SSS8.5

(correspondence to Ivan Dugan: idugan@agr.hr)

Soil erosion in agricultural land is a global problem and recognized as one of the main drivers of sediment, nutrient losses and diffuse pollution. Vineyards intensively managed in Mediterranean karst environments with agrochemicals and tillage are an example.  The objective of this work is to study the impacts of the season (spring, summer) and different land management practices (tilled, herbicide, grass-covered) on soil properties, erosion and nutrient losses in a vineyard located in Vrgorac (Croatia). Ten soil sampling points and rainfall simulations were carried out in two seasons in 3 different treatments (10x2x3). Rainfall simulation experiments were carried out with a pressurized rainfall simulator, simulating a rainfall at an intensity of 58 mm h^-1, for 30 min, over 0.785 m² plots. Undisturbed soil samples (0-10 cm) were sampled before rainfall simulations. The results showed that mean weight diameter had significantly greater values on the grass-covered treatment in spring) and summer compared to the tilled and herbicide (2.56 mm, 3.03 mm) treatment, while the tilled and herbicide treatment had significantly lower values of water-stable aggregates in spring and summer compared to the grass-covered treatment. Sediment losses were significantly lower on the grass-covered treatment in spring, while those losses were significantly higher on the tilled and herbicide treatment in the summer period. Those values were significantly higher on the herbicide treatment compared to the tilled and grass-covered treatment. Element losses had significantly higher values on the tilled and herbicide treatment. For instance, K losses were significantly higher on the tilled and herbicide treatment in spring and summer, while those losses were significantly lower on the grass-covered treatment (1090.09 g ha^-1, 4829.41 g ha^-1). Also, Fe losses were significantly higher on the tilled and herbicide treatment in spring, while that value was significantly lower on the grass treatment. In the summer period, significantly lower values were recorded on the tilled and grass-covered treatment. Significantly lower Cu losses in the spring period were recorded on the grass-covered treatment than the tilled and herbicide, while in the summer period, those values were significantly higher on the herbicide and grass-covered treatment than the tilled treatment. This research indicates that it is necessary to test the seasonal soil conditions and different land management to obtain sustainable and less sustainable practices in a sensitive karstic environment.

Keywords: rainfall simulation experiments, geochemistry, soil loss, conventional agriculture, temporal changes

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Croatian Science Foundation through the project "Soil erosion and degradation in Croatia" (UIP-2017-05-7834) (SEDCRO)

How to cite: Dugan, I., Telak, L. J., Pereira, P., and Bogunovic, I.: Seasonal and land management impact on vineyard soil, runoff generation and associated pollutants in karstic environment (Mediterranean Croatia), EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-457, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-457, 2022.

Extended dry periods and increasing soil degradation compel the conventional agriculture to shift towards the sustainable practices. Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.) accounts for crops that require low agricultural inputs and has a high potential to improve soil health hence fertility. The rapid hemp growth, high biomass production and remarkably expanded rooting zone have the vast potential in carbon (C) sequestration and nitrogen (N) fixation. Hemp fibers in the European Union (EU) are commonly used for pulp and paper industry and isolation materials. The study aims to (i) analyze hemp feasibility to grow and contribute to C sequestration under the water scarce conditions in initially nutrient-poor arable sandy soil with high and low canopy densities, and (ii) assess the use of hemp residues like shives and leaves as soil amendments for oat and corn crops in order to increase soil water holding capacity and serve as a long-term nutrient supply. Hemp, oat and corn crops were grown in a greenhouse experiment under LED illumination and wind ventilation for 17 h per day until the harvest. Hemp fibers were obtained through decortication. The biomass of all crops, hemp roots separated into fine and main, soil prior and after the experiment, and soil amendments were investigated for the total C and N content with an ELEMENTAR Vario Max Cube. Also, the elemental analysis for Ca, Mg, K, Zn, Cu, Fe, Al, Na was performed using HNO₃ and MP-AES analyses. Total dry root mass for oat and corn crops was measured. Additionally, the soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were determined. The results showed that water scarcity had hindered hemp height and biomass production. While under the water limited conditions, the low hemp canopy density had showed slightly advanced growth in comparison to the high canopy density. Furthermore, the results of oat and corn experiment indicated difference between the treatments, where the soil amendment from hemp leaves compared to hemp shives showed enhanced growth in both plant and root biomass.

How to cite: Matvejeva, A., Sut-Lohmann, M., Dietrich, N., Heinrich, M., and Raab, T.: Fiber hemp as a feasible crop for enhancing carbon sequestration and cultivation under water scarcity in sandy agricultural soils, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2564, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2564, 2022.

Soil health is defined as the soil's capacity to deliver ecosystem functions within environmental constraints. On tree plantations, clear-cutting and land preparation between two crop cycles cause severe physical disturbances to the soil and seriously deplete soil organic carbon and biodiversity. Rubber, one of the main tropical perennial crops worldwide, has a plantation life cycle of 25 to 40 years, with successive replanting cycles on the same plot. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of clear-cutting disturbance on three soil functions (carbon transformation, nutrient cycling and structure maintenance) and their restoration after the planting of the new rubber crop, in two contrasting soil situations (Arenosol and Ferralsol) in Côte d'Ivoire. In this 18-month diachronic study, we intensively measured soil functions under different scenarios as regards the management of logging residues and the use or not of a legume cover crop. We investigated the relationship between soil macrofauna diversity and soil heath. At both sites, clear-cutting and land preparation disturbed carbon transformation and nutrient cycling significantly and, to a lesser extent, structure maintenance function. When logging residues were applied, carbon transformation and structure maintenance functions were fully restored within 12 to 18 months after disturbance. By contrast, no restoration of nutrient cycling was observed over the study period. A legume cover crop mainly improved the restoration of carbon transformation. We found a strong relationship (P ≤ 0.001; R² = 0.62–0.66) between soil macrofauna diversity and soil health. Our overall results were very similar at the two sites, despite their contrasting soil conditions. Keeping logging residues in the plots and sowing a legume in the inter-row at replanting accelerated the restoration of soil functions after major disturbance caused by clear-cutting and land preparation. Our results confirm the necessity of taking soil macrofauna diversity into account in the management of tropical perennial crops.

How to cite: Perron, T., Kouakou, A., Simon, C., Mareschal, L., Gay, F., Soumahoro, M., Kouassi, D., Rakotondrazafy, N., Rapidel, B., Laclau, J.-P., and Brauman, A.: Logging residues promote rapid restoration of soil health after clear-cutting of rubber plantations at two sites with contrasting soils in Africa, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2719, 2022.

Protected areas (PAs) are the critical societal tool to preserve global vegetation growth, but growing evidence showed the effectiveness of PAs varied in different regions. Furthermore, recent efforts to quantify conservation efficiency have primarily focused on vegetation coverage, thereby ignoring conservation efficiency’s comprehensive recognition of vegetation greenness, cover, and productivity. Here, based on satellite observation and windows search strategy, we measured the conservation efficiency at the edge of PAs on vegetation greenness, cover, and productivity on the Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that PAs’ edge performed a weak but significant role in vegetation growth. PAs had a noticeable opposite effect on greenness, cover, and productivity in 10.52 percent of the samples. Fragmented landscapes and landforms are more likely to impede conservation efficiency than geography background factors. This work comprehensively identified the conservation efficiency of vegetation at the edges of PAs, and these findings can help optimize the design of PAs and prevent vegetation losses.

How to cite: Hua, T., Zhao, W., Cherubini, F., Hu, X., and Pereira, P.: Weak effectiveness on vegetation greenness, cover and productivity at the edges of protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau, China, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4408, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4408, 2022.

The use of tree monoculture systems in Mediterranean areas can accentuate problems already existing in the area, resulting from lack of moisture, low levels of organic matter and high temperatures. In these crops, the soil in the alleys remains bare practically all year, so that in addition to the above limitations, there is an increase in erosion owing to direct exposure to meteorological agents. Owing to climate change, all these disadvantages may be aggravated over time. To improve soil conditions in orchard alleys, various techniques such as mulching, reduced tillage, cover crops or alley cropping can be used. These techniques aim to reduce erosion, improve soil structure and water conditions, and increase the amount of organic matter while slowing down soil mineralization. Alley cropping can also provide complementary commodities for farmers, with important economic benefits. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess if two different crop diversifications applied in mandarin alleys from the Mediterranean region can enhance soil fertility after three crop cycles. For this, three different treatments were applied: i) a mandarin monoculture with bare alley soil all year (MM); ii) a multiple cropping of vetch/barley and then fava bean (AC1) repeated every year in the alleys; and iii) a rotation of fava bean, purslane and cowpea (AC2). Three soil samplings were carried out in February 2019, 2020 and 2021 at 0-10 cm and 10-30 cm depth. Samples were characterized for properties related to fertility: total nitrogen, exchangeable NH₄⁺, NO₃^-, cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable Ca, Mg and K, soluble B, and available P, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn. Results showed that in AC1, a significant increase in CEC and exchangeable Ca was observed, while NO₃^- and B slightly decreased. In AC2, there was a decrease in NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- concentrations, with significant increases in B and P. In addition, in AC1 and AC2, there was an increase trend in total nitrogen. With regard to bioavailable metals, their behavior was similar in all treatments, with a general decrease along time; only the amount of bioavailable Zn increased. Regarding mandarin yield, there was a slight decrease with crop diversification. However, in 2021, a low mandarin yield was recorded in all treatments caused by Alternaria spp. In AC1, this decrease was partly compensated by the alley crops, corresponding to 26% of the overall land production. In AC2, cowpea production was lower < 2% of land production, so it did not compensate for the losses caused by Alternaria spp. It can be concluded that the AC1 diversification works better than AC2, as it helps to improve soil CEC and increases overall land production, reducing the dependence on a single crop in case of perturbations, such as pests/diseases.

Acknowledgements: This study has been funded by H2020 project Diverfarming (GA 728003).

How to cite: Soto Gómez, D., Sánchez Navarro, V., Martínez Martínez, S., Fernández, J. A., Acosta Avilés, J. A., and Zornoza, R.: Use of alley cropping in a Mediterranean mandarin orchard: an alternative to improve soil fertility, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4611, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4611, 2022.

Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, sustaining biological productivity and maintaining or enhancing the quality of air and water, thus promoting the overall ecosystem health.

Erosion, incorrect forestry practices, excessive grazing and a changing climate are major threats to soil health in temperate forest ecosystems. Correct forest management is necessary to enhance the soil’s capacity to provide essential ecosystem services such as water regulation, carbon storage and plant productivity.

Because of the growing interest on forest ecosystem services, the Rural Development 2014-2020 of Emilia Romagna Region Project “Technical innovation and carbon capture on management of state-owned forests of high Apennine (BOSCHIAMO)” addresses to strengthen the sustainable management and multi-functionality of some publicly owned forests in the high Apennine, mainly managed by park authorities, while monitoring carbon sequestration in the soil and plant biomass. Within this project, our specific aim was to assess the soil health of three forest sites located in state-owned forests in the Northern Apennines in Emilia-Romagna region (Italy), overlying sandstone formations at a height of approximately 1500 m. The land use was coppice or high forest beech (Fagus sylvatica), high forest spruce (Picea abies), high forest beech and silver fir (Abies alba) and included an area of moorland (Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium uliginosum, Juniperus nana).

In each site, soil profiles, till BC horizon, were dug and each horizon was described, sampled, and analysed for physicochemical and biological parameters.

Soil health assessment was carried out via physicochemical and biological analyses and the calculation of two indexes: Dilly’s index, which highlights the carbon use efficiency of soil microorganisms, and the index of biological fertility (IBF), which is obtained through the sum of scores assigned to significant parameters such as organic C, microbial biomass C content and its activity linked to basal respiration.

These ecosystems showed overall good health, scoring average, good or excellent IBF; Dilly’s index was variable both in space and in depth but directed towards the efficiency of the use of C by microbial biomass. Significant differences in these indexes were found mainly in the subsoil, where the site over the most alterable parent material performed better than sites with a higher coarse fragment content, and the coniferous or mixed forest performed better than the beech forest, while the moorland often showed the worst values. In these cases, the differences in IBF scores were linked to indicators of soil microbial activity. Carbon stock at 0-30 cm was very variable as it depends on many different processes and conditions and was heavily influenced by slope and the quantity of coarse fragments in the soil.

These results will serve as a baseline to quantify the impact on soil health of different logging techniques thus evaluating the best practices to preserve and enhance the ecosystem services provided by the soil.

How to cite: Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Health status Assessment of state-owned forest soils in the northern Apennines (Italy), EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5044, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5044, 2022.

The European Soil Observatory (EUSO) was launched in December 2020 to generate and disseminate policy-relevant and harmonized EU–wide soil data and indicators in support of the soil perspectives of the European Green Deal, in particular the new Soil Strategy and the Mission on Soil Health and Food. Among the activities of the Observatory, paramount importance is placed on the development of an EU-wide soil monitoring system, to assess progress towards soil-related targets, to support research & innovation and provide a European Soil Forum dedicated to a broad user base (citizens, farmers, land planners, scientists). These features will be an important step in providing access to a huge range of soil-related data through dedicated data-streams, from biodiversity to heavy metal concentrations.

The EUSO will establish a comprehensive dashboard containing indicators that present data on soil-related issues within and, in some cases, outside of the EU. Examples of indicators i include soil erosion, soil carbon, pollutants and soil nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium) with relevance to the new EU Soil Strategy, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Zero Pollution Action Plan and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Indicators will be fed through models and operational soil monitoring systems ensuring seamless and harmonised data flows, where the LUCAS Soil programme will be fully integrated with national soil monitoring systems. s In addition to supporting the development of oil health indicators, an integrated monitoring system should also support the assessment of soil-related ecosystem services. .

Operational policy support for the policy makers and other stakeholders will be a key issue for the development of accurate soil properties assessment and specific soil management strategies and tailored suggestion to member states targeted to their farming systems. The EUSO forum was a great debate where five working groups were launched addressing key aspects in the implementation or the underpinning knowledge base of the EUSO. These included: i) soil monitoring, ii) soil biodiversity, iii) soil data sharing, iv) soil erosion and v) soil pollution.  A strong emphasis will be given to data harmonization, a specific section on data is proposed to coordinate MS efforts in providing data that need to be harmonized and out of that comprehensive statistics and maps will be delivered to the stakeholders.

The EUSO will work with EU countries to identify and present relevant national soil data, possibly using advanced web service technologies. The EUSO builds on the achievements of the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), which has been the thematic node for soil-related data in Europe since 2006. The EUSO aims to incorporate the legacy data stemming from EU-funded soil-related projects in order not to lose valuable, useful and usable results for the future. The EUSO will contribute to collaborate with the European Soil Partnership a regional partnership of European countries under the United Nations FAO’ Global Soil Partnership (GSP). from the EUSO aims to bring a European perspective to the many activities of the GSP in the areas of sustainable soil management, raising soil awareness, soil research and soil data collection and handling.

How to cite: Schillaci, C., Muntwyler, A., Marechal, A., Orgiazzi, A., Jones, A., Ciupagea, C., Belitrandi, D., De Medici, D., De Rosa, D., Vieira, D., Matthews, F., Martin-Jimenez, J., Koeninger, J., Liakos, L., Montanarella, L., Labouyrie, M., van Liedekerke, M., Panagos, P., Scarpa, S., and Wojda, P.: European soil observatory (EUSO) structure and perspectives , EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5248, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5248, 2022.

Land-use changes are one of the most critical drivers of change. Territorial dynamics such as urbanization, agriculture intensification and land abandonment have important implications for ecosystems and the services supplied. This work aims to overview the impacts of land-use changes on ecosystem services supply (ES). Urbanization and agriculture intensification have detrimental impacts in all regulating ES (e.g., air quality, microclimate regulation, flood regulation, carbon storage). On the other hand, the afforestation process positively impacts all the ES abovementioned. Urbanization and land consumption reduce agriculture and natural areas, key for food supply. Therefore, provisioning ES (e.g., food, fodder, water, timber) are drastically affected. Agriculture intensification may short term positive impacts on food production. However, it occurs at the expense of high soil degradation, reducing the ecosystem capacity to supply wild food, water, fodder and medicinal plants. The land abandonment process implies a decrease in the cultivable area. Therefore, it reduces the capacity of food production. Also, water supply is reduced since the afforestation process increases water consumption and evapotranspiration. However, other benefits for provisioning ES occur from soil degradation, such as increasing wild food, medicinal plants, and timber. Finally, urbanization negatively impacts most cultural ES (e.g., natural heritage, cultural heritage, landscape aesthetics). Some benefits can be positive for recreation or knowledge systems. Except for knowledge systems, agriculture intensification negatively impacts all cultural ES (e.g., recreation, natural heritage, cultural heritage, landscape aesthetics). Land abandonment has detrimental impacts on cultural heritage (e.g., loss of traditional landscapes). However, it positively impacts all other cultural ES (e.g., recreation, landscape aesthetics, knowledge systems).

Keywords: Land use, ecosystem services, afforestation, soil degradation     

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the project A09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0104 Lithuanian National Ecosystem Services Assessment and Mapping (LINESAM) funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity “Improvement of researchers” qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects.

How to cite: Pereira, P., Inacio, M., Kalinauskas, M., Bogdzevič, K., Bogunovic, I., and Zhao, W.: Land-use change impacts on ecosystem services: an overview, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6301, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6301, 2022.

The legendary Mongolian Plateau has faced increasing environmental challenges associated with overgrazing during recent decades, and achieving a sustainability transition for this region needs herders’ participation.  However, why herders let grasslands be overgrazed even after property rights were privatized – “the tragedy of privatization” – remains unclear.  This study aimed to understand the underlying causes of overgrazing by examining the livestock decision-making processes by herders.  Specifically, we investigated herders’ livestock management goals, perceptions of herder-grassland systems, and livestock management strategies by semi-structured interviews in Xilingol, Inner Mongolia.  We found: (1) Herders generally recognized grassland degradation with a decreasing plant species richness and vegetation heigh;  (2) Nearly half of herders were unsatisfied with their current quality of life, especially in terms of income, food security, energy security, and clean water;  (3) Herders recognized the economic benefits and food provisioning services of the grassland, but not overgrazing as an important cause of grassland degradation; (4) Without heavy economic pressures, herders were willing to protect their own grasslands, but over-exploited leased grasslands;  (5) Herders tried to keep a high and stable level of livestock numbers without being able to anticipate climatic and economic fluctuations; and (6) The government’s Forage-Livestock Balance policy was widely resisted by herders.  We conclude that herders’ increasing aspirations for higher living standards, misperceptions about key drivers of grassland degradation, decoupling of herders’ income from grasslands, inability to cope with drought, and ineffective policies together constitute the underlying causes for overgrazing.  Future grassland policies should focus more on the “deep” leverage points of intervention, such as reducing poverty and economic inequality, improving the grassland property system, reconnecting grassland conditions to herder’s wellbeing, and equipping herders with much needed scientific knowledge to manage grasslands in a way that is both economically profitable and ecologically sustainable. 

How to cite: Fang, X. and Wu, J.: Causes of overgrazing in Inner Mongolian grasslands: Searching for deep leverage points of intervention, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6645, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6645, 2022.

Collecting soil to form ridges with no-tillage (CSNT) is an important conservation tillage method in the purple soil region of China. Although the ecosystem services it can provide in agroecosystems have been proven. While there is no systematic quantitative research on the effect of CSNT on ecosystem services. We collected 611 data entries from previous publications to quantitatively evaluate the effect of CSNT on runoff and sediment loss, soil nutrients concentration, soil bulk density, soil moisture content, aboveground biomass and belowground biomass. Compared to conventional tillage, CSNT reduced runoff and sediment loss by 49% and 73%, respectively. This is mainly due to the blocking effect of the ridge-and-furrow structure. As for soil nutrients concentration, the concentrations of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium increased by 15%, 14%, 30%, 58% and 17%, respectively under CSNT compared to conventional tillage. While no significant differences were found for total phosphorus and total potassium between CSNT and conventional tillage. Soil bulk density decreased by 11% on the ridges under CSNT compared to conventional tillage, while no significant different was found in the furrows. On the ridges, CSNT did not have a significant effect on soil moisture content, while it led to an increase of 27.6% in soil moisture content in the furrows. CSNT would also increase aboveground and belowground biomass by 23% and 63%, respectively. In general, the implementation of CSNT in purple soil region of China could significantly enhance the ecosystem services in agroecosystems.

How to cite: Jia, L.: Quantification of the ecosystem services of collecting soil to form ridges with no-tillage in the purple soil region of China: A meta-analysis, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6730, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6730, 2022.

In  karst areas, underground riverine sediment has been widely used to reflect the subterranean stream basin erosion, which influenced by both of precipitation and anthropogenic factors. In this study, 15-years of the sediment yield across Nandong underground river system of China were monitored, Mann-Kendal mutation test and simple proxy indicators were used for detecting the influences of human activities and precititation on sediment yield. The results showed that: 1) both of the anthropologic factor and rainfall impacted sediment yield, although the influence of anthropologic factor on sediment yield was greater (76.38%), and 2) rainfall showed a hysteresis effect on soil and water loss. There were three distinct stages based on the mutation points and variation characteristics of sediment yield from 1998 to 2014, resulting from different driving forces. Before 2004, the decease of sediment yield was caused by natural forest protection project in the whole basin. During 2004 to 2008, because of drought, flood disaster and cultivation on steeper slope, sediment yield of the basin increased. After 2009, sediment yield decreases due to the construction of soil conservation projects and mushrooming reservoirs. As human population is expected to increase, these findings are expected to provide insights for watershed management and ecological restoration in the fragile karst ecosystem.

How to cite: Li, Y., Yue, X., Liu, P., Lan, F., and Yu, Y.: Anthropogenic and precipitation factors affecting karst soil erosion in the Nandong Underground River System in Yunnan, Southwest China, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6765, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6765, 2022.

Soil conservation service (SCS), one of the vital ecosystem services, represents the ecosystem’s capacity to conserve soil and control erosion. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires multidisciplinary efforts in which SCS plays a key role. However, the coupling analysis of SCS and the SDGs is lacking. We analysed SCS’s contribution to the SDGs by a case study in China and a global expert questionnaire and explored systematic strategies to improve SCS implementation. The results showed that i) SCS ensures the SDG achievement by mitigating soil erosion; ii) SCS showed a significant and positive relationship (coef. = 0.41, p < 0.01) with SDG 15 (Life on land) in China. Moreover, SCS supports multiple SDGs by regulating ecological processes, producing food and products, and providing social and cultural values. More than 50% of respondents recognised that SCS benefits SDG 15, SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation). Finally, to be goal-oriented, we presented an SDG-holistic guiding framework to promote SCS for the SDG achievement, thus harnessing the SCS’s roles in social, economic, and eco-environmental sustainability. Altogether, our work highlights the associations between the SDGs and SCS, which is key to recognising the contribution of soils and ESs to sustainable development.

How to cite: Yin, C., Zhao, W., and Pereira, P.: Soil Conservation Service Underpins Sustainable Development Goals, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6830, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6830, 2022.

Current urban development guidelines favour renewal and densification of cities, emphasizing the necessity to redevelop urban wastelands. However, many such sites are polluted with heavy metals and metalloids (TE), radionuclides, hydrocarbons. As a result, wasteland reconversion implies initial soil decontamination. The cost of servicing, depolluting and decontaminating these wastelands, using conventional soil depollution techniques is exorbitant. Thus, phytotechnology techniques offer an alternative that is more in line with sustainable development issues (Bert et al. 2012). Although the latter have been extensively studied for more than 30 years, they are still emerging on the market for the treatment of polluted sites. In addition, they raise many unanswered questions on the mobility, bioavailability and transfer of pollutants between the different compartments (soil/water/plants/microflora/fauna) over a relatively long periods of time (more than 10 years). Also,   maintenance and management practices on site during the process of depollution still are problematic, particularly the downstream usage of contaminated plant biomass.

Through the OBSOLU project (Urban Observatory for the Study of Anthropogenic Soils), the Val-de-Marne Departmental Council (CD94) wishes to evaluate new experimental approaches for the rehabilitation of an urban wasteland affected by multi-metallic pollution (La Pierre-Fitte site, Villeneuve-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne, France). The  evaluation of the dynamics of metallic trace elements (TE) in the soil-water-plant-fauna continuum is carried out on four vegetated plots (planted either with native or introduced phytostabilizing plant species (Agrostis capillaris, Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne)) managed according to two different methods (harvested plant biomass either left in place  or exported for composting).  The objective is to assess over several years, the mobility of TE in the soil and their infiltration to the water table, in relation with 1) the presence of native or phytostabilizing plants, mycorrhizal or not, 2) of the type of management of the harvested plant biomass and 3) the biodiversity indices at the experimental sites. Initial TE analyses revealed the presence of lead, zinc, copper and nickel in high concentrations, distributed heterogeneously over the entire experimental site. Interestingly, one year into the experiment, this high level of pollution with TE does not seem to affect the plant and arthropod populations that show good biodiversity indices, compared to other polluted sites in Ile-de-France. All introduced phytostabilizing plant species surveyed were found to be mycorrhizal and phytostabilizing for lead, nickel and to a lesser extent copper. So did certain native species, such as Solidago canadensis. Only zinc, an acknowledged mobile element, does not seem to be stabilized in the rhizosphere of the plants, either native or introduced. At this point in this five-year long experiment, a detailed analysis of the initial characteristics of the site has been established. The preliminary results indicate that phytostabilization could be limit TE dispersal in the environment, a conclusion that will be reassessed over the years.

Key word : metallic trace elements - phytostabilisation - urban wasteland - rehabilitation

How to cite: Balland-Bolou-Bi, C., Caron, L., Repellin, A., Leitao, L., Livet, A., Abbad-Andaloussi, S., and Leymarie, J.: Short-term assessment of the effect of phytostabilizing plants and management methods on the biodiversity and the mobility of trace elements in an urban wasteland in the Région Ile-de-France, France, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7876, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7876, 2022.

Grasslands cover a large portion of the terrestrial ecosystems, and are vital for biodiversity conservation, environmental protection and livestock husbandry. However, climate change scenarios (e.g., drought) could pose grasslands under threat seriously affecting their ecosystem services role. Ponds, an indispensable part of water storage on the grassland, could exert a key role in water supply during extreme water scarcity scenarios, controlling the cycle of water, nutrients, and sediments, supporting livestock and agricultural land production and maintaining the ecologic functions of pastures. Ponds could indeed be seen as a sustainable solution for more resilient grassland landscapes. The climate change forcing will have an impact on grassland extension and spatial distribution of ponds. On the other hand, in literature small ponds have not been satisfactorily investigated in the study of ecosystem service due to the inconformity of geographic location.

In this context, we considered the pastures located in Lessinia Regional Park (Veneto, Italy) with elevation ranging from 800 up to 1600 m asl. The climate is classified as cold with no dry season and warm summer with annual rainfall greater than 1500 mm. The area was recently listed (September 2020) in the Italian national register of historic rural landscapes by Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. The area is characterized by a dense distribution of ponds, supporting livestock activities. We investigated the ecosystem service role of these ponds, and their spatial patterns and fragmentation (also considering remote sensing, e.g., Sentinel-2) under different weather condition: wet and drought in Lessinia Regional Park. Our work is significant for estimating the ecosystem service value by the integration ponds benefit (e.g., visual ponds and walking ponds) with cultural service. This study will provide scientific basis for rational allocation of environmental resources, formulation of regional protection and management planning, and promotion of sustainable development of man-land relationship.

How to cite: Chen, L., Qiu, J., and Tarolli, P.: Water resources management of grasslands under climate change in the historic rural landscape of Lessinia Regional Park (Veneto, Italy), EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7963, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7963, 2022.

Permanent grassland (PG) covers about 30% of the cultivated area of Europe, and 5 x 10⁸ ha of them are in the Mediterranean zones. Climate change and prolonged drought seasons can expose PG’s soils to bare conditions for a long time, raising the land degradation risk, and diminishing food delivery to cattle. The objective of this study is to measure the response of soil moisture to a reduction in rainfall in different grass species. A rainfall exclusion experiment was set up to intercept 30% of the natural rainfall in Cordoba, Spain. Soil moisture was measured in 18 plots of 2 m², of which 9 were under exclusion and 9 under natural rainfall. We used a Drill and Drop Sentek soil moisture probe, measuring between 0 – 30 cm depth, from 1/11/21 until 27/01/22. We also measured phenological plant response.  Average soil moisture was clearly lower in the reduced rainfall plots. These results will contribute to understand the effect of future climate on soil moisture, grass response and agricultural food security in the region. In particular, it will help farmers to select the species that best resist drought conditions.

How to cite: Milazzo, F., Colesanti, M., Leal Murillo, R., Fernández Habas, J., Fernández Rebollo, P., and Vanwalleghem, T.: Response of soil moisture to rainfall reduction under different grassland species: preliminary results of a rainfall exclusion experiment under a Mediterranean climate, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9187, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9187, 2022.

Soils are effective storage, filter, buffer and transformation systems that remove water, nutrients and pollutants from natural sources and anthropogenic emissions. Due to the habitat, regulatory and utilisation functions, soils are most worthy of protection. Among other things, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aim to protect soil and stop and reverse global soil degradation. In Germany alone around 56 ha of soil are damaged partly or completely in their soil functions daily, however, there is a lack of spatially explicit resolution information on the quality of German soils and its losses.

Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore and utilize new sources of information to adapt and improve multiple existing soil quality evaluations and associated indicators. Furthermore, the SDG indicator 15.3.1 ‘Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area’ is to be supported and assessed. Here, the focus lies on land cover, including information on land use, land productivity and soil loss due to land use change, built-up areas and infrastructure expansion. A combination of basic soil, climate, and site-specific data, as well as recent land use data derived from remote sensing (Sentinel-1/2), will be used. The soil quality indicators are determined using different scales of soil data to detect and evaluate possible discrepancies as well as assets and drawbacks of the respective spatial resolution.

The soil quality assessment is based on the estimation of the performance of the landscape budget using six different soil indicators: biotic potential yield, resistance to water and wind erosion, mechanical and physico-chemical filter function and runoff regulation function. Required comprehensive soil information are obtained from three soil maps at different spatial scales: the soil map 1:50,000 of Lower Saxony and the freely available nationwide soil maps of Germany on the scale of 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000 (BÜK200, BÜK1000). Information of the CORINE CLC 2018 (100 m x 100 m) from the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service are used for land use data. All relevant climatic data originate from the German weather survey (DWD, 1 km x 1 km) and relief parameters are derived from the digital elevation model (DEM, 10 m x 10 m). Subsequently, the high resolution soil indicators (10 m x 10 m) are aggregated with the Site Comparison Method (SICOM) to spatially display the results and identify vulnerable regions. Thereby an area-weighted comparison index is determined for a defined reference unit (e.g. municipality, county) using the area share of comparison levels per reference unit. Results of the soil quality evaluation and their influence by the soil data will be presented for the federal state of Lower Saxony.

How to cite: Säurich, A., Gerighausen, H., and Möller, M.: Investigating soil quality indicators of German soils under agriculture using soil information on different spatial scales, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11473, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11473, 2022.

The ecosystem service (ES) framework can be a useful tool to support sustainable land management and policy-making through mapping and assessment tasks. Quantifying the effect of the spatial precision of input data mobilised for ES assessment and mapping is a relatively new but fundamental issue, particularly with soil data that are often unavailable or available only at very coarse resolutions. However, no studies deal with the impact of the precision of input soil data on soil related-ES assessment and mapping

This study focus on a French territory of 100 km² and it examines the effect of increasing the spatial precision of soil data – at the 1:1,000,000, 1:250,000 and 1:50,000 scales – on the levels and the spatial patterns of four soil-related ES: the provision of biomass, the provision of water, the regulation of global climate and the regulation of water quality. The delivery of these services is finally analyzed according to multiple operational spatial units of aggregation such as municipal administrative boundaries, landforms and finally land-use and cover.

The precision of input soil data has limited impact on ES levels averaged over the whole 100 km² territory. More precisely, the soil maps at 1: 1,000,000 and 1:250,000 scales provide accurate ES levels for areas larger than 100 and 10 km². However, soil-supported ES are not equally sensitive to scale effects. Increasing the precision of soil data has indeed almost no impact on the water provisioning, slight impacts (around 10 %) on the regulation of water quality but impacts around 20% on the provision of biomass and the regulation of climate.

The three maps have contrastingly a strong impact on the location of the considered services with scaling effects locally reaching or even exceeding 100%. Switching spatial scales has almost no impacts on ES levels in cultivated lands localized on flat plateau positions. On the contrary, they reach around 50, 70 and 80% for the regulation of water quality, the production of biomass and the regulation of climate respectively in forested and natural lands localized on plateau edges, sloping lands and valley bottom that appear more particularly sensitive to switching scales. Forested and sloping lands indeed concentrate marginal soils showing very specific ES signatures.

Identifying the optimal representation of soil diversity to obtain a reliable representation of ES spatial distribution is not straightforward. The ES sensitivity to scale effect is indeed highly variable among individual ES, landforms, or land-uses and not directly linked with the soil diversity represented in soil maps.

How to cite: Scammacca, O., Choquet, P., Gabrielle, B., Sauzet, O., Michelin, J., Garnier, P., Baveye, P., and Montagne, D.: The effects of switching spatial scales on soil-based ecosystem services levels and patterns: a case study at the patch scale, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11834, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11834, 2022.

With one third of the world's fertile topsoil lost and most of the rest in a poor condition, there is no doubt that soils need more attention in society in general and in education in particular. Nevertheless, connecting people to soils in a current context of urbanisation and digitalisation is not straigtforward. We think that one of the hurdles in improving this soil connectivity is getting rid of the 'big brown blob': soils are often depicted as a dumbed-down, generic, boring brown structures even in educational graphics or pamflets. Obviously, it's difficult to get people exited about that. 

Only a very limited amount of people, often only in higher education, gets to experience what soils are actually like. In collaboration with educational experts, artists and landscape and heritage experts, we started a series of immersive educational and art projects. The concept was to spike people's interest by showing them the beauty and viariablilty of soils in landscapes, muze on their peculiarities and reflect on how the world above is influenced by what is hidden beneath. Soil monoliths, as life-like representations of actual landscapes, were combined to art installations indoors as well as in the field and coupled to the work of graphical and word artists, and how they percieve the soil. We also created digital below-ground 'tours' of how soils manifest themselves in the stories of our landscapes. In particular, our installations featuring Podzols and greensands were very popular, as they provide a quite dramatic and visually appealing spectacle that most people would not expect to find in soils. 

By immersing people into a world they usually have no access to, our goal was to evoke intrinsic interest and wonder by including them in the educational process, i.e. giving them the opportunity to do their own discoveries rather than talking to them about something they would have very little instrinsic affection to. In this contribution, we will highlight the main techniques we used and lessons we learned from the persons that contributed to visited our work. 

How to cite: Vancampenhout, K., Van Der Veken, B., Bastiaens, J., and Deckers, S.: The green, green sands of home: immersive experiences for raising soil awareness, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12313, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12313, 2022.

Soil is a natural resource providing numerous ecosystem services and provision of these services totally depends on soil health and its nutrient balance which is affected by different agricultural management practices. So it’s very important to understand the effect of these practices on soil functioning. In the present study the effect of different tillage and crop residue management practices on available soil macro and micronutrients have been evaluated.To conduct the study, two treatments of farmer’s practices have been taken. First is multiple tillage with complete burning of paddy residues (Conventional practice/T1) and second one is zero tillage with complete retention of paddy residues (Conservation practice/control).Samples were collected from two soil depths (0-5 and 5-15 cm) before and after burning of residues. Available soil phosphorous, available potassium, available SOC all were increased by 10%,14.85%, 2.4% respectively at 0-5 cm depth in after residue burning samples as compare to before burning samples whereas available soil nitrogen, available micronutrients (Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni and Fe)and microbial biomass carbon(MBC) were found to be decreased in after burning samples as compare to before burning samples at same 0-5cm depth. Available P, available SOC, MBC, available potassium all were found to be 13.89%,17.7%,6.9%and 0.5% higher in control treatment as compare to T1 however micronutrient concentrations were decreased in control. The increase in some nutrient concentration due to burning of residues may be attributed to sudden increase in ash content however decrease in some parameters like MBC may be attributed to decrease in microbial population.Also the results signifies the positive impacts of conservation practices over conventional one.

Keywords: Residue management, Tillage, Available nutrients.

How to cite: Singh, D. and Mina, Dr. U.: Comparative Assessment of Available Soil Nutrients under Different Tillage and Crop Residue Management Practices in Rice-Wheat Cropping System, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12705, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12705, 2022.