Soil biodiversity underlies the provision of ecosystem services in agricultural land, but is threatened by climate change and management intensification across Europe. We will address the understanding and management of biodiversity dynamics and related ecosystem services under current and simulated future climatic conditions in agroecosystems across a latitudinal gradient ranging from Sweden, Germany and Switzerland to Spain. For this purpose, innovative and established methods will be used to understand how simulated drought and management conditions alter the relationships between soil microbial and fauna biodiversity and delivery of below- and aboveground ecosystem services under different current climate conditions. The results will be used to develop indicators that act as early warning system for drought stress and to identify biodiversity components that are valid proxies for the delivery of soil ecosystem services. The communication of results to stakeholders, such as agricultural advisors and policy makers, will help to promote the importance of soils for sustainable agricultural production in Europe.
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