Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

14 p.Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.Peer reviewe

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Creating leadership collectives for sustainability transformations

Enduring sustainability challenges requires a new model of collective leadership that embraces critical reflection, inclusivity and care. Leadership collectives can support a move in academia from metrics to merits, from a focus on career to care, and enact a shift from disciplinary to inter- and trans-disciplinary research. Academic organisations need to reorient their training programs, work ethics and reward systems to encourage collective excellence and to allow space for future leaders to develop and enact a radically re-imagined vision of how to lead as a collective with care for people and the planet

Economic, environmental and social impacts

Smart farming practices can make a difference regarding economic, environmental and social impact in comparison to conventional techniques. Nowadays, there are several commercially available smart farming technologies (SFT), which can record and map different crop needs and also act on these needs. Such technologies are described in this chapter together with their impact on pricing (where available) and economic benefit from their in-field use – either in reduction of input use or yield increases. Findings from this chapter highlight some of the potential benefits and savings from site-specific application of inputs, including fertilizer and pesticides as well as potential benefits from autosteering and section control. All of these technologies are based on SFT, which requires different sensors, mapping technologies and advanced decision support making. A successful product commercialization needs to follow those systems that have proven a high technology readiness level. This chapter provides a conceptual background description regarding innovation and diffusion of SFT. These descriptions demonstrate the complex interdependencies of positively influencing factors with special attention to the involved actors and their interaction sequences. Furthermore, this chapter presents the process timeline for the development and the implementation of two systems that reached the market effectively. Finally, adoption of SFT and precision farming in particular are discussed, along with how SFT can benefit the environment and how SFT can fit into the common global trends.Smart farming practices can make a difference regarding economic, environmental and social impact in comparison to conventional techniques. Nowadays, there are several commercially available smart farming technologies (SFT), which can record and map different crop needs and also act on these needs. Such technologies are described in this chapter together with their impact on pricing (where available) and economic benefit from their in-field use – either in reduction of input use or yield increases. Findings from this chapter highlight some of the potential benefits and savings from site-specific application of inputs, including fertilizer and pesticides as well as potential benefits from autosteering and section control. All of these technologies are based on SFT, which requires different sensors, mapping technologies and advanced decision support making. A successful product commercialization needs to follow those systems that have proven a high technology readiness level. This chapter provides a conceptual background description regarding innovation and diffusion of SFT. These descriptions demonstrate the complex interdependencies of positively influencing factors with special attention to the involved actors and their interaction sequences. Furthermore, this chapter presents the process timeline for the development and the implementation of two systems that reached the market effectively. Finally, adoption of SFT and precision farming in particular are discussed, along with how SFT can benefit the environment and how SFT can fit into the common global trends.B