Chapter 11 - Regional assessment of soil changes in Europe and Eurasia

Abstract

In Europe and Eurasia, the inherent complexity and spatial variability of soil makes the evaluation of the impact of any change difficult. Transformations of features such as texture and mineralogical composition will only occur over geological time spans while properties such as pH, organic matter content or microbial activity will show a more rapid reaction. In addition, the response of a particular soil type may be both positive and negative depending on the function in question. For example, rising temperatures and precipitation may support increased agricultural productivity on soils previously deemed marginal, but such a transformation can lead to a deterioration of soil biological diversity and an increased risk of erosion. Quantitative assessments of future trends in soil characteristics and properties are limited. As a consequence, this chapter provides an outlook only for a selected number of issues. Considerably more effort is required to model changes in the state of soil conditions in relation to drivers such as changes in land use and climate. Based on the above finding, an assessment  is made of the status and trend of the ten soil threats in order of importance for the region. At the same time an indication is given of the reliability of these estimates.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen