Environmental Assessment of Soil for Monitoring Volume I: Indicators & Criteria

The ENVASSO Project (Contract 022713) was funded 2006-8, under the European Commission 6th Framework Programme of Research, with the objective of defining and documenting a soil monitoring system appropriate for soil protection at continental level. The ENVASSO Consortium, comprising 37 partners drawn from 25 EU Member States, reviewed soil indicators, identified existing soil inventories and monitoring programmes in the Member States, designed and programmed a database management system to capture, store and supply soil profile data, and drafted procedures and protocols appropriate for inclusion in a European soil monitoring network of sites that are geo-referenced and at which a qualified sampling process is or could be conducted. Volume I, one of six describing the results of the ENVASSO Project, identifies 290 potential indicators relating to 188 key issues for the following nine threats to soil: erosion, organic matter decline, contamination, sealing, compaction, loss of biodiversity, salinisation, landslides and desertification. Sixty candidate indicators that address 27 key issues, covering all these threats, were selected on the basis of their thematic relevance, policy relevance and data availability. Baseline and threshold values are presented and detailed Fact Sheets describe three priority indicators for each soil threat.JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Indicators of soil quality - Physical properties (SP1611). Final report to Defra

The condition of soil determines its ability to carry out diverse and essential functions that support human health and wellbeing. These functions (or ecosystem goods and services) include producing food, storing water, carbon and nutrients, protecting our buried cultural heritage and providing a habitat for flora and fauna. Therefore, it is important to know the condition or quality of soil and how this changes over space and time in response to natural factors (such as changing weather patterns) or to land management practices. Meaningful soil quality indicators (SQIs), based on physical, biological or chemical soil properties are needed for the successful implementation of a soil monitoring programme in England and Wales. Soil monitoring can provide decision makers with important data to target, implement and evaluate policies aimed at safeguarding UK soil resources. Indeed, the absence of agreed and well-defined SQIs is likely to be a barrier to the development of soil protection policy and its subsequent implementation. This project assessed whether physical soil properties can be used to indicate the quality of soil in terms of its capacity to deliver ecosystem goods and services. The 22 direct (e.g. bulk density) and 4 indirect (e.g. catchment hydrograph) physical SQIs defined by Loveland and Thompson (2002) and subsequently evaluated by Merrington et al. (2006), were re-visited in the light of new scientific evidence, recent policy drivers and developments in sampling techniques and monitoring methodologies (Work Package 1). The culmination of these efforts resulted in 38 direct and 4 indirect soil physical properties being identified as potential SQIs. Based on the gathered evidence, a ‘logical sieve’ was used to assess the relative strengths, weaknesses and suitability of each potential physical SQI for national scale soil monitoring. Each soil physical property was scored in terms of: soil function – does the candidate SQI reflect all soil function(s)? land use - does the candidate SQI apply to all land uses found nationally? soil degradation - can the candidate SQI express soil degradation processes? does the candidate SQI meet the challenge criteria used by Merrington et al. (2006)?This approach enabled a consistent synthesis of available information and the semi-objective, semi-quantitative and transparent assessment of indicators against a series of scientific and technical criteria (Ritz et al., 2009; Black et al., 2008). The logical sieve was shown to be a flexible decision-support tool to assist a range of stakeholders with different agenda in formulating a prioritised list of potential physical SQIs. This was explored further by members of the soil science and soils policy community at a project workshop. By emphasising the current key policy-related soil functions (i.e. provisioning and regulating), the logical sieve was used to generate scores which were then ranked to identify the most qualified SQIs. The process selected 18 candidate physical SQIs. This list was further filtered to move from the ‘narrative’ to a more ‘numerical’ approach, in order to test the robustness of the candidate SQIs through statistical analysis and modelling (Work Package 2). The remaining 7 physical SQIs were: depth of soil; soil water retention characteristics; packing density; visual soil assessment / evaluation; rate of erosion; sealing; and aggregate stability. For these SQIs to be included in a robust national soil monitoring programme, we investigated the uncertainty in their measurement; the spatial and temporal variability in the indicator as given by observed distributions; and the expected rate of change in the indicator. Whilst a baseline is needed (i.e. the current state of soil), it is the rate of change in soil properties and the implications of that change in terms of soil processes and functioning that are key to effective soil monitoring. Where empirical evidence was available, power analysis was used to understand the variability of indicators as given by the observed distributions. This process determines the ability to detect a particular change in the SQI at a particular confidence level, given the ‘noise’ or variability in the data (i.e. a particular power to detect a change of ‘X’ at a confidence level of ‘Y%’ would require ‘N’ samples). However, the evidence base for analysing the candidate SQIs is poor: data are limited in spatial and temporal extent for England and Wales, in terms of a) the degree (magnitude) of change in the SQI which significantly affects soil processes and functions (i.e. ‘meaningful change’), and b) the change in the SQI that is detectable (i.e. what sample size is needed to detect the meaningful signal from the variability or noise in the signal). This constrains the design and implementation of a scientifically and statistically rigorous and reliable soil monitoring programme. Evidence that is available suggests that what constitutes meaningful change will depend on soil type, current soil state, land use and the soil function under consideration. However, when we tested this by analysing detectable changes in packing density and soil depth (because data were available for these SQIs) over different land covers and soil types, no relationships were found. Schipper and Sparling (2000) identify the challenge: “a standardised methodology may not be appropriate to apply across contrasting soils and land uses. However, it is not practical to optimise sampling and analytical techniques for each soil and land use for extensive sampling on a national scale”. Despite the paucity in data, all seven SQIs have direct relevance to current and likely future soil and environmental policy, because they can be related (qualitatively) to soil processes, soil functions and delivery of ecosystem goods and services. Even so, meaningful and detectable changes in physical SQIs may be out of time with any soil policy change and it is not usually possible to link particular changes in SQIs to particular policy activities. This presents challenges in ascertaining trends that can feed into policy development or be used to gauge the effectiveness of soil protection policies (Work Package 3). Of the seven candidate physical SQIs identified, soil depth and surface sealing are regarded by many as indicators of soil quantity rather than quality. Visual soil evaluation is currently not suited to soil monitoring in the strictest sense, as its semi-qualitative basis cannot be analysed statistically. Also, few data exist on how visual evaluation scores relate to soil functions. However, some studies have begun to investigate how VSE might be moved to a more quantified scale and the method has some potential as a low cost field technique to assess soil condition. Packing density requires data on bulk density and clay content, both of which are highly variable, so compounding the error term associated with this physical SQI. More evidence is needed to show how ‘meaningful’ change in aggregate stability affects soil processes and thus soil functions (for example, using the limited data available, an equivocal relationship was found with water regulation / runoff generation). The analysis of available data has given promising results regarding the prediction of soil water retention characteristics and packing density from relatively easy to measure soil properties (bulk density, texture and organic C) using pedotransfer functions. Expanding the evidence base is possible with the development of rapid, cost-effective techniques such as NIR sensors to measure soil properties. Defra project SP1303 (Brazier et al., 2012) used power analyses to estimate the number of monitoring locations required to detect a statistically significant change in soil erosion rate on cultivated land. However, what constitutes a meaningful change in erosion rates still requires data on the impacts of erosion on soil functions. Priority cannot be given amongst the seven SQIs, because the evidence base for each varies in its robustness and extent. Lack of data (including uncertainty in measurement and variability in observed distributions) applies to individual SQIs; attempts at integrating more than one SQI (including physical, biological and chemical SQIs) to improve associations between soil properties and processes / functions are only likely to propagate errors. Whether existing monitoring programmes can be adapted to incorporate additional measurement of physical SQIs was explored. We considered options where one or more of the candidate physical SQIs might be implemented into soil monitoring programmes (e.g. as a new national monitoring scheme; as part of the Countryside Survey; and as part of the National Soil Inventory). The challenge is to decide whether carrying out soil monitoring that is not statistically robust is still valuable in answering questions regarding current and future soil quality. The relationship between physical (and other) SQIs, soil processes and soil functions is complex, as is how this influences ecosystem services’ delivery. Important gaps remain in even the realisation of a conceptual model for these inter-relationships, let alone their quantification. There is also a question of whether individual quantitative SQIs can be related to ecosystem services, given the number of variables

Impacts of organic and conventional crop management on diversity and activity of free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria and total bacteria are subsidiary to temporal effects

A three year field study (2007-2009) of the diversity and numbers of the total and metabolically active free-living diazotophic bacteria and total bacterial communities in organic and conventionally managed agricultural soil was conducted at the Nafferton Factorial Systems Comparison (NFSC) study, in northeast England. The result demonstrated that there was no consistent effect of either organic or conventional soil management across the three years on the diversity or quantity of either diazotrophic or total bacterial communities. However, ordination analyses carried out on data from each individual year showed that factors associated with the different fertility management measures including availability of nitrogen species, organic carbon and pH, did exert significant effects on the structure of both diazotrophic and total bacterial communities. It appeared that the dominant drivers of qualitative and quantitative changes in both communities were annual and seasonal effects. Moreover, regression analyses showed activity of both communities was significantly affected by soil temperature and climatic conditions. The diazotrophic community showed no significant change in diversity across the three years, however, the total bacterial community significantly increased in diversity year on year. Diversity was always greatest during March for both diazotrophic and total bacterial communities. Quantitative analyses using qPCR of each community indicated that metabolically active diazotrophs were highest in year 1 but the population significantly declined in year 2 before recovering somewhat in the final year. The total bacterial population in contrast increased significantly each year. Seasonal effects were less consistent in this quantitative study

Biochars in soils : towards the required level of scientific understanding

Key priorities in biochar research for future guidance of sustainable policy development have been identified by expert assessment within the COST Action TD1107. The current level of scientific understanding (LOSU) regarding the consequences of biochar application to soil were explored. Five broad thematic areas of biochar research were addressed: soil biodiversity and ecotoxicology, soil organic matter and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, soil physical properties, nutrient cycles and crop production, and soil remediation. The highest future research priorities regarding biochar's effects in soils were: functional redundancy within soil microbial communities, bioavailability of biochar's contaminants to soil biota, soil organic matter stability, GHG emissions, soil formation, soil hydrology, nutrient cycling due to microbial priming as well as altered rhizosphere ecology, and soil pH buffering capacity. Methodological and other constraints to achieve the required LOSU are discussed and options for efficient progress of biochar research and sustainable application to soil are presented.Peer reviewe

MCAO for Gemini South

The multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) system design for the Gemini-South 8-meter telescope will provide near-diffraction-limited, highly uniform atmospheric turbulence compensation at near-infrared wavelengths over a 2 arc minute diameter field-of-view. The design includes three deformable mirrors optically conjugate to ranges of 0, 4.5, and 9.0 kilometers with 349, 468, and 208 actuators, five 10-Watt-class sodium laser guide stars (LGSs) projected from a laser launch telescope located behind the Gemini secondary mirror, five Shack-Hartmann LGS wavefront sensors of order 16 by 16, and three tip/tilt natural guide star (NGS) wavefront sensors to measure tip/tilt and tilt anisoplanatism wavefront errors. The WFS sampling rate is 800 Hz. This paper provides a brief overview of sample science applications and performance estimates for the Gemini South MCAO system, together with a summary of the performance requirements and/or design status of the principal subsystems. These include the adaptive optics module (AOM), the laser system (LS), the beam transfer optics (BTO) and laser launch telescope (LLT), the real time control (RTC) system, and the aircraft safety system (SALSA)

Characterization of the Reinforcement Potential of Different Softwood Kraft Fibers in Softwood/Hardwood Pulp Mixtures

Two morphologically different market kraft pulps, a New Zealand radiata pine medium grade and a benchmark northern hemisphere spruce pulp from interior British Columbia, were evaluated and compared for their reinforcement potential following supplementation at different levels to a Eucalyptus market kraft pulp. A full factorial experimental design including softwood pulps types, three levels of both wet-pressing and refining, and six different softwood proportions in softwood/eucalypt furnish mixtures (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 100%), was employed to generate two independent regression models using SAS General Linear Model procedure, from data obtained from handsheet evaluation. It was conclusively shown, with statistical significance, that the reinforcement potential of softwood market kraft pulps in softwood/hardwood mixtures can readily be characterized and predicted through the measurement of fracture energy index of handsheets made from 100% softwood fiber

Legal frameworks for soil protection: current development and technical information requirements

Protection of soil resources is a priority for policy makers concerned with future food security and biodiversity conservation. Current global, continental and national progress with legal frameworks and supporting technical information is reviewed. Better soil monitoring information is needed to support new investment in, targeting of, and evaluation of soil protection measures. Some but not all soil monitoring methods are adequate. Spatial risk estimation is essential for assessing the economic costs and benefits of soil protection and to target risk mitigation. However, while qualitative vulnerability assessments are available, substantial challenges remain to support quantitative risk assessment and evaluation. More reliable information is required about the efficacy of options for soil protection for different soils under different land use and management scenarios.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Predicting the preservation of cultural artefacts and buried materials in soil

This study identifies factors affecting the fate of buried objects in soil and develops a method for assessing where preservation of different materials and stratigraphic evidence is more or less likely in the landscape. The results inform the extent of the cultural service that soil supports by preserving artefacts from and information about past societies. They are also relevant to predicting the state of existing and planned buried infrastructure and the persistence of materials spread on land. Soils are variable and preserve different materials and stratigraphic evidence differently. This study identifies the material and soil properties that affect preservation and relates these to soil types; it assesses their preservation capacities for bones, teeth and shells, organic materials, metals (Au, Ag, Cu, Fe, Pb and bronze), ceramics, glass and stratigraphic evidence. Preservation of Au, Pb and ceramics, glass and phytoliths is good in most soils but degradation rates of other materials (e.g. Fe and organic materials) is strongly influenced by soil type. A method is proposed for using data on the distribution of soil types to map the variable preservation capacities of soil for different materials. This is applied at a continental scale across the EU for bones, teeth and shells, organic materials, metals (Cu, bronze and Fe) and stratigraphic evidence. The maps produced demonstrate how soil provides an extensive but variable preservation of buried objects.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites in Europe

This report presents the current state of knowledge about progress with the management of contaminated sites in Europe. It directly supports the EU Soil Thematic Strategy (COM(2006) 231), which identifies local soil contamination as an important issue. It presents facts, analyses, and methods on the management of Contaminated Sites, which can inform policy makers, professional practitioners, researchers, citizens and the media. The report is based on data that were collected from the National Reference Centres for Soil in 39 coun-tries belonging to the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIO-NET) during a campaign organised by the JRC European Soil Data Centre in 2011-2012. The information presented in this report is based on a set of indicators which have been agreed on and used by the EIONET for more than a decade. This set of indicators contrib-utes to the Core Set Indicator “Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites” (CSI 015) of the European Environment Agency (EEA), which is used for reporting on the State of the Environment. These indicators aim to answer the following policy-relevant questions: What is the esti-mated extent of soil contamination? How much progress has been achieved in the manage-ment and control of local soil contamination? Which sectors contribute most to soil contami-nation? What are the main contaminants affecting soil and groundwater in and around Con-taminated Sites? How much is spent on cleaning up soil contamination? How much of the public budget is used? The data request was sent to the then 32 EEA member countries (27 European Union Mem-ber States together with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey) and the seven EEA cooperating countries in the West Balkan: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia , the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Serbia as well as Kosovo under the UN Security Council Resolution 1244/99 . 28 countries returned the questionnaire.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen