SIREN
| Start: | 1 February 2021 |
| Duration: | 12 Months |
| Aim: | To make an inventory of indicator systems for assessing soil quality and ecosystem services, as currently used by Member States associated in the EJP SOIL and beyond |
| Keywords: | Ecosystem services framework, Indicator systems, Inventory, Soil quality assessment, sustainable target values |
| Contact: | Project coordinator: Dr. Jack Faber (jack.faber@wur.nl) Project communication representative: Astrid Taylor (astrid.taylor@slu.se) |
The SIREN project will make an inventory of indicator systems for assessing soil quality and ecosystem services, as currently used by Member States associated in the EJP SOIL and beyond.
SIREN will identify and review the national frameworks and chains from soil properties via soil functions to soil ecosystem services and the indicators of soil quality state and functions plus their reference values across pedo-climatic conditions for the main agricultural production systems in the EU. Also,
SIREN will identify if these have been translated into policy options and implementation, and into directions and guidance on land management.
SIREN will particularly stocktake the array of reference values for SOC, soil quality, soil biodiversity and degradation risk, the associated target values of indicators, and identify knowledge gaps and development needs.
Project leader and partners
Project leader:
Wageningen Research (WR)
Responsible person from organization: Dr. Jack H. Faber
Co-Lead Partners:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden (SLU)
Responsible person from organization: Dr. Astrid Taylor
Institut National de la researche Agronomique, France (INRAE)
Responsible person from organization: Dr. Isabelle Cousin
Call text: ES1/ES2
Methodologies and tools to assess the contribution of soils to ecosystem services / for assessing soil quality
The soil`s natural functions are multi-fold as they ensure life through sustaining primary productivity and a large part of the overall biodiversity, play a key role in the carbon, nutrient and water cycles and control multiple natural processes. Evidently soil is useful to humans as a source of raw materials, land for settlement, economic and public uses, and agricultural and silvicultural land use. However, the soil’s capacity to sustain functions can be altered by a number of degradation processes, thus decreasing their capacities to provide ecosystem services.
The study will evaluate the ability of agricultural soils to sustain functions and ecosystem services and thereby evaluate their quality requires to have: i) an explicit framework and chain from soil properties to soil functions and to soil ecosystem services, ii) indicators of soil state and functions, and iii) a set of reference values for these indicators, in the different pedo-climatic conditions for the main agricultural productions.
Project type: A combined stocktake / 40 PM