Soil is more than a conglomerate of mineral particles held together by organic matter and surrounded by water and air. It is an important habitat, known to harbour an immense part of planetary biodiversity. This diversity of life within the soil is what makes it the basis of human life, as it plays an important role in maintaining soil health, through defining soil properties and nutrient cycling dynamics. From soil micro-, meso-, and to macrofauna, soil life is teeming, though increasingly pressured by global threats, such as soil erosion, soil pollution (e.g. pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics), and climate change. The problem is of high urgency for the EU, where about a third of the soils are characterized by threatened biological functioning according to the EUSO soil degradation dashboard. Thus, it is very timely to improve our limited understanding of the complexities surrounding soil biodiversity and its interrelationships with cultivation patterns, global changes, and other pressures.
The aim of the session is to bring together research on soil fauna, its diversity and role in soil processes, and potential strategies to mitigate the impact of various stressors on soil fauna.
In this session we welcome any and all studies about soil fauna and its diversity. Studies with a solution-oriented approach to explore opportunities for safeguarding and promoting soil fauna in the future are especially welcome.