Sampling and analysis or visual examination of soil to assess its status and use potential is widely practiced from plot to national scales. However, the choice of relevant soil attributes and interpretation of measurements are not straightforward, because of the complexity and site-specificity of soils, legacy effects of previous land use, and trade-offs between ecosystem services. Here we review soil quality and related concepts, in terms of definition, assessment approaches, and indicator selection and interpretation. We identify the most frequently used soil quality indicators under agricultural land use. We find that explicit evaluation of soil quality with respect to specific soil threats, soil functions and ecosystem services has rarely been implemented, and few approaches provide clear interpretation schemes of measured indicator values. This limits their adoption by land managers as well as policy. We also consider novel indicators that address currently neglected though important soil properties and processes, and we list the crucial steps in the development of a soil quality assessment procedure that is scientifically sound and supports management and policy decisions that account for the multi-functionality of soil. This requires the involvement of the pertinent actors, stakeholders and end-users to a much larger degree than practiced to date.

Soil quality – A critical review

Soil erosion is a geomorphological and, at the same time, a land degradation process that may cause environmental and property damage, loss of livelihoods and services as well as social and economic disruption. Erosion not only lowers soil quality on-site, but causes also significant sediment-related problems off-site. Given the large number of research papers on this topic, one might therefore conclude that we know now almost everything about soil erosion and its control so that little new knowledge can be added. This conclusion can be refuted by pointing to some major research gaps. There is a need for more research attention to 1) improved understanding of both natural and anthropogenic soil erosion processes and their interactions, 2) scaling up soil erosion processes and rates in space and time, and 3) innovative techniques and strategies to prevent soil erosion or reduce erosion rates. This is illustrated with various case studies from around the world. If future research addresses these research gaps, we will 1) better understand processes and their interactions operating at a range of spatial and temporal scales, predict their rates as well as their on-site and off-site impacts, which is academically spoken rewarding but also crucial for better targeting erosion control measures, and 2) we will be in a better position to select the most appropriate and effective soil erosion control techniques and strategies which are highly necessary for a sustainable use of soils in the Anthropocene.

Soil erosion in the Anthropocene: Research needs

STRESZCZENIE: Dzialanie 5 sformulowane w Unijnej Strategii Bioroznorodności do 2020 r. zobowiązuje kraje czlonkowskie do rozpoznania i oceny ekosystemow oraz dostarczanych przez nie świadczen (MAES). Ostatnie analizy wskazują, ze dzialanie to zostalo zainicjowane przez prawie wszystkie kraje czlonkowskie Unii Europejskiej. Oceny na poziomie krajowym są wspierane wytycznymi przygotowanymi przez Grupe Roboczą MAES (raporty techniczne MAES). Podejście MAES jest oparte na modelu “wspolnota praktyk”, zgodnie z ktorym naukowcy i politycy wypracowują wspolnie wskazania dla panstw czlonkowskich, oparte na ich wiedzy oraz ekspertyzach dotyczących ekosystemow i ich świadczen. Ocena w skali europejskiej jest prowadzona w oparciu o czteroetapowepostepowanie: rozpoznanie ekosystemow, ocene stanu ekosystemow, kwantyfikacje świadczen ekosystemow oraz integracje wynikow uzyskanych na powyzszych etapach w celu wsparcia procesu tworzenia i wdrazania polityk. W artykule zaproponowano trzy podejścia dla rozwiązania wątpliwości, ktore pojawiają sie podczas rozpoznania i oceny ekosystemow oraz w trakcie wykorzystywania tej wiedzy na potrzeby polityki: lepsze rozpoznanie publikowanych dowodow naukowych, porownanie rezultatow procesu MAES w roznych skalach przestrzennych, a takze jednoczesne wspoltworzenie wiedzy przez naukowcow i politykow.

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Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (maes): highlights and uncertainties of a science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Recent progress and future prospect of digital soil mapping: A review

SCHOOL NATURAL SCIENCES ACADEMIC UNIT BIOLOGY LEVEL OF STUDIES UNDERGRADUATE COURSE CODE ΒΙΟ_ΧΑΡΤ SEMESTER 5/7 COURSE TITLE Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services INDEPENDENT TEACHING ACTIVITIES if credits are awarded for separate components of the course, e.g. lectures, laboratory exercises, etc. If the credits are awarded for the whole of the course, give the weekly teaching hours and the total credits WEEKLY TEACHING HOURS CREDITS

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Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services

A framework is developed to link major soil functions to ecosystem services assessment. Provisioning soil functions—with primary linkages to ecosystem services—are evaluated on a continental scale in Europe. We defined major provisioning soil functions combining the approaches proposed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection of the European Union. Soil productivity was evaluated by three main land use types (cropland, grassland, forest) using a validated expert model called SoilProd. Models include soil, climate and topographic criteria. Raw material provision capacity of soils was assessed on the basis of (i) organic carbon content and (ii) availability of soil materials for construction. A coherent system of soil function-based ecosystem services was compiled, taking into account major soil functions. We also produced new data on soil-based provisioning ecosystem services, including productivity and raw material availability. The attempts to cover the main human activities requiring materials of soil origin and to map the locations where those materials are available on a continental scale provide new insight to this field of research. Soil-based ecosystem services can be assessed by the evaluation of soil functions which play a role in the production of these services. Quantitative analysis and comparison of the spatial distribution of the investigated soil functions were performed. While crop productivity showed a general trend to increase in a northward and westward direction, local soil quality in most regions—except in the Mediterranean—can compensate for climatic handicaps to a great extent. Comparison of areas with potential for providing ecosystem services by individual soil functions highlights the complexity of decision-making for resource utilization but also the possibilities for optimization and more conscious management.

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Simon Jeffrey

Papers

Continental-scale assessment of provisioning soil functions in Europe