To manage the use of agricultural soils well, decision-makers need science-based, easy to apply and cost-effective tools to assess soil quality and function. Moreover, assessments must be accompanied by recommendations relevant to the land user at a given moment and location. At present, such tools are too expensive, too complex, unbalanced regarding attention to different aspects of soil quality, and weakly linked to management recommendations. Furthermore, policy decisions need to consider the management of agricultural soils in the wider context of trade-offs with other economic sectors, and ecosystem service impacts and contributions (i.e. the soil environmental footprint). Due to such interactions, procedures are needed that enable various potential stakeholders to indicate vulnerabilities and influence decisions in a timely way. Hence, various stakeholders, including policy-makers, industries and land users need to overcome knowledge gaps and integration gaps in order to link soil quality indicators, management options, and implications for ecosystem service provisioning of agricultural soils.
Lead of WP3
Project partner in WP1, WP4, WP6, WP9