Scientific-Technical Reports

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

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 condition underpins food security, green growth, bioeconomies and aboveground biodiversity; it regulates climate, the hydrological and nutrient cycles, while  mitigating climate change. Soils provide resilience against floods and droughts, buffer the effects of pollutants and preserve cultural heritage. Healthy, functional soils underpin several targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Pressures on this finite, non-renewable resource, due to competition for land or inappropriate land management choices, severely impact soil functions. Amplified by climate change, these pressures lead to degradation processes such as erosion, contamination, loss of organic matter, shallow landsliding and, in extreme cases, a complete loss of the resource.

https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/shared_folder/doc_pub/JRC_Soil_Highlights_eBook_0.pdf

 

 

On this report the findings of the questionnaire commissioned by the European Commission Joint Research Centre for the revision of the Indicator "Progress in the management of contaminated site in Europe" in 2016 are presented. It has been produced with the contribution of data provided by the National Reference Centres (NRCs) in member states and cooperating countries within EIONET and funded by the country to work with the EEA and relevant European Topic Centres (ETCs) in specific thematic areas related to the EEA work programme

 

The European Commission launched a soil assessment component to the periodic LUCAS Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey in 2009. Composite soil samples from 0-20-cm depth were taken, air-dried and sieved to 2 mm in order to analyse physical and chemical parameters of topsoil in 25 Member States (EU-27 except Bulgaria, Romania, Malta and Cyprus). The aim of the LUCAS Soil Component was to create a harmonised and comparable dataset of main properties of topsoil at the EU. The LUCAS Soil Component was extended to Bulgaria and Romania in 2012. Overall, ca. 22,000 soil samples were collected and analysed. All samples were analysed for percentage of coarse fragments, particle-size distribution, pH, organic carbon, carbonates, phosphorous, total nitrogen, extractable potassium, cation exchange capacity, multispectral properties and heavy metals. In 2015, the soil sampling was repeated in the same set of points of LUCAS 2009/2012 to monitor changes in topsoil physical and chemical parameters across the EU. The soil component was extended to points above elevations of 1000 m, which were not sampled in LUCAS 2009/2012. Furthermore, soil samples were taken in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Switzerland. The soil sampling was carried out following the instructions already used in LUCAS 2009/2012. Approximately 27,000 samples were collected and will be analysed during 2016 and 2017. In 2018, a new soil sampling campaign will be carried out within the LUCAS framework. Soil samples will be taken in repeated points of LUCAS 2009/2012 and LUCAS 2015. The novelty of the survey is that new physical, chemical and biological parameters will be analysed. Key parameters for evaluating soil quality, such as bulk density and soil biodiversity, will be analysed. These analyses require specific methods of soil sampling, preparation and storage of samples. Furthermore, field measurements such as the thickness of organic layer in peat soils, and visual assessment of signs of soil erosion will be carried out in 2018. This technical report compiles the instructions for collecting the various soil samples and for performing field measurements in the soil survey of 2018. These instructions will be used for all LUCAS surveyors, to create a comparable database of soil characteristics all over Europe.

This report presents the result of WP2 of the RECARE project. One of the objectives of WP2 (Base for RECARE data collection and methods) is to provide an improved overview of existing information on soil threats and degradation at the European scale. The report is written by a group of experts from the RECARE team, coordinated by Bioforsk. In total, 60 persons were included in the process of writing, reviewing and editing the report. Eleven soil threats were identified for the report. These soil threats are soil erosion by water, soil erosion by wind, decline of organic matter (OM) in peat, decline of OM in minerals soils, soil compaction, soil sealing, soil contamination, soil salinization, desertification, flooding and landslides and decline in soil biodiversity.
Editors: Jannes Stolte, Mehreteab Tesfai, Lillian Øygarden, Sigrun Kværnø (NIBIO), Jacob Keizer, Frank Verheijen (University of Aveiro), Panos Panagos, Cristiano Ballabio (JRC), Rudi Hessel (Alterra WUR)
EUR27607

The European Commission launched a soil assessment component to the periodic LUCAS Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey in 2009. In 2015, the Topsoil Survey was repeated in the same set of points of LUCAS 2009/2012 for monitoring changes in topsoil physical and chemical parameters across the EU. Currently, the European Commission is working on the organization of the upcoming LUCAS Soil Surveys (2018). This technical report is a proposal for analysing new physical, chemical and biological soil parameters within the forthcoming LUCAS Soil Surveys. Soil biodiversity is a key parameter that needs to be added to LUCAS Soil Surveys, due to the contribution of the soil biological community to soil functions such as food and biomass production, genetic pool for developing novel pharmaceuticals, and climate regulation. Among physical properties, bulk density is necessary to assess soil compaction and to estimate soil organic carbon stock in the EU. Field measurements such as signs of soil erosion and thickness of organic layer in Histosols is also important to assess two critical soil degradation processes in the EU: soil erosion and organic carbon decline due to land use changes and land take of Histosols. Finally, it could be interesting to organize a survey of soil profiles to collect information that will help to understand soil-forming processes and to evaluate soil ability for carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water storage, and contaminant filtering.

Mapping Soil Properties for Europe - Spatial Representation of Soil Database Attributes The European Soil Database (ESDB) provides the most detailed and comprehensive set of data for soil properties with pan-European coverage. However, using the ESDB soil properties in combination with spatial applications is hampered by the structure of the database for soil typological attributes. In this study a layer of mapped typological units was used to resolve issues related to the database structure for the spatial representation of soil properties and to map key soil properties to standardized spatial layers. The information available from the ESDB tends to be more suited to characterise the site of a soil unit, including morphological conditions. The range of soil property data was extended by the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD), which provides more detailed information on soil properties. Combining data from both databases was achieved by processing the attributes in a database management system and then linking the output to a spatial reference layer and by transferring attributes to the spatial layer from each database and processing the data by spatial overlay functions of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Author(s) Hiederer, R. – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2013 – 47pp. – EUR26082EN Scientific and Technical Research series, ISSN 1831-9424, doi:10.2788/94128 Download report: (Size: 6 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 27/08/2013

Editado por el Comité Científico del Buró Europeo de Suelos, edición en Castellano. (1999). EUR 18092 ES, 206pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

Guidelines for the use of native mosses, transplanted mosses and soils in assessing organic and inorganic contaminant fallout These guidelines on the use of mosses are of strategic importance in that they make it possible to harmonize the indications obtained from differing environments in terms of extent and, thereby, to compare them with results obtained using other methods. Cenci, R. (2008). European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, EUR 23292-EN, 33 pp. ISBN: 978-92-79-08719-6, ISSN: 1018-5593 Key words: mosses, soils, dioxins, heavy metals, radioisotopes. Download report: (Size: 2.2 MB) Preview FrontPage : Linee guida per l' utilizzo di muschi indigeni, muschi trapiantati e suoli per valutare le ricadute di contaminanti organici e inorganici. Scaricare il documento: (Taglia: 2.2 MB)

Calendar 2007 - Be down to earth: protect the soil of Europe The Land Management and Natural Hazards Unit presents the Calendar for 2007 introducing the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2006). A. Jones, E. Micheli, L. Montanarella, M. Van Liedekerke, P. Panagos Download report: (Size: 13 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Soil carbon sequestration for climate food security and ecosystem services The international conference SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION for climate, food security and ecosystem services – linking science, policy and action (SCS2013) took place in Reykjavik Iceland on 27. – 29. May 2013. The conference was organized by the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland, the Agricultural University of Iceland and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Collaboration Agreement No 31059) in partnership with a group of international and UN agencies, universities and non-governmental organizations. The scientific soil community acknowledges that there is an urgent need to communicate better the value of soil carbon to a broader public. The message so far has not actively reached the media, the public and policy makers. The SCS2013 conference brought together a broad spectrum of soil carbon experts, in order to link science, policy and action on soil carbon sequestration issues. Approximately 200 people from 40 countries from all continents attended the conference: young and high level scientists; present and future leaders in restoration and land management; administrators and policymakers. The conference received extensive media coverage, both in Iceland and globally. Despite coming from different countries and backgrounds, with varied scientific interests and convictions, the overall message was that soil and soil management, specifically soil carbon, needs be a substantial part of the solution in mitigating climate change, ensuring food security and providing ecosystem services. Furthermore soil conservation, preservation and restoration could be considered as "win-win" processes for meeting other goals. The SCS2013 conference represented an excellent example of bridge between scientists, land managers and policy makers. The EC was actively involved in the conference and is still willing to bridge the communication gap between science and policy and to continue to act as interface. The conference proceedings aim to present how the potential role of soil carbon sequestration has been discussed along different sessions (forest/ cropland/ revegetation/ desertification/ wetland/ rangeland/ verification) and from different perspectives. Editors: Guðmundur Halldórsson, Francesca Bampa, Arna Björk Þorsteinsdóttir, Bjarni D. Sigurdsson, Luca Montanarella and Andrés Arnalds . Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2014 – 314 pp. – EUR 26540 EN Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424 (online) ISBN 978-92-79-35595-0(PDF), doi:10.2788/17815 Download report: (Size: 117 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 02/07/2014

REPORTS OF THE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUPS ESTABLISHED UNDER THE THEMATIC STRATEGY FOR SOIL PROTECTION Lieve Van-Camp, Benilde Bujarrabal, Anna Rita Gentile, Robert J A Jones, Luca Montanarella, Claudia Olazabal, Senthil-Kumar Selvaradjou (2004) EUR 21319 EN

Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integrated approach to support soil-related policies of the European Union. This report presents an integrated approach of soil quality and sustainability evaluation. Interactions of the soil and land use systems are summarized from the perspective of the implication of soil related policies in the European Union. EUR 22721 EN. 40 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. (2007), ISBN 978-92-79-05250-7 Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, L. Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Soil geography and geostatistics (Concepts and Applications) Geostatistics, which can be defined as the tools for studying and predicting the spatial structure of georeferenced variables, have been mainly used in soil science during the past two decades. Since now, hundreds of geostatistical papers have been published on soil science issues (see bibliography ibid., this volume).The use of geostatistical tools in soil science is diverse and extensive. It can be for studying and predicting soil contamination in industrial areas, for building agrochemical maps at the field level, or even to map physical and chemical soil properties for a global extent. The users of the output maps are going from soil scientists to environmental modelers. Krasilnikov, P., Carré, F. & Montanarella, L. (eds.). EUR 23290 EN, Catalogue number: LB-NA-23290-EN-C, ISBN 978-92-79-08720-2, ISSN 1018-5593 Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities , 2008. Download report: (Size: 5 MB) Preview FrontPage :

MICHÉLI, E., DOBOS, E., HOUŠKOVA, B., FILIPPI, N., MONTANARELLA, L. and JONES, R.J.A.. (2004), EUR 21196 EN, 254pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Presentations of the 1st European Summer School on Soil Survey [European Soil Bureau, Institute of Envrionement and Sustainability (July 2003)]

Risk Assessment Methodologies of Soil Threats in Europe This report which presents the results of the RAMSOIL project is published. The general objective of the RAMSOIL project was to provide scientific guidelines on possibilities for EU wide parameter harmonization based on detailed information on current risk assessment methodologies of soil threats encountered within EU Member States. In RAMSOIL current risk assessments methodologies used in the EU are collected and evaluated. The results are summarized in this book. Currently, there are various risk assessment methodologies (RAMs) and the question has risen to what extent these RAMs yield similar outcome and, if not, whether the outcome can be harmonized, i.e. whether the results of the various RAMs can be made compatible or comparable. In this study i) the current status of RAMs for erosion, soil organic matter decline, compaction, and salinization in the European Union (EU27) is reviewed, and ii) the need and the options for harmonization are assessed. The need for harmonization was defined as the likelihood of achieving different outcomes when using different RAMs, whereas the options for harmonization refer to the efforts that are required to harmonize soil RAMs. Author(s):Christy van Beek and Gergely Tóth 2012 – 84pp. – EUR 24097 EN – EUR – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593 (print), ISSN 1831-9424 (online) , ISBN 978-92-79-14291-8, doi: 10.2788/47096 Download report: (Size: 1.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 10/05/2012

Distribuzione spaziale delle concentrazioni di metalli pesanti e radio-elementi nei suoli del Sito di Ispra Spatial distribution of heavy metals concentrations and radio active elemnents in Ispra site. EUR 19799 IT, 17pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2001). R.M. Cenci, F. Leva, F. D’Alberti, M. Dapiaggi, A. Geronimi e N. Plooy. Download report: (Size: 2.5 MB) Preview FrontPage :

JONES, R.J.A., SPOOR, G. and THOMASSON, A.J. (2003). Soil & Tillage Research 73, 131-143.

Validation of the EU Soil Sampling Protocol to verify the changes of Organic Carbon stock in mineral soil (Piemonte Region, Italy) Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a measure of the total amount of organic compounds or carbon (C) in soil independently of their origin or decomposition. Interest in SOC is common among soil scientists and related practitioners because of its importance for principle physical, chemical and biological soil ecological functions and that SOC is a universal indicator of soil quality. EUR 22339 EN, 46pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Stolbovoy Vladimir, Nicola Filippi, Luca Montanarella, Mauro Piazzi, Fabio Petrella, Javier Gallego, Senthil-Kumar Selvaradjou Download report: (Size: 1.9 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Risk Mapping of Landslides in New Member States Every year landslide activity causes significant economic loss as well as loss of human life. In the view of PECO country experts , landslides represent a high risk in Romania, a medium risk in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, and a low risk in Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland. Author(s): Róbert Jelínek, Javier Hervás and Maureen Wood, 2007. Risk Mapping of Landslides in New Member States. EUR 22950 EN, European Commission, Ispra, Italy, 38pp. ISSN 1018-5593 Download report: (Size: 2.2 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Digital Soil Mapping as a support to production of functional maps Digital Soil Mapping as a support to production of functional maps. EUR 22123 EN, 68 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxemburg. Dobos, E., Carré, F., Hengl, T., Reuter, H.I., Tóth, G. (2006) Download report: (Size: 5.5 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Soils, Society & Global Change This book highlights how our ability to manage soils plays an important role in global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity reduction, food and water security, and economic and social progress. It explores policy and legal challenges, knowledge management issues, and the crucial role of soil in the successful implementation of the global environmental conventions. The book concludes with the Programme for Action which includes a number of proactive recommendations on how global policies can be improved to protect soil as a resource. The context for this book is the 2007 centennial celebrations of organized conservation and restoration of soil and vegetation in Iceland. As Europe’s northernmost nation, Iceland historically suffered acute land degradation problems and through a century of perseverance has now become a world leader in soil restoration research and techniques. A number of international partners and world-class experts on a variety of pertinent fields gathered in Selfoss, Iceland to join in an International Forum. This book outlines the groundbreaking ideas developed by these experts to address the global soil problems and innovative ways to address the combined challenges of soil, society and global change. Proceedings of the International Forum Celebrating the Centenary of Conservation and Restoration of Soil and Vegetation in Iceland Edited by Harriet Bigas, Gudmundur Ingi Gudbrandsson, Luca Montanarella and Andrés Arnalds. European Communities, pp 212, 2009. JRC50243, EUR 23784 EN, Catalogue number: LB-NA-23784-EN-C , ISSN: 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-11775-6, DOI: 10.2788/84964 Download report: (Size: 10 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 30/06/2009

Landslide inventories in Europe and policy recommendations for their interoperability and harmonisation - A JRC contribution to the EU-FP7 SafeLand project This report provides a detailed review of existing national landslide inventories as well as of a number of regional inventories in EU member states and neighbouring countries. For national landslide databases, it also analyses their ability to provide landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk assessments at national scale. In addition, the report proposes improvements in landslide databases for delineating areas at risk of landslides in agreement with the EU Soil Thematic Strategy and its associated Proposal for a Soil Framework Directive, and for achieving interoperability and harmonisation in agreement with the INSPIRE Directive. Author(s):Van Den Eeckhaut, M., Hervás, J., 2012 – 202pp. – EUR 25666 EN – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2012 – 202 pp. – 21.0 x 29.7 cm, EUR25666 Scientific and Technical Research series - ISBN 978-92-79-27994-2, doi:10.2788/75587 Download report: (Size: 19.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 08/02/2013

Processing Indices of Change and Extremes from Regional Climate Change Data Indicators of climate change and extremes from regional models coming from the PRUDENCE project of the Danish Meteorological Institute, the consortial simulation of the Climate Limited-area Modelling Community and 12 runs of bias-corrected data from the ENSEMBLES project were processed. The resulting indicators were standardized to a common map projection, grid size and spatial extent to be directly available for further analysis or integration with other spatial data. The indicators were used in the data available from the European Climate Adaptation Platform (CLIMATE-ADAPT), the European Database of Vulnerabilities to Natural Hazards (EVDAB), the JRC activities within the FP7 RESPONSES project and support the evaluation of changes in soil organic carbon under climate scenarios. Author(s) Hiederer, R. – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2012 – 29pp. – EUR25339 Scientific and Technical Research series - ISBN 978-92-79-24994-5 , doi: 10.2788/27516 Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 09/04/2013

Holistic approach to biodiversity and bioindication in soil To study and investigate soil biodiversity is a difficult task because of the complex interactions that exist in soil and the need for considerable expertise to undertake the necessary investigations. The factors that influence biodiversity are diverse: some are natural, for example soil acidity, water retention, temperature and organic matter content, others are anthropogenic, for example human population pressure. This report summarises the results of the multidisciplinary BIO-BIO study of biodiversity and bioindication, conducted within the Pavia Project, which had as its principal objective the evaluation of the quality and health of soil in Pavia Province, Lombardy, in northern Italy. The area under investigation covered 3000 km2 and the project took into account of the different uses of soil. Author(s): R. M. Cenci and R. J. A. Jones (eds), Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 2009 – 43 pp, EUR23940EN – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-12793-9, DOI 10.2788/2351 Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 09/07/2009

European Soil Bureau

Threats to the Soil Resource Base of Food Security in China and Europe To secure adequate food supply is the major challenge for humanity in the 21st century. Growing world population and its urbanization put pressure on this basic need, which is further threatened by the constant loss of fertile land. The assessment of sustainability of food supply under increasing pressure on land resources has been selected as one of the most important priority topics of the activities of Sino-EU Panel on Land and Soil (SEPLS). The Panel has performed a number of related researches and discussed the results on a scientific seminar in January 2012 in Nanjing, China. This report is an output of this seminar with a summary of the structured discussions on the below issues. Author(s) Gergely Tóth and Xiubin Li (eds.) – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2013 – 117pp. – EUR25632EN Scientific and Technical Research series, ISSN 1831-9424, doi:10.2788/71196 Download report: (Size: 4 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 10/09/2013

The unofficial guide for authors The unofficial guide for authors(or how to produce research articles worth citing) Tomislav Hengl and Mike Gould, EUR 22191 EN, 66pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Download report: (Size: 1.6 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Soil Sampling Protocol to Certify the Changes of Organic Carbon Stock in Mineral Soils of European Union (Version 2) The objective of this report is to introduce a second, updated, version of the Protocol for soil sampling (Stolbovoy et al., 2005) which includes improvements on Technical specification, Location of the sampling sites, Sampling quantity and composition, Sample collection, Data acquisition and accuracy control, Field validation of the AFRSS method. EUR 21576 EN/2 . 57 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Vladimir Stolbovoy, Luca Montanarella, Nicola Filippi, Arwyn Jones, Javier Gallego and Giacomo Grassi Download report: (Size: 2 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Global Soil Organic Carbon Estimates and the Harmonized World Soil Database Global estimates of soil organic carbon stocks have been produced in the past to support the calculation of potential emissions of CO2 from the soil under scenarios of change land use/cover and climatic conditions (IPCC, 2006), but very few global estimates are presented as spatial data. For global spatial layers on soil parameters, the most recent and complete dataset is available as the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The amended HWSD was compared to data from 4 other global data sets on SOC stocks. The comparative evaluation has demonstrated that bulk density is the most important factor for estimating SOC stocks and mainly responsible for the differences between estimates. Most affected from the variability in bulk density are SOC stocks in areas with soils which are high in organic carbon. Author(s): R. Hiederer, M. Köchy 2012 – 79 pp. – EUR 25225 EN – EUR Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424 (online), ISSN 1018-5593 (print), ISBN 978-92-79-23108-7, doi:10.2788/13267 Download report: (Size: 1.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 20/03/2012

Site Specific Land Management; General Concepts and Applications To meet the growing need of people for increasing farm income and to minimize the negative environmental impact of today’s farm practices, a new farming concept has been evolved where inputs are fine tuned and optimized according to the local field variability such that yield increment is achieved with a minimum harm to the local environment. This farming concept is different than the traditional farming system and can be highlighted as a precision agriculture system or more specifically termed as site specific land management (SSLM) which takes the advantage of recent technological developments and their uses in agriculture. It operates by matching resource application and agronomic practices with soil attributes and crop requirements as they vary across a field leading to the overall economic and environmental benefits. This report explains in brief a general concept and principle of this eco-friendly farming approach with some common procedures to be followed while planning of SSLM in any area. It also provides an example of applying this farming concept in a small area in Belgium and recommends some land and crop management practices. Author(s): Adhikari K, Carre F, Toth G, Montanarella L. OPOCE , 2009 – 60 pp. – EUR 23978– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-13350-3, DOI 10.2788/32619 Keywords: land management , Farm practices, farming technology, SSLM Download report: (Size: 1.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 21/05/2010

Distribution of Organic Carbon in Soil Profile Data. Soil organic carbon (SOC) content has been estimated at pan-European scale for the soil layer from 0 to a depth of 30 cm. The methodology used to generate the data layer relied on a combination of a pedo-transfer rule (PTR) and pedo-transfer functions (PTF). The PTR has been developed based on PTR No. 21 of the PTR database of the Soil Geographic Database of Eurasia (SGDBE). The original conditions of the rule system have been revised and amended to accommodate organic soils and peat. The revised PTR for topsoil SOC content comprises 120 ordered conditions of combinations of 5 soil and environmental parameters with an output to one of 6 classes of SOC content. Author(s): R. Hiederer, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2009 – 126 pp. EUR 23980 EN, ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-13352-7, DOI 10.2788/33102 Download report: (Size: 3 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 18/09/2009

SCAPE: The way ahead SCAPE project (Soil Conservation and Protection for Europe) has given scientists the opportunity to discuss soil conservation and protection strategies in an informal way with people who are either responsible for finding solutions, or being affected by them. Several hundreds of people have contributed to this book, either collectively or individually. They include the scientists, soil conservation and protection practitioners and stakeholders who participated in the SCAPE platforms, as well as many EU officers who are responsible for future research and environment policy. They also include people who met at the Vital Soil Conference at the Hague in November 2004 and as well the group of International experts in soil and environmental law who met at the September 2005 Conference in Iceland. Anton Imeson, Arnold Arnoldussen, Diego de la Rosa, Luca Montanaralla, Luuk Dorren, Michiel Curfs, Olafur Arnalds, Sanneke van Asselen et (2005) SCAPE: The way ahead. 139pp. Keywords: Soil Conservation, Soil Protection, Soil Data, European Sustainable Land Management Download report: (Size: 10.8 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 22/03/2010

Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites in Europe This report presents the current state of knowledge about progress with the management of contaminated sites in Europe. It directly supports the EU Soil Thematic Strategy (COM(2006) 231), which identifies local soil contamination as an important issue. It presents facts, analyses and methods on the management of Contaminated Sites, which can inform policy makers, professional practitioners, researchers, citizens and the media. The report is based on data that were collected from the National Reference Centres for Soil in 39 countries belonging to the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIO-NET) during a campaign organised by the JRC European Soil Data Centre in 2011-2012. The information presented in this report is based on a set of indicators which have been agreed on and used by the EIONET for more than a decade. This set of indicators contributes to the Core Set Indicator "Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites" (CSI 015) of the European Environment Agency (EEA), which is used for reporting on the State of the Environment. Author(s) Marc van Liedekerke, Gundula Prokop, Sabine Rabl-Berger, Mark Kibblewhite and Geertrui Louwagie. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2014 – 64 pp. – UR – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424 (online) ISBN 978-92-79-34846-4 (PDF), doi:10.2788/4658 Download report: (Size: 6 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 27/02/2014

European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Soil Maps of Latin America and Caribbean islands European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Soil Maps of Latin America and Caribbean islands : DVD-ROM version. EUR 21822. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Selvaradjou, S-K., Montanarella, L., Spaargaren. O. and Dent. D. (2005) Navigate the Contents:

European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Soil Maps of Africa. EUR 21657 EN, 386 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Selvaradjou, S-K., L. Montanarella, O. Spaargaren and D. Dent, (2005).

This document is published at the initiative of the Eionet National Reference Centres for Soil, which established in 2015 an ad-hoc working group on contaminated sites and brownfields in Europe.The objective was to collect cases and successful stories of remediated sites and brownfields, harmonise and facilitate exchanges of information on contaminated soils and soil remediation between the Eionet contributing countries. These stories have been compiled in the present report as a publication to the International Year of Soil 2015. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the remediation of contaminated sites and brownfields rehabilitation which is essential for sustainable land use management and to share best practices and new techniques in soil remediation and management of contaminated sites, meanwhile raising awareness of the enormous efforts needed to succeed. This document presents examples of success stories of remediation of contaminated soils in various contexts and different European countries. It is not meant to provide an exhaustive inventory of remediated sites in all countries.

Thirteen countries comprising 19 European regions present a total of 29 cases which illustrate how soil and brownfields remediation along with sustainable land management have become essential for reversing the trend of soil degradation and ensuring the provision of ecosystem services by soil.

Data Update and Model Revision for Soil Profile Analytical Database of Europe of Measured Parameters (SPADE/M2) The Soil Profile Analytical Database of Europe of Measured parameters (SPADE/M) is part of the distribution package of the Soil Geographic Database of Eurasia (SGDBE). Typical combinations of profile parameters and morphological characteristics of the sample site were intended to support the definition of generalized rules for estimating pedological and hydrological properties of the pedo-transfer rule (PTR) database of the SGDBE. In 2005 the data of the SGDBE were transferred to a common data storage structure. In 2008 original hard-copies on profile measurements were re-discovered at the National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfield University (NSRI). To make the original data more generally available the profiles were added to the existing database. This step required changes to the structure of the database and a validation of the all entries for accurate and reliable data storage and retrieval. Author(s): R. Hiederer. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities , 2010 – 55 pp. – EUR 24333 – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-15646-5, DOI 10.2788/85262 Keywords: Soil Profiles, SPADE, pedo-transfer rule, European Soil Database Download report: (Size: 1.0 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 26/04/2010

VAN DER KNIJFF, J.M., JONES, R.J.A. and MONTANARELLA, L. (1999). Traduit de l’Anglais par S. Christophe. EUR 19022 FR, 45pp.

An SRTM-based procedure to delineate Soter terrain units on 1: 1 and 1:5 Million scales. Technical report (2005) EUR 21571 EN. Endre Dobos, Joel Daroussin and Luca Montanarella

Using existing soil data to derive hydraulic parameters for simulation models in environmental studies and in land use planning.

One way of addressing the paucity of soil hydraulic data for simulation modeling is through the use of pedotransfer functions. In this case soil data routinely collected during systematic soil surveys are used to predict hydraulic characteristics.

To derive pedotransfer functions for European soils, 18 Institutes in 10 EU countries participated in the establishment of HYPRES Database.

The first task was to develop a flexible database structure. Next, the database was filled with measured hydraulic characteristics. Finally, the stored data were used for the derivation of classes and continuous pedotransfer functions.

Authors: J.H.M. Wosten, A. Lilly, A. Nemes, C. Le Bas .

Final Report of the European Union Funded project, 1998. 106pp, 15 Figures; 11 Tables;

References Keywords: Pedotransfer function, Texture Class, Soil Physics

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Implementazione a livello regionale della proposta di Direttiva quadro sui suoli in Europa This report provides an example of the implementation of the proposal of the Soil Framework Directive at regional scale. The authors analysed the complex process as defined in the proposal for the Soil Framework Directive (COM (2006) 232) from the European Commission to the Council and European Parliament. Furthermore the implementation scheme of the proposed Directive has been followed from the definition of the soil erosion risk assessment to the reporting activity to the European Commission. In addition, an overview of the actual policy framework for the soil protection measures is given. The authors underline some crucial steps in the implementation of the Directive with particular attention to the common criteria and the need for soil monitoring data for the reporting activity to European Commission. Author(s): Ezio Rusco, Luca Montanarella, Mauro Tiberi, Leonardo Rossini, Paolo Ricci, Giovanni Ciabocco, Alessandra Budini, Cristina Bernacconi, EUR 22953 IT – Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 2007 – 61 pp. Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593. Download report: (Size: 6.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 11/10/2010

European Hydropedological Data Inventory (EU-HYDI) There is a common need for reliable hydropedological information in Europe. In the last decades research institutes, universities and government agencies have developed local, regional and national datasets containing soil physical, chemical, hydrological and taxonomic information often combined with land use and landform data. The objective of the joint effort of the participants is to establish the European Hydropedological Data Inventory (EU-HYDI). This database holds data from European soils focusing on soil physical, chemical and hydrological properties. It also contains information on geographical location, soil classification and land use/cover at the time of sampling. It was assembled with the aim of encompassing the soil variability in Europe. It contains data from 18 countries with contributions from 29 institutions. This report presents an overview of the database, details the individual contributed datasets and explains the quality assurance and harmonization process that lead to the final database. Author(s) Weynants Melanie et al. – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2013 – 168pp. – EUR26053EN Scientific and Technical Research series, ISSN 1831-9424, doi:10.2788/5936 Download report: (Size: 6 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 20/01/2014

Monitoraggio Ambientale Mediante l' impiego di suoli e di muschi per le discariche di Rio Riazzone, Rio Vigne e Poiatica di Reggio Emilia Soil and mosses to value environmental quality of Rio Riazzone, Rio Vigne and Poiatica landfills in Reggio Emilia. EUR 21561 IT, 59pp. R.M Cenci, M. Bergonzoni, F. Bo, L. Canovi, S.Contini, V.Guberti, L.Musmeci, G. Locoro, E.Meglioli, V.Pedroni, M. Privitera, M. Puglisi, L. Roncari, F.Sena, N. Simonacci, P. Trincherini (2005) Download report: (Size: 22.3 MB) Preview FrontPage :

GOBIN, A., JONES R.J.A., KIRKBY, M., CAMPLING, P., GOVERS, G., KOSMAS, C., and GENTILE, A.R. (2004). Environmental Science & Policy 7, 25-38.

Extreme Temperatures and Precipitation in Europe: Analysis of a High-Resolution Climate Change Scenario Future climate change is generally believed to lead to an increase in climate variability and in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. In this report we analyse the changes in variability and extremes in temperature and precipitation in Europe by the end of this century, based on high-resolution (12 km) simulations of the regional climate model HIRHAM Danker, R. And R. Hiederer (2008) Extreme Temperatures and Precipitation in Europe: Analysis of a High-Resolution Climate Change Scenario. EUR 23291 EN. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities Luxembourg. 66 pp. ISSN 1018-5593 Download report: (Size: 8.3 MB) Preview FrontPage :

VAN DER KNIJFF, J.M., JONES, R.J.A. and MONTANARELLA, L. (2000). EUR 19044 EN, 34pp.

A Practical Guide to Geostatistical Mapping of Environmental Variables Geostatistical mapping can be defined as analytical production of maps by using field observations, auxiliary information and a computer program that calculates values at locations of interest. A Practical Guide to Geostatistical Mapping of Environmental Variables. EUR 22904 EN, Scientific and Technical Research series, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 143 pp. Hengl, T., 2007. Download report: (Size: 8.9 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Environmental Monitoring in contaminated area in Pavia Province, Italy. (Monitoraggio ambientale di un' area contaminate nella Provincia di Pavia) This study has as a scope to identify the extension of the area interested from the heavy metals and diossine and to estimate the level of concentration and their dangerousness. EUR 22762IT. 58 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. (2007), ISBN 978-92-79-05652-9. Editors: R.M. Cenci and F. Sena Download report: (Size: 2 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Bio Bio Project Biodiversity - Bioindication to evaluate Soil Health. EUR 22245 EN, 134pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. R.M Cenci and F. Sena Download report: (Size: 7.7 MB) Preview FrontPage :

For the first time, a comprehensive picture, at community scale, of the aquifers and their characteristics is available in digital form. For several Member States of the European Communities (Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and United Kingdom) this pioneer study provides a complete catalogue of national water resources.

Il Suolo della Provincia di Pavia The soils in Pavia Province (Italy) EUR 22132 IT, 128pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. R.M Cenci, G. Lodigiani, L. Musmeci, N. Filippi, F. Bouraoui, Gunther Umlauf and F. Sena Download report: (Size: 52 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Environmental impact study of the project for the enlargement of the Landfill of Poiatica (Reggio Emilia, ITALY) This study was developed to obtain the approval by the Province of Reggio Emilia for the enlargement of the landfill of Poiatica (Reggio Emilia). It was prepared on the basis of the Guidelines produced by the Emilia - Romagna Region to assess the impact of a landfill on the environment. The study includes five chapters: programme framework, project framework, synergistic anthropic factors independent from the project, baseline conditions of the environment, environmental impact of the project and alternatives. Cenci, R. et Al.(2002) Studio di impatto ambientale relativoal progetto generale definitivo per l' approvazione dell' ampliamento della discarica di I Categoria di R.S.U. et R.S.A. DI Poiatica di Carpineti per 1.000.000 mc Dda realizzarsi in lotti successivi in relazione alle indicazioni della pianificazione. EUR 20426 IT. European Communities, Ispra (2002). 812 pp. Download report: (Size: 150 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Will there be enough plant nutrients to feed a world of 9 billion in 2050? Will there be enough plant nutrients to feed a world of 9 billion in 2050? is the central question addressed by a JRC study. This exercise was based on consultations with experts and a thematic workshop focused on three areas of interest: 1) the demand for fertilizers to sustain crop production necessary to feed the world in 2050; 2) perspectives on the supply of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) to world agriculture and 3) the role of innovation and technology in changing the match between demand and supply of fertilizers. Implications of the main findings for current EU and international policies were addressed. "There is no specific reason to be alarmed about the overall supply of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus for the world's agriculture but because of changing conditions in production, demand and use, continuous vigilance is called for." Author(s):Jean-Paul Malingreau, Hugh Eva, Albino Maggio. 2012 – 30pp. – EUR 25327 EN – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2012 – 30 pp. – 21.0 x 29.7 cm, EUR – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424 (online) ISSN 1018-5593 (print), ISBN 978-92-79-24910-5 (pdf),ISBN 978-92-79-24909-9 (print), doi: 10.2788/26603 Download report: (Size: 1.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 26/09/2012

Bob Ahrens, Luca Montanarella, Otto Spaargaren, Erika Michéli Classification, an applied area of soil science but lacks a common set of terminology. In this paper, harmonization of the basic terminology of modern classification systems is suggested.

Extending Geographic and Thematic Range of SPADE/M with HYPRES Soil Profile Data The measured soil profile data of the Hydraulic Properties of European Soils (HYPRES) were evaluated for their potential use in extending the geographic coverage and thematic range of the profiles of the Soil Profile Analytical Database of Europe of measured profiles (SPADE/M) database. The aim of increasing the number of measured profiles is to improve the definition of pedo-transfer rules (PTRs) to extend the range of parameters characterizing soils and the validation of model runs.The HYPRES and SPADE/M databases follow different concepts in the compilation of soil profiles. These differences were reflected in the organization of storing profile data in the databases. A specific conceptual problem to extending the SPADE/M data set is posed by recording repeated measurements in the HYPRES database for horizons of a profile and multiple profiles for a plot. The two data sets also differ with respect to the properties recorded, the measurement units and the database model. To increase the number of measured soil profile data of the SPADE/M data set with HYPRES profiles the data from the latter has to be standardized to be adjusted to comply with the specifications of the SPADE/M data set. The standardization process involves conversions of units or reference systems, such as the plot co-ordinate transformation or the extraction of properties from comment fields, but also conceptual adaptations of the method used to characterize a soil horizon in the database. The outcome of the standardization process is a series of soil profiles which can be seamlessly added to the SPADE/M data set. Author(s): R. Hiederer Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2011 – 43 pp. – EUR 26540 EN Scientific and Technical Research series – ISBN 78-92-79-21593-3(online), doi:10.2788/8209 Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 21/08/2014

ENVASSO: ENVironmental ASsessment of Soil for mOnitoring. The project's main objective was to define and document a soil monitoring system for implementation in support of a Soil Framework Directive, aimed at protecting soil in the EU. The final reports from the ENVASSO project can be downloaded through the following links: Volume I identifies 290 potential indicators relating to 188 key issues for nine threats to soil identified in the Commission's Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection. Volume IIa identifies the existing soil inventory and monitoring systems in the EU Member States and evaluates the extent to which existing soil monitoring networks adequately represent European soil typological units, land use/cover, specific soil criteria - such as soil organic carbon, bulk density, heavy metal contents - and existing spatial assessments of threats to soil such as soil erosion, compaction and desertification. Volume IIb is a Survey of National Soil Monitoring Networks, containing comprehensive fact sheets listing for each national network, its purpose, the sampling strategy adopted, the analytical methods used and the number of monitoring sites. Volume III reviews user-needs for soil information and briefly describes existing soil information systems in a selection of Member States. Volume IVa summarises the results of testing 22 indicator procedures in 28 Pilot Areas in the Member Sates. (Oct 2009) Volume IVb contains 28 Pilot Area study reports that adhere to a standard reporting template to aid comparison and evaluation. They represent a wide range of soil-landscapes from the north to the south of Europe........ Volume V describes the procedures and protocols needed for harmonised soil monitoring in Europe which have been modified following the extensive testing of 22 indicators in 28 Pilot Areas of EU Member States reported in Volume IV. Volume VI summarises the results presented in the preceding volumes (I-V) and concludes with a proposed approach to monitoring soil conditions in Europe. Last Update: 30/10/2009

Evaluation of BioSoil Demonstration Project - Preliminary Data Analysis. The BioSoil demonstration Project was initiated under the Forest Focus-Scheme (Regulation (EC) Nr. 2152/2003) concerning the monitoring of forests and environmental interactions in the Community, and aimed to broaden the scope of previous forest monitoring activities (on atmospheric pollution and forest fires) to the fields of soil characteristics and biodiversity indicators. The preliminary data analysis concentrated on the evaluation of a selected number of parameters of the data submitted by NFCs and sampling procedures. For soil the parameters needed to establish soil organic carbon densities were analysed. Hiederer, R.and T. Durrant (2010) Evaluation of BioSoil Demonstration Project - Preliminary Data Analysis. EUR 24258 EN. Luxembourg: Office for Official. Publications of the European Communities. 126pp. Keywords: BioSoil, Forest Focus, Soil, Organic Carbon, biodiversity indicators Download report: (Size: 4.8 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 24/02/2010

JONES, A.R., HOUŠKOVÁ, B., FILIPPI N., MICHÉLI, E., SELVARADJOU, S.K., MONTANARELLA, L. and JONES, R.J.A. (2004). EUR 21210 EN, 285pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Presentations of the 2nd European Summer School on Soil Survey [European Soil Bureau, Institute of Environement and Sustainability (July 2004)]

Elementi chimici nei funghi superiori (Chemical elements in fungi) Funghi di riferimento come strumento di lavoro per la bioindicazione e la biodiversita (Fungi as study means for biodiversity and bio-indication I funghi in natura sono tra i principali agenti dei cicli biogeochimici, i cicli di materia ed energia alla base del funzionamento degli ecosistemi Il presente volume comprende: Indicazione delle localita di campionamento dei funghi e dei suoli, I dati analitici (ca 300.000) riguardanti la totalità dei campioni (ca 10.000) di funghi e di suoli analizzati, La statistica descrittiva per tutti i generi e le specie analizzati, Le mappe che illustrano la distribuzione delle concentrazioni degli elementi inorganici nei funghi. Author(s): R. M. Cenci, L. Cocchi, O. Petrini, F. Sena, C. Siniscalco, L. Vescovi, 22010 – 232 pp– EUR 24415 IT– EUR – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593 - ISBN 978-92-79-16023-3 Download report: (Size: 29.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 22/07/2010

Landslide Mapping in Austria. This study presents and discusses landslide inventories, susceptibility and hazard maps and databases available in Austria. Schweigl, J., Hervás, J., 2009. Landslide Mapping in Austria. JRC Scientific and Technical Report EUR 23785 EN, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 61 pp. ISBN 978-92-79-11776-3. Download report: (Size: 26 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 07/04/2009

Provincia di Varese C.C.R di Ispra: Flussi di ricaduta di metalli pesanti valutati mediante muschi e suoli Varese Province and JRC Ispra: Depositions of heavy metals by means of mosses and soil EUR 22137 IT, 84pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2006). R.M Cenci, F. Leva M., Bianchi. Download report: (Size: 4.6 MB) Preview FrontPage :

European Soil Portal The Official Guide for the European Soil Portal. References to Data, Documents, Applications, Projects, Themes and Utilities. Also, the features of the Soil portal are presented against the INSPIRE principles. EUR 22186 EN, 69pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Panos Panagos, Marc Van Liedekerke and Luca Montanarella Download report: (Size: 11.2 MB) Preview FrontPage :

JONES, R.J.A., HIEDERER, R., RUSCO, E., LOVELAND, P.J. and MONTANARELLA, L. (2003). Proceedings of the 4th European Congress on Regional Geoscientific Cartography and Information Systems, 17-20 June 2003, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Direzione Generale Ambiente e Difesa del Suolo e della Costa, Servizio Geologoco, Sismico e dei Suoli, p.249-251.

Addressing soil degradation in EU agriculture: relevant processes, practices and policies. Agriculture occupies a substantial proportion of the European land, and consequently plays an important role in maintaining natural resources and cultural landscapes, a precondition for other human activities in rural areas. Unsustainable farming practices and land use, including mismanaged intensification as well as land abandonment, have an adverse impact on natural resources. Having recognised the environmental challenges of agricultural land use, the European Parliament requested the European Commission in 2007 to carry out a pilot project on 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation through simplified cultivation techniques' (SoCo). The project originated from a close cooperation between the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). It was implemented by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) and the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES). Report on the project 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)'.Authors: SoCo Project Team, Editors: Geertrui Louwagie, Stephan Hubertus Gay, Alison Burrell. EUR 23767 EN, ISSN 1018-5593, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2009. Download report: (Size: 4 MB) , Download the Annex (14 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Threats to Soil Quality in Europe The special session during EUROSOIL 2008 dedicated to the threats to soil quality in Europe has allowed for an indepth analysis of the status of research in this are and the identification of still existing research gaps for future action. The full coverage of the threats identified within the Soil Thematic Strategy will allow to further support the on-going process towards better soil protection in Europe. Gergely Tóth, Luca Montanarella and Ezio Rusco (eds.) EUR 23438 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-09529-0, ISSN 1018-5593, DOI 10.2788/8647 . Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities , 2008. Download report: (Size: 8MB) Preview FrontPage :

A Soil Sampling Protocol to Certify the Changes of Organic Carbon Stock in Mineral Soils of European Union. EUR 21576 EN, 12 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Stolbovoy Vladimir, Luca Montanarella, Nicola Filippi, Senthil-Kumar Selvaradjou, Panos Panagos and Javier Gallego.

Background values in European soils and sewage sludges Results of a JRC- coordinated study on background values B. M. Gawlik and G. Bidoglio(2006) EUR 22265 EN , European Commission, Ispra, Italy, ISBN 92-79-02120-6 , ISSN 1018-5593 Part I - Evaluation of the relevance of organic micro-pollutants in sewage sludge (R. Leschber). Download Part I: (Size: 0.5 MB) Part II - Contents of trace elements and organic matter in European soils (J. Utermann, O. Düwel, I. Nagel). Download Part II: (Size: 7.5 MB) Part III - Conclusions, comments and recommendations (B. M. Gawlik , G. Bidoglio) Download Part III: (Size: 0.4 MB)

3rd European Summer School on Soil Survey MICHÉLI, E., PANAGOS, P., JONES, A. and MONTANARELLA (2006), EUR 22193EN, 219pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Presentationsand Videos of the 3rd European Summer School on Soil Survey [Szent István University and European Soil Bureau, Institute of Envrionement and Sustainability and (July 2005)] Download report: (Size: 19 MB) Preview FrontPage : Available also the CD 3rd European Summer School on Soil Survey

Development of a Spatial European Soil Property Data Set For many applications of modelling environmental conditions or developing scenarios for environmental change analysis soil property data in form of spatial layers are needed. Raster data formats are widely used for the modelling of movements through space and the storage of parameters, which change constantly and without a pattern that could be described by a plain mathematical function. This study into providing spatial soil property layers uses a soil database where the soil properties are stored in tables of generalized combinations of attributes and linked to a spatial layer of delineated mapping units. Roland Hiederer & Robert J.A. Jones, 2009. Development of a Spatial European Soil Property Data Set. JRC Scientific and Technical Report EUR 23839 EN, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 30 pp.ISBN 978-92-79-12535-5, ISSN 1018-5593 , DOI 10.2788/19220. Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 19/06/2009

Mapping Soil Typologies - Spatial Decision Support Applied to European Soil Database For many applications of modelling environmental conditions or processes soil characteristics are needed in form of spatial data ready to be integrated in a GIS. A source of uniform data on characteristics of European soils is available from the European Soil Database (ESDB) of the European Soil Bureau. The soil information was collected by participating national institutions and underwent an extensive process of harmonizing the thematic content of recording the soil characteristics and ensuring spatial continuity along boundaries. In the database a many-to-1 link is used to relate soil characteristics to the geographic layer. Thus, considerably effort is required to represent specific soil characteristics in a single spatial layer. Author(s) Hiederer, R. – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2013 – 147pp. – EUR25932EN Scientific and Technical Research series, ISSN 1831-9424, doi:10.2788/87286 Download report: (Size: 5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 23/04/2013

Biofuels: a New Methodology to Estimate GHG Emissions from Global Land Use Change - A methodology involving spatial allocation of agricultural land demand and estimation of CO2 and N2O emissions This study provides a new methodology developed by the JRC IES and IE for estimating changes in soil carbon stocks and GHG emissions resulting from global land use changes caused by the production of biofuels. The methodology follows a two-step approach: a) Creation of database (e.g. land use/crop cover/soil types etc.), combining different data sources into a single harmonised database; b) Simulation based on cropland demands from the general equilibrium model MIRAGE (run by IFPRI) and on cropland demand from the partial equilibrium model AGLINK-COSIMO Author(s): Roland Hiederer, Fabien Ramos, Claudia Capitani, Renate Koeble, Viorel Blujdea, Oscar Gomez, Declan Mulligan and Luisa Marelli, 2010 – 150 pp. – EUR 24483 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-16389-0, DOI 10.2788/48910 Download report: (Size: 2 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 12/11/2010

Final report on the project ‘Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)’ This report synthesises the findings of the SoCo project and translates them into conclusions and recommendations. Following the introduction (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 reviews soil degradation processes, soil conservation practices and policy measures at European level. Soil degradation risk was assessed through parametric and empirical models, whereas the review of soil conservation farming practices is based on the available literature. The literature review of policy measures is supplemented by a survey of policy implementation at national or regional level. Chapter 3 takes the analysis to the local scale by means of ten case studies distributed over three macro-regions. Aggregated environmental benefits of adopting particular soil conservation practices are explored with model calculations in Chapter 4. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the effectiveness and efficiency of instruments for soil protection, maintenance and improvement in Europe, exploring opportunities and critical issues linked to the adoption of conservation practices. The report closes with policy-relevant conclusions as a basis for policy recommendations. Authors: SoCo Project Team, Editors: Geertrui Louwagie, Stephan Hubertus Gay, Alison Burrell.Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. EUR 23820 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-12400-6, ISSN 1018-5593, DOI 10.2791/10052 Download report: (Size: 8 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 24/09/2009

European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Metadata of the Soil Maps of Latin America and Caribbean islands European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Metadata of the Soil Maps of Latin America and Caribbean islands. EUR 21821 EN 219pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Selvaradjou, S-K., Montanarella, L., Spaargaren, O., Dent, D., Filippi, N. and Reuter, H.I. (2005). Download report: (Size: 1.8 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Addressing soil degradation in EU agriculture: relevant processes, practices and policies. Report on the project 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)' Agriculture occupies a substantial proportion of the European land, and consequently plays an important role in maintaining natural resources and cultural landscapes, a precondition for other human activities in rural areas. Unsustainable farming practices and land use, including mismanaged intensification as well as land abandonment, have an adverse impact on natural resources. Having recognised the environmental challenges of agricultural land use, the European Parliament requested the European Commission in 2007 to carry out a pilot project on 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation through simplified cultivation techniques' (SoCo). The project originated from a close cooperation between the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). It was implemented by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) and the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES). Authors: SoCo Project Team, Editors: Geertrui Louwagie, Stephan Hubertus Gay, Alison Burrell.Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.– 332 pp., EUR – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-13358-1, DOI 10.2791/69723 Download report: (Size: 18 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 13/08/2009

Integration of the Soil Database of Turkey into European Soil Database 1:1.000.000 In order to extend the Soil Geographical Database (SGDBE) to the countries of Mediterranean Basin, the preparation of soil geographical database of Turkey at 1:1 million scales was initiated at the end of 2008. In the current report, the reader will be informed about the preparation of soil geographical database of Turkey compatible with European database and how the Turkish soil data have been integrated the European Soil Database. The implementation of this work has been achieved since we have built a common understanding and nomenclature of soils in Europe and Mediterranean region. A number of attributes have been transformed from local/regional/national soil datasets while some other attributes have been obtained from auxiliary datasets using remote sensing and GIS Techniques. Authors: Ece Aksoy, Panos Panagos, Luca Montanarella, Arwyn Jones (2010). Integration of the Soil Database of Turkey into European Soil Database 1:1.000.000. EUR 24295 EN. ISSN 1018-5593. ISBN 978-92-79-15306-8. DOI 10.2788/77892. 45 pp. Keywords: European Soil Database 1:1.000.000, Turkish Soil Data, GIS Techniques, Remote Sensing Download report: (Size: 5.6 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 30/03/2010

Guidelines for Mapping Areas at Risk of Landslides in Europe This volume presents the results of a meeting of European experts held at the JRC, Ispra, Italy on 23-24 October 2007. The publication includes examples of landslide inventories and susceptibility, hazard and risk mapping in France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy and Spain, and discusses some harmonisation issues and criteria for mapping landslide susceptibility across Europe. It concludes with recommendations on a common methodology for landslide susceptibility mapping in Europe based on geographically-nested “Tier” approaches at various scales, from Europe-wide scale to regional and local scales. Hervás, J. (Ed.), 2007. Guidelines for Mapping Areas at Risk of Landslides in Europe. Proc. Experts Meeting, JRC, Ispra, Italy, 23-24 October 2007. JRC Report EUR 23093 EN, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 53 pp. Download report: (Size: 28.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 11/10/2010

Report on the activities realized within the Service Level Agreement between JRC and EFSA The activities realized in 2010 by JRC as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups are shortly described. For the FATE WG, the vast majority of data has been provided in 2009 during the first year of the Service Level Agreement (SLA), and in 2010 the daily weather data, for the six selected sites, were produced. All the data used for the scenario selection procedures, with additional data on land use-land cover, crop distribution, soil and climate parameters, will be made available for external user in first half of 2011. For the ECOREGION WG the analysis has been carried out for three Member States covering a North-South gradient from Finland, Germany to Portugal. Soil and weather data have been used for the characterisation of bio-geographic sampling sites, and for the implementation of the ecoregion model. Ecoregion maps were produced for earthworms and enchytraeids for Finland and Germany and revealed marked differences between the countries. The same approach has been applied also to Collembola and Isopoda, but for these two taxa led to a rather poor discrimination both between and within countries. Author(s):Ciro Gardi, Panos Panagos, Roland Hiederer, Luca Montanarella, Fabio Micale, 2011 – 38 pp. – EUR 24744 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-19521-1, Doi 10.2788/61018 Download report: (Size: 4.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 29/03/2011

The State of Soil in Europe - A contribution of the JRC to the European Environment Agency's Environment State and Outlook Report - SOER 2010 This report published by the JRC and the European Environment Agency provides a comprehensive overview of soil resources and degradation processes. The core of this report was prepared for the Assessment on Soil, which forms part of the 'The European Environment - state and outlook 2010 Report' (SOER) 20102, coordinated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). This Reference Report uses data from the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), managed on behalf of EU institutions by the JRC. The information also helps European citizens to better understand, care for and improve Europe's environment. The soil assessment was one of a set of 13 Europe-wide thematic assessments of key environmental themes and the only one coordinated by the JRC. Author(s): Arwyn Jones, Panos Panagos, Sara Barcelo, Faycal Bouraoui, Claudio Bosco, Olivier Dewitte, Ciro Gardi, Markus Erhard, Javier Hervás, Roland Hiederer, Simon Jeffery, Anke Lükewille, Luca Marmo, Luca Montanarella, Claudia Olazábal, Jan-Erik Petersen, Vit Penizek, Thomas Strassburger, Gergely Tóth, Miet Van Den Eeckhaut, Marc Van Liedekerke, Frank Verheijen, Eva Viestova, Yusuf Yigini 2012 – 76 pp. – EUR 25186 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series. Download report: (Size: 4 MB) Last Update: 13/02/2012

Carbon Sink Enhancement in Soils of Europe: Data, Modeling, Verification The results on ‘Data and Database Strategy’ of the Integrated Sink Enhancement Assessment (INSEA) project of the 6th Framework Programme are presented. The collection of papers include a wide range of studies carried out in the EU: observation of available data sources on soils; the organic carbon content in the top soil and its validation; field verification of the changes in the soil organic carbon; application of the field-scale model EPIC. Author(s): Eds. Vladimir Stolbovoy, Luca Montanarella and Panos Panagos, 2007. Carbon Sink Enhancement in Soils of Europe: Data, Modeling, Verification. EUR 23037 EN, European Commission, Ispra, Italy, 183pp. ISBN 978-92-79-07691-6 Download report: (Size: 6.4 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Soil Resources of Mediterranean and Caucasus Countries This book is result of the workshop on "Extension of the European Soil Database" held in Izmir/Turkey on 14-15 May 2012. The country reports on the status of soil mapping and the development of national soil information systems were presented briefly and discussed in relation to the objective on extension of the European soil database and information system. The most recent extension studies cover Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey this book features country chapters, with contributions from 13 of the above-mentioned countries. Editors(s) Yusuf Yigini, Panos Panagos, Luca Montanarella. Special thanks to the contributors: H. Ghazaryan (Armenia), A. Ismayilov (Azerbaijan), Z. Zomeni, A. Bruggeman (Cuprus), M.M. Kotb (Egypt), T.F. Urushadze, G.O. Ghambashidze (Georgia), A. Salih Mhaimeed (Iraq), O. Crouvi, R. Zaidenberg, M. Shapiro (Israel), M. H Al Ferihat (Jordan), T. Darwish (Lebanon), B. Nwer(Libya), Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Malta), B. Dudeen, W0 Abu Rmailah, M. Alsalimiya, M. Alamleh (Palestine), S. Senol, I. Bayramin (Turkey). – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2013 – 243pp. – EUR25988EN Scientific and Technical Research series, SSN 1831-9424, ISBN 978-92-79-30346-3, doi: 10.2788/91322 Download report: (Size: 17 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 03/06/2013

GRIMM, M., JONES, R.J.A. and MONTANARELLA, L. (2001). EUR 19939 EN, 38pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

RUSCO, E., JONES, R.J.A. and BIDOGLIO, G. (2001). EUR 20556 EN, 14pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

Dioxins, Trace elements, Bioindicators and biodiversity in Soils Soils of the Province of Pavia have been the object of a biological, physical and chemical survey in order to obtain a detailed assessment of their “quality”. For this purpose, standard international methods were used to identify sampling, collection, handling and analysis points. With the use of the Land Use Cover Area from Statistical Survey (LUCAS) network, 7 Primary Points and 34 Secondary Points have been identified. On the basis of the same network, 116 sampling points (Tertiary Points) have been selected within six areas of prevalently industrial nature. The bio-physical-chemical analyses of all the soil samples were the following: trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Ti and Zn), macro elements (C tot, Corg, Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, N, Na, P and Si), dioxins and furans, pH, water retention, pedological profile, bacteria Authors: R. M. Cenci, F. Sena, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 2009 – 192 pp, EUR23935EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-12793-9, DOI 10.2788/2351 Download report: (Size: 12 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 09/07/2009

Euro soils: Identification, collection, Treatment and Characterization. Methodological Aspects of Reference Soil Sampling. Field Work on euro-soils profile anaysis and sampling procedures. Pedological Characterization composition analysis. Determination of organochlorine compounds. Evaluation of Laboratory Ringtest . Kuhnt and Muntau. (1994). Euro soils: Identification, collection, Treatment and Characterization. EUR 19460 EN, 152pp. Keywords: Euro soils, Collection, Soil Sampling Download report: (Size: 1.6 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 11/02/2010

Climate change: soil can make a difference! Climate is a principle factor of soil development. Climate drives major soil-forming processes including transformation, accumulation and transport of substances that result in the diversity of soil types on the Earth. Soil is one of the key life support systems responsible for the performance of major ecological functions such as biomass production in agriculture and forestry, storing, fi ltering and transforming nutrients, substances and water, biodiversity (e.g. habitats, species and genes), physical and cultural environment for humans and human activities, source of raw materials, etc. The change of climate alters all processes in soil which may have serious consequences for the both environment and society. Therefore, climate-soil relationship is one of the priority topics in soil science. This booklet presents an overview of the various activities which are being carried out by the Soil Action or to which the basic soil data were provided. In addition, new methods to verify the changes of the organic carbon and estimate the potentials of carbon change in the EU mineral soils are introduced. The overall goal of the document is to provide examples that clearly illustrate that soil is an important issue in climate change. Policies and strategies supporting the effective management of soil can really make a difference for the mitigation of climate change. Vladimir Stolbovoy, Brechje Maréchal, Arwyn Jones, Ezio Rusco and Luca Montanarella, 2008. Conference on ‘Climate change - can soil make a difference?’ , 12th June 2008 , Centre Borschette, Brussels Download report: (Size: 13 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 30/06/2009

Monitoraggio ambientale antecedente l’entrata in funzione di un termodistruttore Environmental Monitoring before the entrance in function of Power Plants EUR 20674 IT, 257pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2003). R.M Cenci, M. Barbiere et al. Download report: (Size: 32.7 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Derivation methods of soil screening values in Europe. A review and evaluation of national procedures towards harmonisation Soil Screening Values (SVs) are quality standards that are used to regulate contaminated sites. Derivation methods of SVs have scientific and political bases; they differ from country to country, and SVs numerical values vary consequently. In relation to the common environmental policies in Europe, this variability has raised concern among both regulators and risk assessors. Carlon, C. (Ed.) (2007). Derivation methods of soil screening values in Europe. A review and evaluation of national procedures towards harmonization. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, EUR 22805-EN, 306 pp. ISBN: 978-92-79-05238-5, ISSN: 1018-5593 Download report: (Size: 2.2 MB) Preview FrontPage :

An Innovative Approach for Updating Soil Information based on Digital Soil Mapping Techniques In this study, we propose a novel innovative approach to address the issues on evaluating the traditional soil maps and updating the existing soil information based on the principles of digital soil mapping. EUR22545, 44pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2007). Senthil-Kumar Selvaradjou, Luca Montanarella, Florence Carre, Arwyn Jones, Panos Panagos, Kaliaperumal Ragunath, Ramalingam Kumaraperumal, and Subramanian Natarajan. Download report: (Size: 1.7 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Edité par le Bureau Europeen des Sols. Version française de J.J. Lambert. EUR 18092 FR, 174pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

A Geographical Knowledge Database on Soil Properties for Environmental Studies Final Report of EC Contract No. 3392004 November 1994 DGXI, Brussels. King, D. ; Jamagne, M. ; Daroussin, J. ; Vanmechelen, L. ; Van Ranst, E.; Hollis, J.M. ; Thomasson, A.J. ; Jones,R.J.A. ; Le Bas C. ; Ngongo L. This report presents a method to translate data stored in the SGDB database to data needed for environmental purposes. This method is based on the concept of pedotransfer function. Due to the qualitative nature of the SGDB data, these functions are simple tables and are called pedotranfer rules. Download report: Size: 7.4 MB) Preview FrontPage :

LUCAS Topsoil Survey: methodology, data and results In 2009, the European Commission extended the periodic Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) to sample and analyse the main properties of topsoil in 23 Member States of the European Union (EU). This topsoil survey represents the first attempt to build a consistent spatial database of the soil cover across The EU based on standard sampling and analytical procedures, with the analysis of all soil samples being carried out in a single laboratory. Approximately 20,000 points were selected out of the main LUCAS grid for the collection of soil samples. A standardised sampling procedure was used to collect around 0.5 kg of topsoil. The samples were dispatched to a central laboratory for physical and chemical analyses. Subsequently, Malta and Cyprus provided soil samples even though the main LUCAS survey was not carried on their territories. Cyprus has adapted the sampling methodology of LUCAS-Topsoil for (the southern part of the island) while Malta adjusted its national sampling grid to correspond to the LUCAS standards. Bulgaria and Romania have been sampled in 2012. However, the analysis is ongoing and the results are not included in this report.The final database contains 19,967 geo-referenced samples. This report provides a detailed insight to the design and methodology of the data collection and laboratory analysis. All samples have been analysed for the percentage of coarse fragments, particle size distribution (% clay, silt and sand content), pH (in CaCl2 and H2O), organic carbon (g/kg), carbonate content (g/kg), phosphorous content (mg/kg), total nitrogen content (g/kg), extractable potassium content (mg/kg), cation exchange capacity (cmol(+)/kg) and multispectral properties. Author(s) Gergely Tóth, Arwyn Jones and Luca Montanarella (eds.). – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2013 – 141pp. – EUR26102EN Scientific and Technical Research series, ISSN 1831-9424, doi:10.2788/97922 Download report: (Size: 8 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 4/09/2013

Evaluation of BioSoil Demonstration Project - Soil Data Analysis The BioSoil demonstration Project was initiated under the Forest Focus-Scheme (Regulation (EC) Nr. 2152/2003) concerning the monitoring of forests and environmental interactions in the Community, and aimed to broaden the scope of previous forest monitoring activities (on atmospheric pollution and forest fires) to the fields of soil characteristics and biodiversity indicators. The evaluation of the project concentrated on analysing a selected number of parameters submitted by NFCs for estimating the distribution and changes in soil organic carbon and the performance of the WRB classification. Author(s): R. Hiederer, E. Michéli, T. Durrant, 2011 – 155 pp. – EUR 24729 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-19320-0, Doi 110.2788/56105 Download report: (Size: 3.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 11/02/2011

EFSA Spatial Data Version 1.1 Data Properties and Processing In the context of the submissions of exposure estimates of pesticides in the soil and according to regulation (EC) 1107/2009 1 a set of spatial data pertinent to evaluating the environmental fate and behaviour of pesticides in the soil was published in 2011 as support to the FATE and the ECOREGION EFSA PPR Working Groups. After the first EFSA Spatial Data set was made available in 2011 users commented on inconsistencies in the data, mainly with respect to the spatial characteristics of various layers. The JRC found that the problem was more complex than just a geographic misalignment of layers and concluded that to fully address the problem all data layers needed to be reprocessed from their respective sources and recompiled to comply with the specifications. This task was performed by the JRC, which resulted in an update to the previous data referred to as EFSA Spatial Data Version 1.1. Author(s):Roland Hiederer. 2012 – 50pp. – EUR 25327 EN – Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union – 2012 – 30 pp. – 21.0 x 29.7 cm, EUR25546 Scientific and Technical Research series - ISSN 1831-9424, doi:10.2788/54453 Download report: (Size: 1.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 05/12/2012

Chemical elements in Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes (The reference mushrooms as instruments for investigating bioindication and biodiversity) Fungi in the wild are among the principal agents in biogeochemical cycles; those cycles of matter and energy which enable ecosystems to work. By investigating the biodiversity of Italian fungal species and concentration levels of chemical elements in them, it may be possible to employ these fungi as biological indicators for the quality of forest, woodland and semi-natural environments. The data archives of EUR Reports record the dry-material concentrations, of 35 chemical elements, including heavy metals, in over 9000 samples of higher mushrooms. These samples represent around 200 genera and a thousand species. As the archive has attained statistical stability it has been possible to define the concept of a "reference mushroom". The use of a "reference mushroom" may bring benefits – perhaps only as a methodological approach – in various fields of mycological and environmental research; from biodiversity and bioindication, through taxonomy right up to health and sanitation issues. The sheer volume of the collected data may prove to be useful as a comparison for data collected in the future; such results would also allow a better and more-exhaustive interpretation of the effects of environmental-protection laws which have been enacted over the years in order to reduce or remedy current climate-change phenomena and the environmental damage caused by human activity. Editors:R. M. Cenci and F. Sena, 2011 – 232 pp. – EUR 24415 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-20395-4, Doi 10.2788/22228 Download report: (Size: 28.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 06/09/2011

Lessons Learnt from Landslide Disasters in Europe Landslides are a widespread hazard in many mountainous and hilly regions of Europe. They cause significant economic losses as well as human victims. The socio-economic impact is however difficult to quantify at European scale, mainly because it is usually not considered separately when landslides acompany other natural hazards such as floods or earthquakes. Hervás, J. (Ed.), 2003. Lessons Learnt from Landslide Disasters in Europe. EUR 20558 EN, European Commission, Ispra, Italy, 91 p. Download report: (Size: 4.3 MB) Preview FrontPage :

European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Metadata of the Soil Maps of Asia European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) – Metadata of the Soil Maps of Asia. EUR 21820 EN, 204 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg Selvaradjou, S-K., Montanarella. L, Spaargaren. O, Dent. D, Filippi, N, and Dominik, S. (2005). Download report: (Size: 2.0 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Bioindicatori per valutare la qualità dei suoli di alcuni parchi della città di Roma Il presente studio è stato effettuato alfine di stimare parte della qualità ambientale in alcuni parchi della città di Roma. Per tale indagine sono stati utilizzati muschi, suoli superficiali raccolti nei parchi di Villa Borghese, Villa Ada e Villa Doria Pamphili. Queste aree sono state scelte perché adiacenti a strade ad alto traffico veicolare. Complessivamente sono state approntate 11 stazioni di prelievo. R. M. Cenci, D. Dabergami, E. Beccaloni, G. Ziemacki, A. Benedetti, L. Pompili, A. S. Mellina, M. Bianchi EUR 23567 IT, Catalogue number LB-NA-23567-IT-C, ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN: 978-92-79-10648-4 Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities , 2008. Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Il Suolo della Provincia di Pavia (Volume II) Valutazione della concentrazione di composti organici ed inorganici persistenti attraverso lo sviluppo di una rete di monitoraggio del suolo. This document is the second Volume of the Report "Il Suolo della Provincia di Pavia Volume I" (No 33). EUR22132 (Volume II) IT, 86pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg (2007). Roberto M. Cenci and Fabrizio Sena. Download report: (Size: 7.7 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Background Guide for the Calculation of Land Carbon Stocks in the Biofuels Sustainability Scheme: Drawing on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories This Guide covers the calculation of carbon-stock changes in soil and above- and below-ground vegetation due to land use conversion in support of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, particularly for assessing carbon-stock changes due to land conversion for biofuel production. The methodology put forward is based on the Tier 1 approach as developed under the IPCC Guidelines 2006. It is based on specifying default values for carbon stocks and using coefficients of divergence from the default values according to land use/cover. The methodological approach of the IPCC was adapted for use with spatial layers instead of data tables. The spatial layers of the factors influencing carbon-stock changes were generated with global coverage and thematically aligned to comply with stipulations made in the Directive. According to the types of land use/cover conversion, a review is made of the methodology of the IPCC (2006). Particular problems regarding peatlands are presented. Drained peatlands cannot be assessed in terms of carbon-stock changes because drainage occurs on the overall peat soil profile (not only on the first 30 cm). This has direct consequences not only on CO2 emissions but also on CH4 and N2O. Tables of coefficients of conversions are then proposed according to climate zone and continental boundaries for soil carbon-stock changes and for above- and below-ground carbon stock changes in biomass in a Technical Annex. Author(s): Florence Carré, Roland Hiederer, Viorel Blujdea, Renate Koeble, 2010 – 109 pp. – EUR 24573 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593, ISBN 978-92-79-17455-1, Doi 10.2788/34463 Download report: (Size: 2.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 12/11/2010

Soil Biodiversity What is biodiversity? Biodiversity has different meanings depending on the situation being discussed and the target audience. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary defines biodiversity as being. The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat. This is definition is clearly sufficient for non-specialists. However, when looking more specifically at biodiversity, it becomes evident that thought needs to be given to other groups such as fungi, bacteria and archea. As soil is such as diverse system when considered biologically (as well as physically or chemically) it is necessary to include all taxonomic groups. Therefore, throughout this booklet, when referring to soil biodiversity it will be in reference to the variety of all living organisms found within the soil system. Ciro Gardi and Simon Jeffery EUR23759EN, ISBN 978-92-79-11289-8, ISSN 1018-5593, DOI 10.2788/7831 , Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2009. Download report: (Size: 4 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Edito dal Comitato Scientifico dell’European Soil Bureau, Versione italiano a cura di Edoardo A.C. Costantini. (1999). EUR 18092 IT, 170pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

European Digital Archive of Soil Maps (EuDASM) - Soil Maps of Asia : DVD-ROM version. EUR 21823. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. Selvaradjou, S-K., Montanarella, L., Spaargaren. O. and Dent. D. (2005).

Soils of the European Union This report is based on the information contained in the European Soil Database, the result of more than ten years of fruitful effort and collaboration between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, and Europe’s leading soil science institutions. The current report overviews soils of the European Union classified in a new standard which is the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB; FAO 1998). This system originates from the approach of the FAO to correlate soil resources globally. The advantage of using the system of the FAO is that the soil resources of the European Union are integrated into the world-wide context. Gergely Tóth, Luca Montanarella, Vladimir Stolbovoy, Ferenc Máté, Katalin Bódis, Arwyn Jones, Panos Panagos and Marc Van Liedekerke (eds.). EUR 23439 EN, ISBN 978-92-79-09530-6, ISSN 1018-5593, DOI 10.2788/87029 . Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities , 2008. Download report: (Size: 4MB) Preview FrontPage :

Monitoring, Reporting and Verification systems for Carbon in Soils and Vegetation in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries Improved terrestrial carbon management offers tremendous potential for climate change mitigation and, in many cases, there are associated co-benefits such as increased productivity, resilience, and biodiversity. In January 2011, the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the Joint Research Centre organized an inter-service meeting on “Monitoring, Reporting and Verification systems for carbon in soils and vegetation in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries” with the objective of refining its long-term research agenda in that domain. This was achieved in the light of the needs of the Directorates-General involved in the development and environment policies namely DEVCO, ENV, CLIMA, ENTR, RTD and AGRI as well as of the recent evolution of the UNFCCC negotiations. This report encompasses the proceedings of the meeting together with the conclusions and recommendations to JRC work program stated by the invited experts and policy-makers from the different relevant DGs. Editors: Delphine de Brogniez, Philippe Mayaux, Luca Montanarella, 2011 – 99 pp. – EUR 24932 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424, ISBN 978-92-79-21137-9, Doi 10.2788/63356 Download report: (Size: 3 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 10/10/2011

Landscape and Mitigation Factors in Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment Holmes, A. Huber, F. de Jong, M. Liess, S. Loutseti, N. Mackay, W-M. Maier, S. Maund, C., Pais, W. Reinert, M. Russell, T. Schad, R. Stadler, M. Streloke, M. Styczen, J. van de Zande (2007) Landscape and Mitigation Factors in Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment. Download Volume I: (Size: 3.2 MB) - Extended Summary and Recommendations. Final Report of the FOCUS Working Group on Landscape and Mitigation Factors in Ecological Risk Assessment. EC Document Reference SANCO/10422/2005 v2.0. 169 pp. Brown, C., A. Alix, J-L Alonso-Prados, D. Auteri, J-J Gril, R. Hiederer, C. Holmes, A. Huber, F. de Jong, M. Liess, S. Loutseti, N. Mackay, W-M. Maier, S. Maund, C., Pais, W. Reinert, M. Russell, T. Schad, R. Stadler, M. Streloke, M. Styczen, J. van de Zande (2007) Landscape and Mitigation Factors in Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment. Download Volume II: (size 4.5 MB) - Detailed Technical Reviews. Final Report of the FOCUS Working Group on Landscape and Mitigation Factors in Ecological Risk Assessment. EC Document Reference SANCO/10422/2005 v2.0. 436 pp.

Land Quality and Land Use Information - in the European Union This monograph contains a selection of scientific papers presented on the conference on Land Quality and Land Use Information in the European Union, hold in Keszthely, Hungary. It covers topics related to various aspects of land quality including: concepts of assessment; evaluation of biomass productivity; bioindicators of land quality; quality assessment of degraded land; land use related data processing; INSPIRE; and the economic aspects of land quality. The aim of the conference was to facilitate the exchange of information and views among stakeholders involved in land management, land resources research and land use policy planning. This exchange of information contributes to an enhanced understanding on the role of land quality in rural systems and to progress the development of land information, land registries, land use planning and related services based on land quality on different levels; from farm to continental scales in Europe. Editors: Gergely Tóth and Tamás Németh, 2011 – 399 pp. – EUR 24590 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424, ISBN 978-92-79-17601-2, Doi 10.2788/40725 Download report: (Size: 8 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 06/09/2011

Soil Protection Activities and Soil Quality Monitoring in South Eastern Europe Conference papers, June 18th and 19th, 2009, Sarajevo - Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conference Soil Protection Activities and Soil Quality Monitoring in South Eastern Europe was organized in Sarajevo as a joint action by the Soil Science Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Soil Science Society of Slovenia. The main objectives of conference were to review the soil protection and soil quality monitoring activities in SEE including research activities, project reports, good practice guides and various methodologies and monitoring strategies. The special emphasis was laid on the ecological and technical soil functions, remediation and re-cultivation measures, data collection and processing, soil protection policy, soil quality and soil resources management issues on the regional level. The conference was an opportunity to key regional soil science research institutions to present activities and achievements with further prospects of cross - border scientific collaboration. This publication presents a selection of 20 conference papers prepared by the authors from SEE countries (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and guest contributions from Austria, Slovenia and Syria. Editors:Panos Panagos, Vernik Tomaž, Hamid Custovic, Borut Vršcaj, 2011 – 208 pp. – EUR 24889 EN– Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1831-9424, ISBN 978-92-79-20728-0, Doi 10.2788/36675 Download report: (Size: 10.5 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 27/07/2011

Biochar application to soils Biochar application to soils is being considered as a means to sequester carbon (C) while concurrently improving soil functions. The main focus of this report is providing a critical scientific review of the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of biochar application to soils on soil properties, processes and functions. Wider issues, including atmospheric emissions and occupational health and safety associated to biochar production and handling, are put into context. The aim of this review is to provide a sound scientific basis for policy development, to identify gaps in current knowledge, and to recommend further research relating to biochar application to soils. Verheijen, F.G.A., Jeffery, S., Bastos, A.C., van der Velde, M., and Diafas, I. (2009). Biochar Application to Soils - A Critical Scientific Review of Effects on Soil Properties, Processes and Functions. EUR 24099 EN, Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 149pp. Keywords: Biochar, sequester carbon, charcoal Download report: (Size: 1.2 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 02/02/2010

Case Study - Italy, Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo Project) Ten case studies were carried out in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom between spring and summer 2008. The selection of case study areas was designed to capture differences in soil degradation processes, soil types, climatic conditions, farm structures and farming practices, institutional settings and policy priorities. A harmonised methodological approach was pursued in order to gather insights from a range of contrasting conditions over a geographically diverse area. The case studies were carried out by local experts to reflect the specificities of the selected case studies. Authors: Rusco E, Maréchal B, Tiberi M, Bernacconi C, Ciabocco G, Ricci P, Spurio E. Editors: Gay S, Sammeth F, Schmidt M, . Case Study – Italy, Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo Project). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 2009, EUR 24131 – Scientific and Technical Research series – ISSN 1018-5593 , ISBN 978-92-79-14958-0, DOI 10.2791/39333. Keywords: SoCo, Soil conservation, Agriculture, Marche Region Download report: (Size: 7.9 MB) Preview FrontPage : Last Update: 26/04/2010

Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integrated approach to support soil-related policies of the European Union. This report presents an integrated approach of soil quality and sustainability evaluation. Interactions of the soil and land use systems are summarized from the perspective of the implication of soil related policies in the European Union. EUR 22721 EN. 40 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. (2007), ISBN 978-92-79-05250-7 Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, L. Download report: (Size: 1 MB) Preview FrontPage :

Michael J. Kirkby et al.

VAN DER KNIJFF, J.M., JONES, R.J.A. and MONTANARELLA, L. (1999). EUR 19022 EN, 52pp.