Speaker
Description
Soil structural stability is a key indicator of soil health, particularly its resistance to erosion caused by wind and rain. It is assessed by studying aggregate stability, which depends on various physical, chemical, and biological factors, whether internal (specific to the soil) or external (dependent on climate and land use). Among these factors, it is widely recognized that soil organisms, especially soil macrofauna (earthworms) and microorganisms (fungi and bacteria), play an important role in maintaining soil structural stability. However, their exact contribution is unclear and requires further research.
In this context, MINAUTOR project (EJP-Soil European program), involving eight countries, aims to i) map and model soil biodiversity at European level and ii) identify the relationships between soil biodiversity, function and ecosystem services (ecological production functions, EPF), in order to assess soil vulnerability to climate change and sensitivity to management practices. One of the objectives is to assess the contribution of soil biodiversity to soil structural stability. Through collaboration with numerous European researchers, networks, and programs, extensive soil biodiversity and aggregate stability datasets have been collected, covering different land uses, soil types, and climatic regions.
The main challenges in the database construction process include the heterogeneous nature of the data concerning the method of assessing aggregate stability, as well as the sometimes lack of metadata regarding organism sampling methodology, agricultural activities, soil properties, and climate at study sites. Thus, preliminary findings from our analysis highlight (i) the need for data harmonization and (ii) the inclusion of a minimal set of metadata to examine factors influencing aggregate stability in agricultural systems. Following a rigorous data harmonization process, we will analyze our data to determine which factors have the highest impact on soil structural stability and assess the importance of soil biodiversity. This information allows for a better understanding of structural stability within agroecosystems, and the promotion of strategies to enhance soil protection and organism biodiversity on an international scale.
| Keywords | Soil; Aggregate stability; Microorganisms; Earthworms; International |
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