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European soils are under increasing pressure, making it difficult to maintain the provision of soil ecosystem services (SESs). A better understanding of soil processes is needed to counteract soil threats (STs) and to promote sustainable soil management. The EJP SOIL programme of the EU provides a framework for the necessary research. However, different definitions of soil-related terms potentially lead to varied understandings of concepts. Furthermore, there are numerous indicators available to quantify STs or SESs. As unclear communication is a key barrier that hinders the implementation of research results into practice, this study aimed to answer the question about whether the terminology of large-scale initiatives is adequately understood within the soil-science community and non-research stakeholders. An online questionnaire was used to provide definitions for 33 soil-related terms in both scientific and plain language, as well as indicators for seven SESs and 11 STs. Participants were asked to rate their agreement with the definitions and indicators on a seven-grade Likert scale. The level of agreement was calculated as the percentage of ratings above 4, the neutral position. The survey was available from June to September 2023 and was distributed by a snowball approach. More than 260 stakeholders assessed the survey; 70% of respondents were researchers, and 15% were practitioners. Mean agreement levels for the definitions and indicators were generally high, at 85% and 78% respectively. However, it was apparent that the lowest agreement was found for terms that are relatively new, such as Ecosystem Services and Bundle, or unfamiliar for certain subgroups, such as ecological terms for stakeholders working at the farm scale. Due to their distinct majority, the results of this study primarily reflect the opinions of scientists. Thus, broad conclusions can only be drawn by comparing scientists with non-scientists. In this regard, the agreement was surprisingly hi

Increasing wildfire frequency in the Mediterranean Basin could affect future plant-soil–water-dynamics. The capacity of soils to retain water is a key parameter affecting plant post-fire regeneration. Yet, few research has looked at how different soil properties related to water retention is affected by increasing wildfire frequency. This study aimed at understanding the relationship between wildfire frequency, soil–water-related properties and the dynamics of surface water in soils. To this, after a 2012-summer wildfire in Portugal, three sets of three replicate maritime pine stands with contrasted wildfire frequency were selected (0 vs. 1 vs. 4 fires since 1975). At each of the nine study sites, three re-sprouter shrubs and neighbouring bare soil were chosen (54 microsites). There, soil cover, soil–water retention curves and surface (0–5 cm) soil–water-related properties (texture, bulk density, organic matter content, soil moisture, soil surface water repellency) were monitored for one year. Furthermore, records of post-fire soil moisture dynamics were analysed continuously using 72 probes installed at 2.5 and 7.5 cm depth. The hillslopes affected by 1 fire showed higher plant recovery than the 4 fires hillslopes. During the dry season, the threshold for water stress was reached 17 days sooner in the 4 fires hillslopes, and also 10 days sooner on bare microsites. Periods of plant water stress were longer and bare soil patches size bigger. The increase in wildfire frequency promoted high soil organic matter contents but less available water content, stressing the importance of soil organic matter quality characterization in water-related properties.

Dit rapport geeft de resultaten van een literatuurstudie dat bij aanvang van het project Bodemverdichting Verdiept (BoVer) is uitgevoerd. Op basis hiervan zijn ideeën voor vervolgonderzoek afgeleid.

The Netherlands is party to the UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) and is, thereby, committed to report about the progress made towards the objectives of this convention. This project explored the shortcomings of the existing UNCCD methodology, and how it could be adapted to take the specific conditions in the Netherlands into account. In this project, we aimed to assess the suitability of the UNCCD SDG 15.3 monitoring and reporting methodology for the Dutch context, and which additional tools could be added to this methodology to enable a more realistic assessment of the actual Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) status and evolution in the Netherlands., Nederland is verplicht om aan de UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) te rapporteren over de voortgang die is gemaakt omtrent de doelstellingen van de conventie. In dit project is onderzocht hoe de standaard UNCCD methodologie kan worden aangepast om rekening te houden met de specifieke omstandigheden in Nederland. Daarbij ging het om de beoordeling van de geschiktheid van de UNCCD SDG 15.3 methode voor monitoring en rapportage voor de Nederlandse context en welke aanvullende tools aan deze methodologie kunnen worden toegevoegd voor een realistische beoordeling van de Land Degradation Neutrality status en ontwikkeling in Nederland.

Soils form the basis for agricultural production and other ecosystem services, and soil management should aim at improving their quality and resilience. Within the SoilCare project, the concept of soil-improving cropping systems (SICS) was developed as a holistic approach to facilitate the adoption of soil management that is sustainable and profitable. SICS selected with stakeholders were monitored and evaluated for environmental, sociocultural, and economic effects to determine profitability and sustainability. Monitoring results were upscaled to European level using modelling and Europe-wide data, and a mapping tool was developed to assist in selection of appropriate SICS across Europe. Furthermore, biophysical, sociocultural, economic, and policy reasons for (non)adoption were studied. Results at the plot/farm scale showed a small positive impact of SICS on environment and soil, no effect on sustainability, and small negative impacts on economic and sociocultural dimensions. Modelling showed that different SICS had different impacts across Europe—indicating the importance of understanding local dynamics in Europe-wide assessments. Work on adoption of SICS confirmed the role economic considerations play in the uptake of SICS, but also highlighted social factors such as trust. The project’s results underlined the need for policies that support and enable a transition to more sustainable agricultural practices in a coherent way.

One of the most challenging issues in Mediterranean ecosystems to date has been to understand the emergence of discontinuous changes or catastrophic shifts. In the era of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which encompass ideas around Land Degradation Neutrality, advancing this understanding has become even more critical and urgent. The aim of this paper is to synthesize insights into the drivers, processes and management of catastrophic shifts to highlight ways forward for the management of Mediterranean ecosystems. We use a multidisciplinary approach that extends beyond the typical single site, single scale, single approach studies in the current literature. We link applied and theoretical ecology at multiple scales with analyses and modeling of human–environment–climate relations and stakeholder engagement in six field sites in Mediterranean ecosystems to address three key questions: i) How do major degradation drivers affect ecosystem functioning and services in Mediterranean ecosystems? ii) What processes happen in the soil and vegetation during a catastrophic shift? iii) How can management of vulnerable ecosystems be optimized using these findings? Drawing together the findings from the use of different approaches allows us to address the whole pipeline of changes from drivers through to action. We highlight ways to assess ecosystem vulnerability that can help to prevent ecosystem shifts to undesirable states; identify cost-effective management measures that align with the vision and plans of land users; and evaluate the timing of these measures to enable optimization of their application before thresholds are reached. Such a multidisciplinary approach enables improved identification of early warning signals for discontinuous changes informing more timely and cost-effective management, allowing anticipation of, adaptation to, or even prevention of, undesirable catastrophic ecosystem shifts.

Op basis van de in 2018 uitgebreid gemeten dataset (CC-NL) van meer dan duizend locaties over heel Nederland is de staat van de Nederlandse landbouwbodems weergegeven, een zogenaamde nulmeting bodemkwaliteit. Voor de bepaling van de kwaliteit van landbouwbodems in Nederland is de huidige lijst ‘Bodemindicatoren voor Landbouwbodems in Nederland (BLN) leidend. Het rapport beschrijft de wetenschappelijk verantwoording van de landelijke kaartbeelden en statistische verdelingen van de gemeten indicatoren voor bodemkwaliteit. Het geeft hiermee de staat van de Nederlandse landbouwbodems in 2018 weer zonder kwaliteitsoordeel. Voor ontbrekende indicatoren is een meetplan opgesteld. De resultaten geven een goede basis voor de landsdekkende monitoring van de bodemkwaliteit in landbouwgronden met bodemkwaliteitsindicatoren.

De bodem in de stad heeft verschillende functies: gebouwen, kabels en leidingen dragen, leefruimte bieden aan stadsgroen, stadslandbouw en ecologische habitats, opvangen van verontreinigingen en neerslag. Een bodem die goed functioneert kan een aantal van deze functies tegelijkertijd uitvoeren.De Metropoolregio Amsterdam is een intensief gebruikt stedelijk gebied. De leefomgeving in dit gebied heeft problemen die deels te maken hebben met het niet optimaal functioneren van de bodem. Voorbeelden zijn een afnemende kwaliteit van stadsgroen en parken, bodemdaling die schade toebrengt aan gebouwen, bruggen, kaden en wegen, en wateroverlast na hevige regenbuien. Overheden en grondeigenaren hebben informatie nodig over kenmerken van de bodem die aangeven hoe deze functioneert voor verschillende doeleinden. Deze informatiebehoefte wordt versterkt door de noodzaak om steden aan te passen aan klimaatverandering en door een toenemende vraag naar de mogelijkheid om lokaal voedselgewassen te kunnen telen in en nabij de stad. Om de informatiebehoefte in beeld te brengen, werden interviews gehouden met medewerkers van beheersorganisaties van gebouwen, infrastructurele werken en stadsgroen en met grondeigenaren in Amsterdam en Almere. De respondenten noemden ruim zestig vraagstukken en vijftig kenmerken gerelateerd aan de bodem die relevant waren voor hun werk.Het in dit rapport gepresenteerde werk is onderdeel van het project ‘Healthy Soils for the Amsterdam Metropole (HS4AMS)’. Doel van dit project is om een flexibel systeem van meetbare bodemkenmerken te ontwikkelen om te beoordelen of bodems in de stad geschikt zijn voor verschillende soorten gebruik (bijvoorbeeld als park, stadsgroen of voedseltuin). Het systeem is ook bedoeld om advies voor maatregelen te geven specifiek voor het gewenste bodemgebruik, op basis van de gemeten bodemkenmerken. Het HS4AMS-project is een opdracht van de Flevocampus (gemeente Almere) en het AMS Institute (looptijd 2018-2021) en wordt uitgevoerd d

A healthy soil is crucial for mankind. In order to be able to assess soil health, soil health must first be quantified. This can be done on the basis of assessing a limited number of physical, chemical and biological indicators. This report describes how, on the basis of literature research, it is determined which indicators are most suitable for determining soil health. The influence of prevailing environmental variables is also described. Finally, five recommendations are made., Een gezonde bodem is cruciaal voor de mens. Om die bodemgezondheid te kunnen beoordelen, moet allereerst de bodemgezondheid kunnen worden gekwantificeerd. Dat kan worden gedaan aan de hand van een beperkt aantal fysische, chemische en biologische indicatoren. In dit rapport wordt beschreven hoe aan de hand van literatuuronderzoek wordt bepaald welke indicatoren het geschiktst zijn om bodemgezondheid mee te bepalen. Ook de invloed van heersende omgevingsvariabelen wordt beschreven. Ten slotte wordt een vijftal aanbevelingen gedaan.