Soil biodiversity is increasingly recognized as a key component of soil health, yet current assessment frameworks often focus on a limited range of biological groups or isolated ecosystem functions. While these specific groups can provide valuable indicators of soil conditions, they may not fully capture the complexity of soil processes and multitrophic interactions that underpin ecosystem functioning. Integrating microorganisms, soil fauna, and their interactions across trophic levels into robust and operational soil health indicators remains a major scientific and practical challenge.
This session aims to promote a holistic perspective on soil health indicators derived from soil biodiversity across different trophic groups and methodological approaches. We encourage contributions exploring how information from individual soil organisms groups or integrative multi-trophic approaches can improve indicators related to key soil processes such as carbon and nutrient cycling, soil structure formation, and ecosystem stability under environmental change. Particular attention will be given to studies testing existing or novel biodiversity-based indicators and their applicability across different environmental contexts.
The session invites interdisciplinary experimental, observational, and modelling approaches across scales, with particular interest in studies that bridge soil biodiversity research with development and application of soil health monitoring frameworks, implementation of operational indicators in restoration practices, nature-based solutions, and environmental policy. Contributions from researchers working on specific organismal groups are equally welcome, provided they connect to broader multi-trophic or integrative frameworks.