produce large volumes of sediment. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary assessment on the presence of ephemeral gullies in Greece by sampling representative cultivated fields in 100 sites randomly distributed throughout the country. The almost 30-ha sampling surfaces were examined with visual interpretation of multi-temporal imagery from the online Google Earth for the period 2002–2019. In parallel, rill and sheet erosion signs, land uses, and presence of terraces and other anti-erosion features, were recorded within every sample. One hundred fifty-three ephemeral gullies were identified in total, inside 22 examined agricultural surfaces. The mean length of the gullies was 55.6 m, with an average slope degree of 9.7%. Vineyards showed the largest proportion of gullies followed by olive groves and arable land, while pastures exhibited limited presence of gullies. Spatial clusters of high gully severity were observed in the north and east of the country. In 77% of the surfaces with gullies, there were no terraces, although most of these surfaces were situated in slopes higher than 8%. It was the first time to use visual interpretation with Google Earth image time-series on a country scale producing a gully erosion inventory. Soil conservation practices such as contour farming and terraces could mitigate the risk of gully erosion in agricultural areas

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/2/603

An indicator to reflect the mitigating effect of Common Agricultural Policy on soil erosion
An indicator to reflect the mitigating effect of Common Agricultural Policy on soil erosion
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2020

This study presents the updated version of the recently published LANDUM model [Land Use Policy 48, 38–50 (2015)]. LANDUM is integrated into the 100 m resolution RUSLE-based pan-European soil erosion risk modelling platform of the European Commission. It estimates the effects of local land use and management practices on the magnitude of soil erosion across each NUTS2 region of the European Union. This is done based on a spatially explicit estimation of the so-called cover-management factor of (R)USLE family models which is also known as C-factor. In this updated version, the data on soil conservation measures (i.e., reduced tillage, cover crops and plant residues) reported in the latest EU Farm Structure Survey (2016) were integrated and elaborated in LANDUM in order to estimate the changes of the C-factor in Europe between 2010 and 2016. For 2016, a C-factor of 0.2316 for the arable land of the 28 Member States of the European Union was estimated. This implies an overall decrease of C-factor of ca. -0.84 % compared to the 2010 survey. The change in C-factor from 2010 to 2016 could be an indication for the effectiveness of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) soil conservation measures in reducing soil erosion in Europe, especially key CAP policies such as Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions and Greening.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026483771931172X

The potential of straw mulch as a nature-based solution in olive groves. A biophysical and socio-economic assessment
The potential of straw mulch as a nature-based solution in olive groves. A biophysical and socio-economic assessment
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Fifty paired plots under simulated rainfall showed that the use of a cover of straw mulch of 50% (1 mg ha−1) in olive orchards results in a reduction of soil erosion. An economic survey based on interviews shows that the use of straw mulch in olive plantation would cost €174.7 ha−1, from which €54.7 ha−1 is needed for the application work, €52.3 ha−1 for the purchase cost, and €67.7 ha−1 for the transport of 20‐kg bales. The cost of the straw is 22.5% of the total income of the farmers. We found that their perception was negative about the use of straw mulch, as the tradition is to keep the soil clean from any weed or cover, except the crop. However, farmers would use it if they would be subsidized with a minimum of €267 ha−1, which is €92 ha−1 more than the costs estimated on the basis of the surveys. We conclude that soil erosion can be controlled with the use of straw mulch but that to convince farmers to adopt this management strategy, it needs to be subsidized.

Reconstruction of past rainfall erosivity and trend detection based on the REDES database and reanalysis rainfall
Reconstruction of past rainfall erosivity and trend detection based on the REDES database and reanalysis rainfall
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Rainfall erosivity is the driving force of soil erosion and it is characterized by a large variability in space and time. In order to obtain robust estimates of rainfall erosivity, long series of high-frequency rainfall data are needed, which are often not available for large study areas. In this study we reconstructed past rainfall erosivity in Europe for the period 1961–2018, with the aim to investigate temporal changes in rainfall erosivity. As input data, we used the Rainfall Erosivity Database at European Scale (REDES) and Uncertainties in Ensembles of Regional Reanalyses (UERRA) rainfall data. Using a set of regression models, which we derived with the application of the k-fold cross-validation approach, we computed the annual rainfall erosivity for the 1675 stations forming the REDES database. Based on the reconstructed data, we derived a rainfall erosivity trend map for Europe where the results were qualitatively validated. Among the stations showing a statistically significant trend, we observed a tendency towards more positive (15%) than negative trends (7%). In addition, we also observed an increasing tendency of the frequency of years with maximum erosivity values. Geographically, large parts of regions such as Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Baltic countries, Great Britain and Ireland, part of the Balkan Peninsula, most of Italy, Benelux countries, northern part of Germany, part of France, among others, are characterized by a positive trend in rainfall erosivity. By contrast, negative trends in annual rainfall erosivity could be observed for most of the Iberian Peninsula, part of France, most of the Alpine area, Southern Germany, and part of the Balkan Peninsula, among others. The new dataset of rainfall erosivity trends reported in this study scientifically provides new information to better understand the impacts of the ongoing erosivity trends on soil erosion across Europe, while, from a policy perspective, the gained findings provide new knowledge to support the development of soil erosion indicators aiming at promoting mitigation measures at regional and pan-European level.

Integrated management for sustainable cropping systems: Looking beyond the greenhouse balance at the field scale
Integrated management for sustainable cropping systems: Looking beyond the greenhouse balance at the field scale
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Cover crops (CC) promote the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC), which provides multiple benefits to agro‐ecosystems. However, additional nitrogen (N) inputs into the soil could offset the CO2 mitigation potential due to increasing N2O emissions. Integrated management approaches use organic and synthetic fertilizers to maximize yields while minimizing impacts by crop sequencing adapted to local conditions. The goal of this work was to test whether integrated management, centered on CC adoption, has the potential to maximize SOC stocks without increasing the soil greenhouse gas (GHG) net flux and other agro‐environmental impacts such as nitrate leaching. To this purpose, we ran the DayCent bio‐geochemistry model on 8,554 soil sampling locations across the European Union. We found that soil N2O emissions could be limited with simple crop sequencing rules, such as switching from leguminous to grass CC when the GHG flux was positive (source). Additional reductions of synthetic fertilizers applications are possible through better accounting for N available in green manures and from mineralization of soil reservoirs while maintaining cash crop yields. Therefore, our results suggest that a CC integrated management approach can maximize the agro‐environmental performance of cropping systems while reducing environmental trade‐offs.

Comparison of sampling with a spade and gouge auger for topsoil monitoring at the continental scale
Comparison of sampling with a spade and gouge auger for topsoil monitoring at the continental scale
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

The sampling method is a key aspect when designing a soil monitoring network. The determination of any physical and chemical property can be subject to uncertainties because of the sampling method. In this study, we compared the efficiency of sampling with a spade and a gouge auger for the physicochemical characterization of topsoil samples from 150 mineral soils under various land cover (LC) classes in Switzerland taken within the LUCAS 2015 Survey. The sampling methods differed in their scheme, accuracy of litter removal and control of sampling depth, which were more rigorous with the gouge auger than the spade method. Values of root mean square error of properties ranged between 1/2 and 1/30 of their mean values. Lin's concordance correlation coefficient showed that the spade and gouge auger methods produced similar results for all properties (LCCC ≥0.73), with a better relation for arable land than other LC classes. A poor relation was observed for potassium (LCCC = 0.35) in coniferous forest because of its shallow distribution in depth. We concluded that the simpler and cheaper spade method is an accurate method for topsoil sampling at the continental scale. From this study, it is clear that some improvements in the control of sampling depth and the accuracy of litter removal are needed, especially when monitoring forest soils and properties that change rapidly with depth. Spade sampling can help to expand the implementation of soil monitoring surveys at the continental scale at relatively low sampling cost.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejss.12862

Plutonium aided reconstruction of caesium atmospheric fallout in European topsoils
Plutonium aided reconstruction of caesium atmospheric fallout in European topsoils
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Global nuclear weapon testing and the Chernobyl accident have released large amounts of radionuclides into the environment. However, to date, the spatial patterns of these fallout sources remain poorly constrained. Fallout radionuclides (137Cs, 239Pu, 240Pu) were measured in soil samples (n = 160) collected at flat, undisturbed grasslands in Western Europe in the framework of a harmonised European soil survey. We show that both fallout sources left a specific radionuclide imprint in European soils. Accordingly, we used plutonium to quantify contributions of global versus Chernobyl fallout to 137Cs found in European soils. Spatial prediction models allowed for a first assessment of the global versus Chernobyl fallout pattern across national boundaries. Understanding the magnitude of these fallout sources is crucial not only to establish a baseline in case of future radionuclide fallout but also to define a baseline for geomorphological reconstructions of soil redistribution due to soil erosion processes.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68736-2

The Rise of Climate-Driven Sediment Discharge in the Amazonian River Basin
The Rise of Climate-Driven Sediment Discharge in the Amazonian River Basin
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

The occurrence of hydrological extremes in the Amazon region and the associated sediment loss during rainfall events are key features in the global climate system. Climate extremes alter the sediment and carbon balance but the ecological consequences of such changes are poorly understood in this region. With the aim of examining the interactions between precipitation and landscape-scale controls of sediment export from the Amazon basin, we developed a parsimonious hydro-climatological model on a multi-year series (1997–2014) of sediment discharge data taken at the outlet of Óbidos (Brazil) watershed (the narrowest and swiftest part of the Amazon River). The calibrated model (correlation coefficient equal to 0.84) captured the sediment load variability of an independent dataset from a different watershed (the Magdalena River basin), and performed better than three alternative approaches. Our model captured the interdecadal variability and the long-term patterns of sediment export. In our reconstruction of yearly sediment discharge over 1859–2014, we observed that landscape erosion changes are mostly induced by single storm events, and result from coupled effects of droughts and storms over long time scales. By quantifying temporal variations in the sediment produced by weathering, this analysis enables a new understanding of the linkage between climate forcing and river response, which drives sediment dynamics in the Amazon basin.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/2/208

Land susceptibility to water and wind erosion risks in the East Africa region
Land susceptibility to water and wind erosion risks in the East Africa region
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Land degradation by water and wind erosion is a serious problem worldwide. Despite the significant amount of research on this topic, quantifying these processes at large- or regional-scale remains difficult. Furthermore, very few studies provide integrated assessments of land susceptibility to both water and wind erosion. Therefore, this study investigated the spatial patterns of water and wind erosion risks, first separately and then combined, in the drought-prone region of East Africa using the best available datasets. As to water erosion, we adopted the spatially distributed version of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation and compared our estimates with plot-scale measurements and watershed sediment yield (SY) data. The order of magnitude of our soil loss estimates by water erosion is within the range of measured plot-scale data. Moreover, despite the fact that SY integrates different soil erosion and sediment deposition processes within watersheds, we observed a strong correlation of SY with our estimated soil loss rates (r2 = 0.4). For wind erosion, we developed a wind erosion index by integrating five relevant factors using fuzzy logic technique. We compared this index with estimates of the frequency of dust storms, derived from long-term Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor Level-3 daily data. This comparison revealed an overall accuracy of 70%. According to our estimates, mean annual gross soil loss by water erosion amounts to 4 billion t, with a mean soil loss rate of 6.3 t ha−1 yr−1, of which ca. 50% was found to originate in Ethiopia. In terms of land cover, ca. 50% of the soil loss by water erosion originates from cropland (with a mean soil loss rate of 18.4 t ha−1 yr−1), which covers ca. 15% of the total area in the study region. Model results showed that nearly 10% of the East Africa region is subject to moderate or elevated water erosion risks (>10 t ha−1 yr−1). With respect to wind erosion, we estimated that around 25% of the study area is experiencing moderate or elevated wind erosion risks (equivalent to a frequency of dust storms >45 days yr−1), of which Sudan and Somalia (which are dominated by bare/sparse vegetation cover) have the largest share (ca. 90%). In total, an estimated 8 million ha is exposed to moderate or elevated risks of soil erosion by both water and wind. The results of this study provide new insights on the spatial patterns of water and wind erosion risks in East Africa and can be used to prioritize areas where further investigations are needed and where remedial actions should be implemented.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719350089

Positive cascading effect of restoring forests
Positive cascading effect of restoring forests
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Recent assessment of global tree restoration potential reports that under current climate conditions there would be room for additional 0.9 billion hectares of woodlands and forests Bastin (2019). This could store 205 gigatonnes of carbon making forest restoration a viable strategy for climate change mitigation. Commenting on Bastin (2019), Chazdon and Brancalion (2019) call for holistic approaches because forest restoration is a mechanism to achieve multiple goals that go beyond climate mitigation, also including biodiversity conservation, socioeconomic benefits, food security, and ecosystem services. A timely scientific debate considering the recent decision of the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, to declare the coming decade 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633919301996

Towards an integrative understanding of soil biodiversity
Towards an integrative understanding of soil biodiversity
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2020

Soil is one of the most biodiverse terrestrial habitats. Yet, we lack an integrative conceptual framework for understanding the patterns and mechanisms driving soil biodiversity. One of the underlying reasons for our poor understanding of soil biodiversity patterns relates to whether key biodiversity theories (historically developed for aboveground and aquatic organisms) are applicable to patterns of soil biodiversity. Here, we present a systematic literature review to investigate whether and how key biodiversity theories (species–energy relationship, theory of island biogeography, metacommunity theory, niche theory and neutral theory) can explain observed patterns of soil biodiversity. We then discuss two spatial compartments nested within soil at which biodiversity theories can be applied to acknowledge the scale‐dependent nature of soil biodiversity.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12567

Soil and water threats in a changing environment
Soil and water threats in a changing environment
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020
A fast pacing climate change exacerbates the multitude of human impacts. Several reports highlighted (e.g., Magurran, 2016; Lewis et al., 2017; Diffenbaugh et al., 2018) that the degree of impact imposed by human activities on all the ecosystem components are unprecedented. We entered a new era, the Anthropocene (Malhi, 2017; Laurence, 2019). In this new era, soil and water resources are exposed to tremendous pressure, and our life depends on it.
 
Soils and water environments (e.g., freshwater, coastal and marine) provide a wide range of direct and indirect regulating (e.g., carbon sequestration, climate regulation, water purification and storage, flood retention), provisioning (e.g., food, fiber, wood), and cultural (e.g., education, recreation, landscape aesthetics) ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, both soils and water are the key elements to humankind (Barbier, 2017; Pereira et al., 2018; Jorda-Capdevila et al., 2019). Soils and water environments interact in a continuum through very complex processes and feedbacks. For example, agriculture practices have implications on land degradation, water bodies eutrophication and pollution.
 
Here, we present numerous studies focusing on how land abandonment (Tarolli et al., 2019), urbanization (Ferreira et al., 2018), agriculture intensification (Panagos et al., 2016), mining (Zibret et al., 2018), warfare activities in relation to land degradation (Certini et al., 2013) and climate change (Plaza et al., 2019) are accelerating soil and water resources degradation, and reducing their capacity to provide ES in quality and quantity. These drivers of change either interact individually or coupled at different spatio-temporal scales

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935120303947

Fire severity and soil erosion susceptibility mapping using multi-temporal Earth Observation data: The case of Mati fatal wildfire in Eastern Attica, Greece
Fire severity and soil erosion susceptibility mapping using multi-temporal Earth Observation data: The case of Mati fatal wildfire in Eastern Attica, Greece
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

In recent years, forest fires have increased in terms of frequency, extent and intensity, especially in Mediterranean countries. Climate characteristics and anthropogenic disturbances lead forest environments to display high vulnerability to wildfires, with their sustainability being threatened by the loss of vegetation, changes on soil properties, and increased soil loss rates. Moreover, wildfires are a great threat to property and human life, especially in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas. In light of the impacts and trends mentioned above, this study aims to assess the impact of the Mati, Attika wildfire on soil erosion. The event caused 102 fatalities, inducing severe consequences to the local infrastructure network; economy; and natural resources. As such, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was implemented (pre-; post-fire) at the Rafina, Attika watershed encompassing the Mati WUI. Fire severity was evaluated based on the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR). This index was developed utilizing innovative remotely sensed Earth Observation data (Sentinel-2). The high post-fire values indicate the fire's devastating effects on vegetation loss and soil erosion. A critical “update” was also made to the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) v. 2018, by introducing a new land use class namely “Urban Forest”, in order to distinguish the WUI configuration. Post-fire erosion rates are notably higher throughout the study area (4.53–5.98 t ha−1 y−1), and especially within the WUI zone (3.75–18.58 t ha−1 y−1), while newly developed and highly vulnerable cites now occupy the greater Mati area. Furthermore, archive satellite data (Landsat-5) revealed how the repeated (historical) wildfires have ultimately impacted vegetation recovery and erosional processes. To our knowledge this is the first time that RUSLE is used to simulate soil erosion at a WUI after a fire event, at least at a Mediterranean basin. The realistic results attest that the model can perform well at such diverse conditions, providing a solid basis for soil loss estimation and identification of high-risk erosion areas.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S034181621930462X

FAO calls for actions to reduce global soil erosion
FAO calls for actions to reduce global soil erosion
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Soil is a finite resource which is vital for producing food, sequestrating carbon, regulating water and nutrients, filtering contaminants, enhancing biodiversity, storing heritage, and regulating climate (Arshad and Martin 2002). Global soils are continuously degraded because of population growth, economic development, and climate change (Montanarella et al. 2016). Soil erosion is a major form of soil degradation as more than 1 billion hectares globally are affected by some form of erosion (e.g., water, wind, and gully) (Lal 2003). Human activity and the related land use changes (deforestation and cropland increase) are the main reasons for a 2.5% increase of soil erosion by water between 2001 and 2012 (Borrelli et al. 2017).

The Status of the World’s Soil Resources Report (FAO and ITPS 2015) found that soil erosion represents the greatest global threat to soil functions (Montanarella et al. 2016), risking food security, water quality, and climate change mitigation. New estimates indicate the annual loss to global GDP at ~ $8 billion, reducing yields by 33.7 million tonnes, and increasing water abstraction by 48 billion m3 (Sartori et al. 2019). In its recent policy report, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) highlights the impact of global mean temperature increase on desertification, land degradation (soil erosion, vegetation loss), and food security (IPCC 2019). While the problem of soil erosion is acknowledged by such international bodies (IPCC, UNCCD, and IPBES), political action at a global level is still missing (Panagos et al. 2016).
 
In one response, the United Nations brought together a group of more than 500 participants with scientists from over 100 countries calling for a community global soil erosion assessment. The call was made at the FAO Global Symposium on Soil Erosion in May 2019 (FAO 2019); organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the Global Soil Partnership and the Inter-governmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS). The aim is to connect science and policy to tackle the challenges of soil erosion mitigation.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11027-019-09892-3

Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research
Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2020

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and consideration by governance. These macroecological analyses need to represent the diversity of environmental conditions that can be found worldwide. Here we identify and characterize existing environmental gaps in soil taxa and ecosystem functioning data across soil macroecological studies and 17,186 sampling sites across the globe. These data gaps include important spatial, environmental, taxonomic, and functional gaps, and an almost complete absence of temporally explicit data. We also identify the limitations of soil macroecological studies to explore general patterns in soil biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with only 0.3% of all sampling sites having both information about biodiversity and function, although with different taxonomic groups and functions at each site. Based on this information, we provide clear priorities to support and expand soil macroecological research.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17688-2

Global phosphorus shortage will be aggravated by soil erosion
Global phosphorus shortage will be aggravated by soil erosion
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Soil phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural systems will limit food and feed production in the future. Here, we combine spatially distributed global soil erosion estimates (only considering sheet and rill erosion by water) with spatially distributed global P content for cropland soils to assess global soil P loss. The world’s soils are currently being depleted in P in spite of high chemical fertilizer input. Africa (not being able to afford the high costs of chemical fertilizer) as well as South America (due to non-efficient organic P management) and Eastern Europe (for a combination of the two previous reasons) have the highest P depletion rates. In a future world, with an assumed absolute shortage of mineral P fertilizer, agricultural soils worldwide will be depleted by between 4–19 kg ha−1 yr−1, with average losses of P due to erosion by water contributing over 50% of total P losses.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18326-7

Land use and climate change impacts on global soil erosion by water (2015-2070)
Land use and climate change impacts on global soil erosion by water (2015-2070)
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2020

Soil erosion is a major global soil degradation threat to land, freshwater, and oceans. Wind and water are the major drivers, with water erosion over land being the focus of this work; excluding gullying and river bank erosion. Improving knowledge of the probable future rates of soil erosion, accelerated by human activity, is important both for policy makers engaged in land use decision-making and for earth-system modelers seeking to reduce uncertainty on global predictions. Here we predict future rates of erosion by modeling change in potential global soil erosion by water using three alternative (2.6, 4.5, and 8.5) Shared Socioeconomic Pathway and Representative Concentration Pathway (SSP-RCP) scenarios. Global predictions rely on a high spatial resolution Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)-based semiempirical modeling approach (GloSEM). The baseline model (2015) predicts global potential soil erosion rates of 43+9.2−7 Pg yr−1, with current conservation agriculture (CA) practices estimated to reduce this by ∼5%. Our future scenarios suggest that socioeconomic developments impacting land use will either decrease (SSP1-RCP2.6–10%) or increase (SSP2-RCP4.5 +2%, SSP5-RCP8.5 +10%) water erosion by 2070. Climate projections, for all global dynamics scenarios, indicate a trend, moving toward a more vigorous hydrological cycle, which could increase global water erosion (+30 to +66%). Accepting some degrees of uncertainty, our findings provide insights into how possible future socioeconomic development will affect soil erosion by water using a globally consistent approach. This preliminary evidence seeks to inform efforts such as those of the United Nations to assess global soil erosion and inform decision makers developing national strategies for soil conservation.

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/36/21994

Maximising climate mitigation potential by carbon and radiative agricultural land management with cover crops
Maximising climate mitigation potential by carbon and radiative agricultural land management with cover crops
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

To reach the Paris climate targets, the mitigation capacity needs to be maximized across all components of the Earth system, especially land. Mitigation actions through land management, such as cover crops in agricultural soils, are often evaluated in terms of their carbon sequestration potential, while radiative forcing related to surface albedo changes is often ignored. The aim of this study was to assess the mitigation potential of cover crops, both as changes in biogenic greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2 and N2O) and albedo-driven radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere (TOA). To achieve this, we have integrated a biogeochemistry model framework running on approximately 8000 locations across the European Union with detailed soil data, supplemented with time series of albedo measurements derived from satellite remote sensing. We found that carbon sequestration remained the dominant mitigation effect, with 1th and 3rd interquartile of 5.2–17.0 Mg CO2e ha−1 at 2050, and negligible changes in N2O emissions over that time-horizon. Cover crops were generally brighter than bare soils, hence, the reflected shortwave radiation at TOA ranged between 0.08–0.22 Wm−2 on average, broadly equivalent to a removal of 0.8–3.9 Mg CO2e ha−1. Through scenarios analysis, we further showed how the mitigation potential could be substantially increased by growing a high albedo chlorophyll-deficient cover crop. This radiative land management option has an additional benefit of providing its mitigation effect more rapidly than carbon sequestration, although additional studies might be warranted to evaluate local and non-local associated climatic effects, such as changes in patterns of surface temperature and precipitation.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aba137

High-Throughput DNA Sequence-Based Analysis of AMF Communities
High-Throughput DNA Sequence-Based Analysis of AMF Communities
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate symbionts of most land plants. They have great ecological and economic impacts as they support plant nutrition and water supply, soil structure, and plant resistance to pathogens. Investigating AMF presence and distribution at small and large scales is critical. Therefore, research requires standard protocols to be easily implemented. In this chapter, we describe a workflow for AMF identification by high-throughput sequencing through Illumina MiSeq platform of two DNA target regions: small subunit (SSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS). The protocol can apply to both soil and root AMF communities.

https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007%2F978-1-0716-0603-2_9

Soil Evolution and Sustainability
Soil Evolution and Sustainability
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

Soils contribute to major ecosystem services (as defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005) by playing a crucial role in provisioning food and fibers, regulating water and geochemical cycles and delivering cultural services. Soils are rich in biodiversity and provide the habitat for a large number of species, many yet to be fully described. Due to this central role of soils in the delivery of ecosystem goods and services, the Soil Security concept was introduced to help Soil Science to be translated into policy guidelines for sustainable development and to be included in the Global Agenda (Koch et al., 2013; Bouma et al., 2019). Soils are indeed keys for reaching many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Especially SDG 2, related to fighting hunger and achieving food security, as well as SDG 15, on protecting the terrestrial environment for future generations, imply the application of sustainable soil management at the global scale. The IPCC report on Climate Change and Land names land and soil degradation through erosion, organic matter decline, contamination, soil sealing, compaction, loss of biodiversity or salinization as key challenges related to land use change (IPCC, 2019). Achieving food security and the elimination of hunger while simultaneously protecting our terrestrial environment is a great challenge that requires extensive, multidisciplinary research, including also human and social sciences: economists, geographers, sociologists, and urban planners.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.00023/full

How to halt the global decline of lands
How to halt the global decline of lands
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020
Land degradation is the persistent reduction in the capacity of the land to support human and other life on Earth1. Human dominance of land and its natural resources has vastly increased over the past century and has substantially altered natural ecological processes on three-quarters of the Earth’s land surface2. That domination of the biosphere has contributed to increased human welfare, but the downside to humans and the environment is increasingly apparent. In every terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem type, to varying degrees, unsustainable land use and overexploitation of natural resources have impaired ecological function, capacity to supply ecosystem services, and the ability to support biodiversity1. Populations of wild species have decreased and extinctions are occurring much more frequently than the rate at which new species naturally evolve3. Land degradation has negatively affected the living conditions of at least two-fifths of the people on Earth and it is estimated to be reducing global economic output by a tenth4. Vulnerable groups, indigenous and marginalized communities are disproportionately and negatively impacted, especially in terms of water supply and quality, health, and disaster vulnerability.
 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0477-x

How afforestation affects the water cycle in drylands: A process‐based comparative analysis
How afforestation affects the water cycle in drylands: A process‐based comparative analysis
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2020

The world's largest afforestation programs implemented by China made a great contribution to the global “greening up.” These programs have received worldwide attention due to its contribution toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, emerging studies have suggested that these campaigns, when not properly implemented, resulted in unintended ecological and water security concerns at the regional scale. While mounting evidence shows that afforestation causes substantial reduction in water yield at the watershed scale, process‐based studies on how forest plantations alter the partitioning of rainwater and affect water balance components in natural vegetation are still lacking at the plot scale. This lack of science‐based data prevents a comprehensive understanding of forest‐related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply under climate change. The present study represents the first “Paired Plot” study of the water balance of afforestation on the Loess Plateau. We investigate the effects of forest structure and environmental factors on the full water cycle in a typical multilayer plantation forest composed of black locust, one of the most popular tree species for plantations worldwide. We measure the ecohydrological components of a black locust versus natural grassland on adjacent sites. The startling finding of this study is that, contrary to the general belief, the understory—instead of the overstory—was the main water consumer in this plantation. Moreover, there is a strict physiological regulation of forest transpiration. In contrast to grassland, annual seepage under the forest was minor in years with an average rainfall. We conclude that global long‐term greening efforts in drylands require careful ecohydrologic evaluation so that green and blue water trade‐offs are properly addressed. This is especially important for reforestation‐based watershed land management, that aims at carbon sequestration in mitigating climate change while maintaining regional water security, to be effective on a large scale.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14875

Soil related indicators to support agro-environmental policies
Soil related indicators to support agro-environmental policies
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Scientific-Technical Reports
Year: 2020

The presented datasets and indicators on soil erosion, soil organic carbon stocks and soil nutrients are the result of modelling activities taken place at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra. The datasets are important advancements in the current knowledge of soil properties and processes at continental scale. In addition, the soil erosion, soil carbon and soil nutrients datasets and indicators provide baselines for evaluating the current status of agricultural soils in the European Union (EU) and evaluating the impact of agro-environmental policies on land management. Moreover, those datasets can further contribute to propose and design management practices to improve the status of agricultural soils, face land degradation and better target policy interventions. The indicators of soil erosion and soil organic carbon are currently included in monitoring the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, here we propose the development of soil nutrients datasets both as individual indicators (Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Potassium) and as composite indicator of soil fertility. Concluding, we found that the soil organic carbon changes cannot be identified within the timeline of policy interventions (for example in the CAP the assessment cycle is 7 years).

This document presents the latest status of soil condition in the European Union (EU), focusing particularly on agricultural land. The document presents the most recent assessment (2016) of soil erosion by water in the EU using the latest state-of-the-art data on management practices and the latest Land Use / Land Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS). The assessment of soil organic carbon stocks and changes between the two LUCAS surveys (2009, 2015) (https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/projects/lucas) is addressed with a specific focus on agricultural land. Finally, the report proposes data sets and methods to assess the nutrient status of soils in the EU. To facilitate policy support, we have developed indicators (taking into account policy-relevant requests) based on aggregated data at regional scales (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics - NUTS2) that compare changes of soil condition in time. The report includes three sections relevant to the evaluation of soil condition and agri-environmental policies: (a) soil erosion, (b) carbon stocks and (c) soil nutrients. Both the key conclusions and the main findings (below) are grouped according to those three sections.

DOI: doi.org/10.2760/011194

JRC support to the European Joint Programme for soil (EJP SOIL)
JRC support to the European Joint Programme for soil (EJP SOIL)
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Scientific-Technical Reports
Year: 2020
Attachments: PDF icon JRC support to EJP

DG AGRI is currently supporting under Horizon 2020 an European Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) on agricultural soil management to overcome current fragmentation in national research programmes and unleash the potential of agricultural soils to contribute to climate change mitigation/adaptation, while preserving or increasing agricultural functions. The EJP SOIL is a European Joint Programming Initiative co-funded by Member States on agricultural soil management contributing to key societal challenges including climate change and future food supply.

The EJP SOIL will look at how good agriculture soil management can contribute to food security, climate change mitigation/adaptation and ecosystem services through the preservation of soil organic content and water retaining capacity. This report provides technical advice and scientific guidance on the implementation of the EJP SOIL for an improved collaboration with JRC. The technical advice is a summary of the outputs of two meetings with the EJP SOIL partners in summer 2020. JRC also provides recommendations for a better collaboration in relation to the implementation of the LUCAS Soil Module, development of soil indicators and related data flows from EJP SOIL to ESDAC, development of the EU Soil Observatory plus some future research challenges. This report includes also the metadata related to datasets available at European scale for use by the EJP SOIL

Soil loss due to crop harvesting in the European Union: A first estimation of an underrated geomorphic process
Soil loss due to crop harvesting in the European Union: A first estimation of an underrated geomorphic process
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2019

Over the last two decades or so, there has been many research carried out to understand the mechanics and spatial distribution of soil loss by water erosion and to a lesser extent of wind, piping and tillage erosion. The acquired knowledge helped the development of prediction tools useful to support decision-makers in both ex-ante and ex-post policy evaluation. In Europe, recent studies have modelled water, wind and tillage erosion at continental scale and shed new light on their geography. However, to acquire a comprehensive picture of soil erosion threats more processes need to be addressed and made visible to decision-makers. Since 1986, a small number of studies have pointed to an additional significant soil degradation process occurring when harvesting root and tuber crops. Field observations and measurements have shown that considerable amounts of soil can be removed from the field due to soil sticking to the harvested roots and the export of soil clods during the crop harvest. This study aims to scale up the findings of past studies, carried out at plot, regional, and national level, in order to obtain some preliminary insights into the magnitude of soil loss from cropland due to sugar beets and potatoes harvesting in Europe. We address this issue at European Union (EU) scale taking into account long-term (1975–2016) crop statistics of sugar beet and potato aggregated at regional and country levels.

During the period 2000–2016, sugar beets and potatoes covered in average ca. 4.2 million ha (3.81%) of the EU-28 arable land estimated at 110 million ha. The total Soil Loss by Crop Harvesting (SLCH) is estimated at ca. 14.7 million tons yr−1 in the EU-28. We estimate that ca. 65% of the total SLCH is due to harvesting of sugar beets and the rest as a result of potatoes harvesting.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719304887

Soil erosion modelling: The new challenges as the result of policy developments in Europe
Soil erosion modelling: The new challenges as the result of policy developments in Europe
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2019

New challenges and policy developments after 2015 (among others, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) are opportunities for soil scientists and soil erosion modellers to respond with more accurate assessments and solutions as to how to reduce soil erosion and furthermore, how to reach Zero Net Land Degradation targets by 2030. This special issue includes papers concerning the use of fallout for estimating soil erosion, new wind erosion modelling techniques, the importance of extreme events (forest fires, intense rainfall) in accelerating soil erosion, management practices to reduce soil erosion in vineyards, the impact of wildfires in erosion, updated methods for estimating soil erodibility, comparisons between sediment distribution models, the application of the WaTEM/SEDEM model in Europe, a review of the G2 model and a proposal for a land degradation modelling approach. New data produced from field surveys such as LUCAS topsoil and the increasing availability of remote sensing data may facilitate the work of erosion modellers. Finally, better integration with other soil related disciplines (soil carbon, biodiversity, compaction and contamination) and Earth Systems modelling is the way forward for a new generation of erosion process models.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935119301264

Demands on land: mapping competing societal expectations for the functionality of agricultural soils in Europe
Demands on land: mapping competing societal expectations for the functionality of agricultural soils in Europe
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2019

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has been highly successful in securing the supply of food from Europe’s agricultural land. However, new expectations have emerged from society on the functions that agricultural land should deliver, including the expectations that land should regulate and purify water, should sequester carbon to contribute to the mitigation of climate change, should provide a home for biodiversity and allow for the sustainable cycling of nutrients in animal and human waste streams. Through a series of reforms of the CAP, these expectations, or ‘societal demands’ have translated into a myriad of EU and national level policies aimed at safeguarding the sustainability and multifunctionality of European agriculture, resulting in a highly complex regulatory environment for land managers. The current reform of the CAP aims to simultaneously simplify and strengthen policy making on environmental protection and climate action, through the development of Strategic Plans at national level, which allow for more targeted and context-specific policy formation. In this paper, we contribute to the knowledge base underpinning the development of these Strategic Plans by mapping the variation in the societal demands for soil functions across EU Member States, based on an extensive review of the existing policy environment relating to sustainable and multifunctional land management. We show that the societal demands for primary production, water regulation and purification, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and nutrient cycling vary greatly between Member States, as determined by population, farming systems and livestock densities, geo-environmental conditions and landscape configuration. Moreover, the total societal demands for multifunctionality differs between Member States, with the lowest demands found in Member States that have designated the higher shares of EU CAP funding towards ‘Pillar 2′ expenditure, aimed at environmental protection and regional development. We review which lessons can be learnt from these observations, in the context of the proposals for the new CAP for the period 2021–2027, which include enhanced conditionality of direct income support for farmers and the instigation of eco-schemes in Pillar 1, in addition to Agri-Environmental and Climate Measures in Pillar 2. We conclude that the devolution of planning to Strategic Plans at national level provides an opportunity for more effective and targeted incentivisation of sustainable land management, provided that these plans take account for variations in the societal demand for soil functions, as well as the capacity of contrasting soils to deliver on this multifunctionality.

Harvesting European knowledge on soil functions and land management using multi criteria decision analysis
Harvesting European knowledge on soil functions and land management using multi criteria decision analysis
Resource Type: Documents, Publications in Journals, Maps & Documents
Year: 2019

Soil and its ecosystem functions play a societal role in securing sustainable food production while safeguarding natural resources. A functional land management framework has been proposed to optimize the agro‐environmental outputs from the land and specifically the supply and demand of soil functions such as (a) primary productivity, (b) carbon sequestration, (c) water purification and regulation, (d) biodiversity and (e) nutrient cycling, for which soil knowledge is essential. From the outset, the LANDMARK multi‐actor research project integrates harvested knowledge from local, national and European stakeholders to develop such guidelines, creating a sense of ownership, trust and reciprocity of the outcomes. About 470 stakeholders from five European countries participated in 32 structured workshops covering multiple land uses in six climatic zones. The harmonized results include stakeholders’ priorities and concerns, perceptions on soil quality and functions, implementation of tools, management techniques, indicators and monitoring, activities and policies, knowledge gaps and ideas. Multi‐criteria decision analysis was used for data analysis. Two qualitative models were developed using Decision EXpert methodology to evaluate “knowledge” and “needs”. Soil quality perceptions differed across workshops, depending on the stakeholder level and regionally established terminologies. Stakeholders had good inherent knowledge about soil functioning, but several gaps were identified. In terms of critical requirements, stakeholders defined high technical, activity and policy needs in (a) financial incentives, (b) credible information on improving more sustainable management practices, (c) locally relevant advice, (d) farmers’ discussion groups, (e) training programmes, (f) funding for applied research and monitoring, and (g) strengthening soil science in education.

Mapping LUCAS topsoil chemical properties at European scale using Gaussian process regression
Mapping LUCAS topsoil chemical properties at European scale using Gaussian process regression
Resource Type: Maps & Documents, Documents, Publications in Journals
Year: 2019
This paper presents the second part of the mapping of topsoil properties based on the Land Use and Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS). The first part described the physical properties (Ballabio et al., 2016) while this second part includes the following chemical properties: pH, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), calcium carbonates (CaCO3), C:N ratio, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The LUCAS survey collected harmonised data on changes in land cover and the state of land use for the European Union (EU). Among the 270,000 land use and cover observations selected for field visit, approximately 20,000 soil samples were collected in 24 EU Member States in 2009 together with more than 2000 samples from Bulgaria and Romania in 2012. The chemical properties maps for the European Union were produced using Gaussian process regression (GPR) models. GPR was selected for its capacity to assess model uncertainty and the possibility of adding prior knowledge in the form of covariance functions to the model.
The derived maps will establish baselines that will help monitor soil quality and provide guidance to agro-environmental research and policy developments in the European Union.