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In 1991, at the launch of a national symposium devoted to soil structure, the Australian Society of Soil Science invited Professor John Letey to deliver a keynote address, which was later published in the society’s journal. In his lecture, he shared the outcome of his reflexion about what the assessment of soil structure should amount to, in order to produce useful insight into the functioning of soils. His viewpoint was that the focus should be put on the openings present in the structure, rather than on the chunks of material resulting from its mechanical dismantlement. In the present article, we provide some historical background for Letey’s analysis, and try to explain why it took a number of years for the paradigm shift that he advocated to begin to occur. Over the last decade, his perspective that soil structure needs to be characterised via non-destructive methods appears to have gained significant momentum, which is likely to increase further in the near future, as we take advantage of recent technological advances. Other valuable lessons that one can derive from Letey’s pioneering article relate to the extreme value for everyone, even neophytes, to constantly ask questions about where research on given topics is heading, what its goals are, and whether the methods that are used at a certain time are optimal.

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide., Unión Europea. Horizonte 2020, Unión Europea. FP7, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICCIN), sDiv [Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Academy of Finland, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, DOB Ecology, TULIP Laboratory of Excellence, Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Tarbiat Modares University, Aurora Organic Dairy, UGC (NERO), Slovak Research and Development Agency, Science for Global Development through Wageningen University, Norman Borlaug LEAP Programme and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland), University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, U.S. Department of the Navy, Commander Pacific Fleet, Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the U.S. Department of Defense, Maranhão State Research Foundation (FAPEMA), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Colorado Wheat Research Foundation; Zone Atelier Alpes, French National Research Agency, Austrian Science Fund, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank Frankfurt am Main, Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, SÉPAQ, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Science Foundation Ireland, University of Toronto (Faculty of Forestry), Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve, NKU College of Arts and Sciences, Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft, Mountain Agriculture Research Unit of the University of Innsbruck, Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Kerala, UNEP/GEF/TSBF-CIAT, GRDC, AWI, LWRRDC, DRDC, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion (FONCyT), Universidad Nacional de Luján/FONCyT, Fonds de recherche sur la nature et les technologies du Québec, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, CONACYT, NSF, Institute for Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dean’s Scholar Program at UIC, Garden Club of America Zone VI Fellowship in Urban Forestry from the Casey Tree Endowment Fund, J. E. Weaver Competitive Grant from the Nebraska Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at DePaul University, Elmore Hadley Award for Research in Ecology and Evolution from the UIC Dept. of Biological Sciences, Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT), Yokohama National University, MEXT KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI, ADEME, Syngenta Philippines, UPSTREAM, LTSER, Comisión Europea, National Science and Technology Base Resource Survey Project of China, McKnight Foundation, Program of Fundamental Researches of Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences, Brazilian National Council of Research CNPq, French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas, TRUE, pub

Earthworms play an important role in soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics and soil structure formation, including soil porosity and aggregate stability. Earthworms feed on organic inputs such as crop residues (CR) which are displaced by mouldboard ploughing. In a 61-day mesocosm experiment, we investigated the effects of CR placement (surface-applied vs. incorporated) and different earthworm species (combinations) on: 1) the survival and biomass of the earthworm species Lumbricus terrestris, L. rubellus, and Aporrectodea caliginosa, representing anecic, epigeic and endogeic ecological groups, respectively; and 2) earthworm-mediated soil structure formation. Earthworms were present either as single species or as species mixtures combining anecics with each of the other groups. Incorporating CR reduced biomass of surface-feeders (L. terrestris: −30% of initial body weight vs. −9% when CR were surface-applied; L. rubellus: −74% vs. −24%, respectively). L. rubellus survival was also lower when CR were incorporated (50%) than when CR were surface-applied (92%). In surface-applied CR treatments, the amount of particulate organic matter (POM) > 250 μm in the soil profile was positively affected by L. terrestris in the soil upper 20 cm by 16.5%. A similar but weaker effect was found when CR were incorporated (9% increase). Large water-stable macroaggregates (>2000 μm) increased in the upper 20 cm soil only when CR were surface-applied and L. terrestris was present (from 2.7 to 13.1 g kg−1). Small water-stable aggregates increased with functional groups interactions at all soil depths, irrespective of the CR placement. Surface-applied CR increased soil porosity at 2.5–10 cm depth. Large water-stable macroaggregate formation by earthworms was hampered through the incorporation of CR, although CR incorporation increased porosity between 2.5 and 30 cm soil depth despite reduced earthworm biomass. Furthermore, small macroaggregate formation was hampered by single species, whereas

Pesticides represent the major input in pome fruit across Europe. They are mainly used on a calendar-based approach in order to control a large number of pests and diseases causing both direct and indirect losses. This situation has stimulated research for innovative tools and methods for pest management and the PURE project (. www.pure-ipm.eu) organised a biointensive framework to demonstrate that several solutions are now available but they need to be properly transferred to the growers to be applied on a large scale. This paper presents the experience of the PURE project across demonstration orchards in different countries. The aim was to develop a multicriteria evaluation to help more clearly define the advantages and disadvantages of applying innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems, for different pests (pear psylla and apple codling moth) and diseases (pear brown spot and apple scab) on pome fruit, compared to standard IPM (i.e. currently adopted IPM system). The multicriteria approach permitted to assess environmental risks, economic effects and sustainability impact for each of the innovative systems tested. This multicriteria assessment showed that, in general, innovative performed better than standard for environmental quality and provided similar yield and pest management without any significant extra costs.

Research on innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools is done onstation and on-farm in the PURE project. The idea is that IPM tools are tested under well-defined conditions in experimental orchards. Subsequently, they are tested in commercial orchards as part of a total IPM system where drawbacks and bottlenecks become clear. In subsequent on-station experiments the drawbacks or bottlenecks are solved and adjusted IPM tools are again tested in commercial orchards. We call this the "design - assessment - adjustment cycle". It is meant, together with co-innovation techniques, to promote uptake of innovative IPM tools by commercial farmers. For apple, new innovations are the use of exclusion netting against codling moth (Cydia pomonella), and the use of an antagonist against conidia of Venturia inaequalis. For pear, the overwintering inoculum of brown spot of pear (Stemphylium vesicarium) is reduced by antagonists and natural fertilisers, and the control of pear sucker (Cacopsylla pyricola) is promoted by natural enemies. For both apple and pear an innovative canopy adapted sprayer is used to reduce emissions and to further reduce pesticide use. Efficacy of these innovative IPM tools and IPM systems is assessed by the newly developed software for environmental effects: SYNOPS, for economic effects: PREMISE, and for overall sustainability, including economic, social and environmental aspects: DEXiPM-pomefruit. Results show that the overall sustainability of the conventional system is already high. Nevertheless, innovative IPM tools provided an improvement of environmental quality with an efficient control of diseases or pests. The cost for running the innovative IPM systems was often higher than the conventional system.

Tree crops production are highly dependent on external inputs, namely pesticides. Redesign tree crop production on other bases becomes a necessity. Before being tested in an experimental station or in real farm conditions, the global sustainability of these newly designed orchards needs to be evaluated. Adapted on the DEXiPM® model, the DEXiPM-pomefruit tool has been designed to make an ex ante assessment of the sustainability of innovative orchard systems. This model is based on a decision tree breaking the decisional problems of sustainability assessment into simpler units, referring to the economic,social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In the frame of the PURE European project, we tested DEXIPM-pomefruit relevancy to assess the sustainability of innovative orchards. Two apple production systems were compared: one with exclusion netting against codling moth and one without. Exclusion netting is an innovative control method, which decreases the number of treatments by 30 % since all treatments against codling moth are suppressed. Moreover nets represent a good protection against yield loss risk due to climatic conditions (i.e. hail). However, its cost requires an important investment capacity. Assessed by DEXiPM-Pomefruit, the exclusion netting system globally ranked better than the uncovered system. Concerning the social aspect, the result was similar for both production systems. In contrast, economical performances were improved in orchards covered with nets, which are therefore protected against the climatic risk of yield loss. Moreover, the important decrease in pesticide use under nets contributed to improve all environmental impact indicators. DEXiPM-pomefruit helped selecting the most promising innovations in a given context. It was also used as a dashboard to determine strengths and weaknesses of the tested production systems and therefore to identify potential improvements

The design of fruit production systems considering the latest innovations is a real challenge. Before being tested in an experimental station or in real farm conditions, the global sustainability of these newly designed orchards needs to be evaluated. Based on the DEXiPM® model, the DEXiPM-pomefruit tool has been designed to make an ex ante assessment of the sustainability of innovative orchard systems. This model is based on a decision tree breaking the decisional problems of sustainability assessment into simpler units, referring to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Based on two case studies, we present here the steps and thought process of our group to improve fruit production systems towards innovative and integrated production systems. DEXiPM-pomefruit tool has been tested on apple and pear production systems in the frame of a working group of European researchers. It proved to be sufficiently reliable to select the most promising innovations in a given context. DEXiPM-pomefruit was also used as a dashboard to determine strengths and weaknesses of the tested production systems and therefore to identify improvements

The sustainability of pomefruit protection strategies requires the design of innovative IPM tools and development of tools to build up and analyze new pest control strategies. Within the EU-project PURE (www.pure-ipm.eu) a database (PEASAP -Pests of Europe and control Strategies for Apple and Pear) has been developed to collate data for identification of optimization possibilities. Data was collated in 5 major European pomefruit regions. PESAP proved to be useful for simple queries and to design alternative control strategies. Moreover, it was adequate for data transfer into the environmental risk indicator SYNOPS.

The objective of this report is the collation of existing and innovative non-chemical tools for key pests and diseases of pomefruit in 5 European regions.This report gives also a brief overview of the major pests in apple and pear orchards for the 5 regions in the context of their climatic and common cultivation conditions. The report is meant to be used as a guide within the frame of the PURE project for the identification of innovative IPM tools and assembling IPM solutions for pest control in pomefruit, i.e. developing for each key pest and region specific toolboxes, consisting of a set of complementary, promising toolsand strategies for pest management. In order to achieve this aim and to ease the data collation a database was developed.

Earthworms are used in an increasing number of microcosm experiments that investigate their behaviour and biology or that consider earthworms an environmental factor that influences soil properties and biological interactions. However, there exists no standardized protocol for performing comparable studies. After giving a short overview of the different experimental approaches using earthworms as model organisms, the present paper provides recommendations for the planning and execution of earthworm experiments that help in achieving comparable results. The recommendations, summarized in a workflow diagram, pertain to the acquisition, treatment and description of earthworms for experimentation, the description and preparation of test soils and the criteria that should be met for valid experimental results.

Numerous pesticide applications are required for orchard protection, regardless of the guidelines. Organic fruit production (OFP) mainly relies on the use of mineral fungicides and microbiological or naturally-occurring insecticides. The environmental impact of this type of production does not significantly differ from that of conventional production when assessed in terms of synthetic indicators. However, the abundance of earthworms, as well as the abundance and specific richness of arthropod pests and beneficials in the orchards and surrounding hedges, is greater in OFP than in conventional orchards. Generalist predators are usually less affected by OFP compounds than by the chemical pesticides applied in conventional orchards. OFP also benefits avian communities, and above all, insectivorous birds, for which organic orchards offer a suitable habitat similar to that of undisturbed natural areas. In addition to this general trend, discrepancies may be observed in the protection responses of different insect groups. The abundance of hymenopteran parasitoids is the lowest in organic orchards in which outbreaks of phytophagous mites are also recorded in relation to the intensive use of sulphur for scab protection. Biological insecticides often act in ways that are similar to those of chemical ones, and the restricted choice of available compounds is likely to induce resistance selection in insect pests. Although maintaining biodiversity is not a direct result of the implementation of OFP guidelines, it seems to be widely considered as an option by organic growers, both alone and as a complementary tool for pest regulation.