Major efforts were made to define soil health, identifying indicators, and developing monitoring scheme to support management and policy at various scales. However, significant challenges remain in indicator choice and integration, methodological harmonisation, data interoperability, scalability. Also, effective uptake by practitioners and decision-makers has been scarce. Transdisciplinary indices are required to integrate biological, chemical and physical aspects which can produce both leading, concurrent and lagging indicators. At the one time, these indices should be scaled in space, time and their temporal significance, and their integration compared to broad system indicators such as life cycle assessment indicators at the farm, forest stand, landscape and regional level.
This session brings together contributions that address soil health from complementary perspectives, spanning conceptual frameworks, indicator development, measurement techniques, modelling approaches, data infrastructures, and applications in real-world contexts. By explicitly linking indicator-centred and practice-centred approaches, the session seeks to advance a coherent and operational understanding of soil health that is scientifically robust, comparable across regions and land uses, and usable in monitoring, planning and policy processes.
The session is structured around six interconnected thematic blocks, covering the full pathway from reference frameworks and indicators to harmonised monitoring systems and societal uptake. Particular attention is given to comparability across scales, integration of physical, chemical and biological indicators, emerging measurement technologies, FAIR data principles, and the translation of soil health assessments into actionable knowledge.
The session is supported by the PRIMA projects SHARInG-MeD (SS) and SOILS4MED (CZ), and Horizon projects SUS-SOIL (SS) and AI4SoilHealth (PL, GC)
Orals: Tue, 5 May, 14:00–15:45 | Room 0.16
Soil health degradation is a major threat to European food security, biodiversity, and climate stability. While scientists have debated how to define soil health during recent decades, a quantifiable framework for monitoring, management, and policy remained lacking. We introduce SHERPA (Soil Health Evaluation, Rating Protocol, and Assessment) and present a first soil health assessment across Europe. All major soil degradation processes (with the exception of organic contamination) were scored and subtracted from the intrinsic soil health resulting in quantitative final scores. As reported before, cropland soils throughout Europe are highly degraded. Surprisingly, soil health of grasslands is also very negatively impacted. Soil erosion, nutrient surplus, and pesticide risk are largely driving poor soil health aligning with reported high biodiversity loss in agricultural land. Forest soils are also surprisingly low in health, mainly because of nitrogen surplus, reflecting documented widespread forest decline from nutrient imbalances. Interactive maps highlight specific threats to soil health across Europe, offering valuable insights for targeted action. SHERPA is able to quantify soil health across Europe. However, at the current state of data availability, soil health is likely to be overestimated. Monitoring data of soil structure, compaction, pesticide spread and, in forest ecosystems, disturbance of humus layer is urgently needed for final assessment of soil health.
The presentation will include the newest work on SHERPA including assessment and mapping of wetlands soils, the possibilities of including the SHERPA into the global soil security concept of the Aroura think tank, and developing SHERPA scores for bare and scarcely vegetated soils in nature conservation areas.
How to cite: Alewell, C., Gupta, S., Gross-Schmölders, M., and Borrelli, P.: Update on SHERPA, the first quantitative assessment of soil health at European scale considering soil genesis, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-5750, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-5750, 2026.
Over the past decade, the scientific production on soil function evaluation has greatly increased. Numerous conceptual frameworks have been and continue to be used globally to assess and interpret soil functions. Among most recent ones are the soil health and the soil security frameworks. While this diversity reflects the dynamism of the community around these questions, it can also lead to confusion, particularly given the similarity of methods used to quantify soil functions.
These methods typically involve quantifying and eventually aggregating one or more soil indicators based on soil or environmental properties. However, some contextual and methodological elements, such as the depth under study or the type of properties considered can vary between studies and lead to different interpretation of indicators. Given the central role of indicators in quantifying soil functions, it is crucial to understand the information that they convey considering all these elements. For us, none of the existing frameworks is able to clearly differentiate all methods depending on the information carried by indicators.
Therefore, we developed a conceptual framework¹ capable of classifying soil function evaluation studies based on the information they produce, regardless of the initial framework used for indicator selection, interpretation, or result communication. It builds on the idea that different aspects of the same function can be quantified, namely soil function supply, soil dynamic capacity for the function, and soil inherent capacity, with variations depending on the type of properties used in the quantification process. Given that different stakeholders have distinct requirements for soil function evaluation, our approach facilitates the alignment of objectives (i.e. the information needed on soil functions) with the aspect of soil functions to be evaluated (i.e. the information produced during quantification). While our framework is not intended to replace existing conceptual frameworks-each of which may have different scopes and advantages-its systematic use in soil function evaluation studies to communicate the exact aspect of soil functions being quantified could significantly enhance the clarity, comparability, and understanding of the information generated across different research efforts.
¹Lechevallier, H., Lagacherie, P., & Wadoux, A. M. J.-C. (2025). A conceptual framework for soil function evaluation : Towards a common base. Geoderma, 461, 117476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117476
How to cite: Lagacherie, P., Lechevallier, H., and Wadoux, A.: A conceptual framework to classify soil function evaluation methods and improve clarity and comparability., EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12398, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12398, 2026.
Soil multifunctionality reflects the capacity of the soil to provide multiple ecological functions and ecosystem services (Garland et al., 2021). It is jointly determined by biotic and abiotic factors (Y. Shi et al., 2025). Soil health is known as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system within an ecosystem and land-use boundaries (Laishram et al., 2012). Recognizing this vital role, soil health has become a key parameter to assess, and several methods and tools have been developed for this purpose.
The MUSE method - originally a French acronym for Method for the Evaluation of Soil Multifunctionality - is a Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) approach that assesses four soil ecological functions: carbon storage, biodiversity storage, infiltration capacity, and agronomic potential (Branchu et al., 2021) based on publicly available datasets of soil properties. These biological, chemical and physical functions are assessed individually and in combination through a scoring system that enables the spatialization of each ecological function and of soil multifunctionality.
The SPADES (Spatial Planning and Design with Soil) project aims to facilitate the integration of soil in spatial planning and design. By promoting soil literacy and gathering adaptable tools, methods and instruments among the countries involved in the project, SPADES is putting soil health at the heart of planning for the benefit of current and future generations. Grenoble-Alpes Metropolis (GAM) is one of 17 SPADES research pilots involved in the co-creation process to learn, develop and test transferable results - recommendations regarding soil health integration in spatial planning and design.
GAM is experiencing urban sprawl, habitat fragmentation, and soil health degradation due to construction, infrastructure development, and intensive land use. Soil sealing and compaction are common in urban and peri-urban areas, while agricultural soils face risks of erosion and land take. These trends threaten the ecological functions and ecosystems services provided by soils, like supporting biomass and biodiversity, regulating the water cycle and climate. While the region has environmental ambitions, integrating soil data and soil health into spatial planning frameworks remains a complex task. Local planning documents lack detailed information, limiting the capacity of planners to make informed, soil-sensitive decisions.
Within the framework of SPADES project, the MUSE method is applied at GAM in order to (ii) assess soil multifunctionality and support soil-informed land-use planning. The original method and some adaptations are tested to showcase the possibilities offered and identify the most adapted versions for integration of the resulting maps in the planning documents and help integrating soil health into decision-making processes. The approach seeks to guide soil management practices that preserve soil health and functions, improve soil quality, and promote sustainable land use. (ii) Within the context of modelling approaches to bridge the scale gap between point measurements and Pan-European monitoring, the study evaluates the MUSE method’s interoperability across diverse contexts, identifies and addresses barriers to its transposability, and tackles key challenges related to MUSE development and operationalization, including data availability, accuracy, reliability, practical usefulness, interpretability, and the scales “local versus global” transferability issue.
How to cite: Ouaksel, A., Prezeau, F., Y. Kohler, Y., Derycke, V., Merly, C., Martin, M., and Le Guern, C.: Soil multifunctionality assessment in Grenoble Alpes metropolis using the MUSE method for soil health integration in the planning process, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21880, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21880, 2026.
The extensive body of knowledge on Italian soils, derived from decades of pedological surveys and targeted environmental monitoring programmes at both national and local scales, represents a valuable asset for assessing soil health across different ecosystems and for analysing its temporal dynamics. The National Soil Health Database (BNSS), developed within the framework of the Integrated Monitoring System (SIM) under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, aims to integrate legacy pedological datasets with data from a new nationwide survey campaign (1,500 new soil profiles). This initiative supports the systematic integration of soil monitoring data, with a particular focus on contamination and soil fauna indicators, and the production of a new national soil map at higher spatial resolution (1:100.000 scale). The map development requires the integration of both cartographic and digital maps, legacy soil observations collected through national, regional campaigns, or research institutions.
The INSPIRE Soil data model has been extended to incorporate the EAGLE framework for land use, land cover and land management, as well as detailed information on sampling designs, sample handling procedures (transport and storage), and quantitative estimates of uncertainty measurement. The associated semantic framework has been partially developed de novo, relying where possible on international or national controlled lists or vocabularies and implemented through codelists. The reference technical documentation for a national harmonized soil survey was updated, and a dedicated Soil survey App & Management portal developed.
The BNSS can facilitate the creation of a community of soil stakeholders from the national to the local levels and support participation in international initiatives for data standardization, harmonization, and sharing.
How to cite: L'Abate, G., Barbetti, R., Fantappiè, M., Napoli, R., Lozano Fondón, C., Lachi, A., Tondini, E., Corti, G., and Cagnarini, C.: The Italian Soil Health Database supporting a national soil monitoring network & data elaboration, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21530, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21530, 2026.
Food production is a major contributor to environmental degradation and a key driver of soil health decline across Europe, where an estimated 89% of agricultural soils show signs of degradation (EUSO, 2025). Despite growing awareness, progress toward sustainable soil management remains limited due to uneven access to knowledge, limited capacities, insufficient incentives for land managers and fragmented action across the food system. Policymakers, administrations, advisors, retailers, and consumers often operate in isolation, while soil monitoring remains complex and poorly adapted to real-world farming conditions.
Although many scientific solutions for sustainable soil management already exist, conventional research often addresses isolated system components. In contrast, food systems are highly complex, shaped by strong interactions between ecological, social, economic, and political dimensions. Solutions that work in practice therefore require collaborative spaces where science and stakeholders jointly develop, test, and adapt innovations under real-life conditions. Living Labs provide such spaces.
Living Labs are collaborative, real-world experimental hubs where researchers, farmers, and other stakeholders co-create innovations toward shared objectives. Through co-creation and co-learning, they enhance soil knowledge, improve understanding of soil processes, and motivate food system actors to actively contribute to soil health improvements. By embedding experimentation in operational contexts, Living Labs can support agroecological transitions and support tangible impacts on soil health and governance.
Within this context, the SUNRISE project establishes agroecological Living Labs across ten European countries, engaging multi-actor teams of farmers, advisors, value-chain actors, NGOs, consumer organizations, policymakers, and researchers. A central innovation is an integrated soil health monitoring framework combining a citizen science smartphone app for soil-health assessments, laboratory soil analyses and an agroecological management questionnaire. Together, these tools capture complementary physical, chemical, biological, social, ecological, and economic dimensions of soil health in real-life farming settings and allow monitoring the effects of agroecological innovations across sustainability dimensions.
Applied across 75 farms and 150 plots, this harmonized monitoring approach enables farmers to assess management changes relative to control plots, strengthens soil literacy, and translates complex data into actionable, locally relevant guidance. By validating field-based indicators against laboratory measurements and setting soil health data into a wider agroecological context SUNRISE demonstrates a robust and holistic soil-health assessment framework that is scientifically sound, practically relevant, and capable of empowering land managers and food system actors to sustain soil health improvements beyond the project duration.
European Commission (2025) EUSO Soil Degradation Dashboard. Available at:https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/esdacviewer/euso-dashboard/ (Accessed: 08 June 2025).
How to cite: Bender, S. F., Ambrosini, L., and Muntwyler, A.: Advancing Soil Health in Practice: Monitoring and Awareness through Agroecological Living Labs, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-17194, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-17194, 2026.
Translating the Dutch national soil map to the international WRB (World Reference Base) classification.
The Dutch soil map is the most valuable source of nationwide high resolution soil information of the Netherlands. The map is classified using the Dutch classification system, which is specifically designed for Dutch soils and landscapes. This information is difficult to use for international soil communities and translating the map goes beyond linguistic translations or mapping a map unit to an international class. We created a translation from Dutch soil classes to international soil classes (WRB) where we estimated the certainty and spread of the class translation based on ~350.000 soil profile descriptions. The translated soil map is of a much higher resolution than the existing WRB map and the information on uncertainty can help the international soil communities understand the meaning behind the classes. We believe the method used in this research could help other countries translate their classification systems to, for example, WRB and help to harmonize fragmented soil data to create a better European soil map.
How to cite: Teuling, K., Harkema, T., and Cruijsen, J.: How to deal with differences between soil classification systems?, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-9837, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-9837, 2026.
Soil health indicators such as bulk density, water retention, soil carbon stability, cation exchange capacity (CEC) etc. are widely used to assess soil functioning, fertility, and resilience, yet they are often interpreted using empirical proxies such as particle-size clay content. However, many of these indicators are fundamentally controlled by soil mineralogy, as different clay minerals and associated oxides exhibit contrasting surface charge properties, reactivity, and sorption behaviour. Incorporating mineralogical information, therefore, has the potential to improve both the predictive power and interpretability of soil health indicators.
In this study, we use data from the National Soil Inventory of Scotland (NSIS2) to investigate how soil mineralogy influences two key functional indicators: soil carbon stability and CEC. Soil carbon degradation is assessed using the depth-related enrichment factor (ε), derived from δ¹³C profiles and commonly interpreted as a proxy for decomposition intensity. Statistical analyses (Pearson correlation and principal component analysis) were applied to mineralogical data from arable and grassland soils, alongside land use and pH. Our results show that soils enriched in more reactive phyllosilicates (including smectite, illite, and mixed-layer illite/smectite) are associated with lower ε values, indicating reduced apparent carbon degradation and enhanced stabilisation. In contrast, soils dominated by more crystalline, less reactive mineral assemblages exhibit higher ε values. We also demonstrate that predictive models of CEC are significantly improved when mineralogical information is included, compared with models based on particle-size clay and carbon content alone. This highlights the limitations of relying solely on texture-based proxies and underscores the mechanistic role of mineralogy in governing soil properties.
These findings demonstrate that soil mineralogy provides a unifying framework for interpreting multiple soil health indicators (e.g., carbon stability and CEC). Explicitly incorporating mineralogical information into soil monitoring and modelling frameworks can strengthen soil health assessments by moving from descriptive indicators toward mechanistically informed metrics. Further work is needed to refine mineralogical characterisation in organic-rich soils and to support the routine integration of mineralogy into large-scale soil monitoring programmes.
How to cite: Ghosh, U., Gray-Wannell, N., Afriyie, E., Baggaley, N., Paterson, E., and Hillier, S.: Mineralogical controls on soil health indicators: insights from Scottish national soil survey data, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-20839, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-20839, 2026.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is widely regarded as a central indicator in most soil health assessment frameworks. Despite advances in SOC measurement and monitoring, these methods are not always well understood or accessible to farmers and other stakeholders, which can hinder the adoption of sustainable practices aimed at increasing SOC and improving soil health.
The aim of this project was to investigate how in situ soil assessment, conducted through a participatory approach with farmers, can complement or partially substitute laboratory analyses in establishing robust and reliable baselines for SOC.
Nineteen farmers across the UK assessed soil colour, texture, earthworm abundance, and water infiltration across five fields each, and collected soil samples for laboratory analysis. Samples were analysed for soil organic matter or carbon by a certified commercial laboratory, as well as at university and secondary school facilities, resulting in four independent SOC assessments per sample. In addition, image-based analysis of dry soil colour, and aggregate stability using the SLAKES app were conducted in the laboratory.
While the different laboratory methods were strongly correlated with one another, they showed substantial differences in absolute SOC values. At the individual farm level, these discrepancies could lead to markedly different interpretations of the effectiveness of soil-improving practices. Results showed high variability in farmer-based colour assessments across the 95 samples and moderate correlation with laboratory-measured SOC and other indicators. We will present the best-performing models for SOC prediction using combined farm and laboratory datasets, highlighting soil colour as a low-cost, rapid indicator with potential utility for farmers and other stakeholders.
Overall, this study highlights the inherent variability in SOC assessment and underscores the importance of repeated sampling to establish robust baselines for evaluating SOC trends over time.
How to cite: Buchi, L., Paradelo Perez, M., Steffen, F., Kanwar, A., Rojas Ramirez, M., Leake, A., and Hoebe, P.: Participatory soil health assessment: exploring soil colour as a predictor of soil organic carbon, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-18699, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-18699, 2026.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important soil health indicator. The SOC directly influences major soil functions such as nutrient cycling, fertility, soil structure, and water and air regulation. As a result, it is important to understand both the soil’s storage capacity and the stability of this carbon. Several methods have been developed to assess distinct SOC pools based on different physical, biological, and thermal definitions. Rock Eval 6 thermal analysis partitions SOC into four operational fractions (S1 to S4), which serve as proxies for organic compounds of increasing thermal stability. Thus is S1 the most labile and easily decomposable, S2 and S3 reflecting progressively more stable organic carbon pools, and the residual refractory carbon measured as S4. Although Rock Eval 6 provides accurate and reproducible estimates of thermally defined SOC fractions, the high initial investment cost and low analytical throughput limit its application for large scale monitoring. Despite the promising application of soil diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for predicting various soil properties, a comprehensive evaluation of this method for estimating Rock Eval 6 derived SOC fractions is lacking. In this presentation, we evaluate the feasibility of vis-NIR spectroscopy as a non-destructive and cost-effective alternative method to predict Rock Eval 6 SOC fractions (S1 to S4). A total of 131 soil samples were collected from lowland areas across Denmark under different land-use types. Partial least squares regression and interval partial least squares regression were applied to relate soil reflectance spectra measured between 400 and 2500 nm to thermally defined SOC fractions. Our results indicate that vis-NIR spectroscopy can reliably estimate thermally defined SOC fractions derived from Rock Eval 6 analysis, with R² values of 0.79, 0.81, 0.78, and 0.53 for S1, S2, S3 and S4, respectively. Among the individual fractions, S2 was estimated with the highest accuracy, while S1 and S3 showed moderate predictive performance and S4 exhibited lower accuracy. Based on these statistical parameters, we conclude that vis-NIR spectroscopy is a feasible and rapid tool for estimating thermally defined SOC fractions.
How to cite: Zaresourmanabad, M., Moldrup, P., Knadel, M., Lyngsie, G., Mikstas, D., Pesch, C., Greve, M. H., and de Jonge, L. W.: Feasibility of vis-NIR spectroscopy for estimating thermally defined soil organic carbon fractions, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-17340, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-17340, 2026.
A Soil Information System (SIS) is a comprehensive information framework developed to support the collection, storage, analysis, management, and dissemination of soil-related data. Despite significant technological advances over the last decade, many regions – specifically the Mediterranean, Near East, and North Africa – still rely on non-digital soil records, which significantly limits their accessibility and usability.
Enhancing the availability and accessibility of soil data is therefore essential for effectively assessing and monitoring soil health and for promoting sustainable soil management practices across the Mediterranean region.
In this context, the PRIMA-funded SOILS4MED project aims to assess soil health and develop data systems that support sustainable soil management. The project will deploy a network of country-based soil information systems based on a harmonized data model aligned with the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB 2022), other initiatives, such as Soil4Africa, and notions or contents that have been designed/conceived by the project partners.
The objective of this network is to strengthen interoperability, improve data management and foster the effective use of soil information throughout the region.
The SIS platform developed adopts an Object-Relational Mapping methodology within a GeoNode-based architecture, an open-source geospatial content management framework that integrates advanced WebGIS functionalities, fully compliant with Open Geospatial Consortium standards, ensuring API interoperability according to the ISO 28258 soil data exchange protocol.
The platform architecture supports automatic computation of selected soil health indicators based on monitoring data and the application of data interpolation techniques. In addition, it allows the calculation of user-defined soil indicators using the data available within the system.
How to cite: Demontis, R., Lorrai, E., Muscas, L., Palla, P., and Zucca, C.: A Standards-Based Soil Information System Architecture for Soil Health Indicator Computation and Data Interoperability in the SOILS4MED project , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21896, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21896, 2026.
Posters on site: Tue, 5 May, 08:30–10:15 | Hall X3
The rise in demand for soil data and information calls for quick and cost-effective methodologies to quantify soil properties. This is particularly important in the realm of restoring soil health in Europe. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has demonstrated the ability to predict specific soil properties with high accuracy whilst being less costly and time-consuming than traditional methods. To fill gaps in national spectroscopic soil data, we compiled the first Austrian NIR soil spectral library (680–2500 nm) based on legacy samples (n=2129), covering all environmental zones of Austria. We then employed partial least square regression (PLSR) modelling to test the usability of the dataset for soil health assessments at its current stage. Our analysis revealed that the application of the PLSR is not suitable for accurately estimating soil health indicators compared to routine laboratory analysis. Nevertheless, among the 14 soil properties tested, total nitrogen, CaCO3, soil organic carbon and clay exhibited moderate predictive accuracy (R2>0.7). Most importantly, the dataset containing sample meta-data (e.g., land use type, environmental zone or zip code), laboratory reference values and NIR spectra with 1 nm resolution can be used as a foundation for further spectral analysis and modelling. We make this work openly accessible to actively contribute to closing soil data gaps and promote the expansion of soil spectral libraries as a basis for soil health assessments.
How to cite: Fohrafellner, J., Lippl, M., Bajraktarevic, A., Baumgarten, A., Spiegel, H., Körner, R., and Sandén, T.: Austrian NIR soil spectral library for soil health assessments, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-6789, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-6789, 2026.
Austria faces accelerating soil degradation driven by land take, erosion on agricultural land, declining soil organic matter, diffuse contamination and fragmented governance across federal, regional and municipal levels. Although Austria possesses extensive soil expertise, diverse monitoring initiatives and rich datasets, these resources remain dispersed across institutions and incompatible systems. The EU Soil Monitoring Law (SML) and the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 require Austria to make a transition from the fragmented landscape toward a harmonized, interoperable and policy‑relevant soil governance framework. The SHENA - Soil Health Network Austria - initiative provides a comprehensive national response by integrating governance, digital innovation, monitoring and capacity building into a unified soil‑health architecture.
The project establishes a national Soil Health Steering Committee representing all nine federal states and two ministries, creating an innovative cross‑sectoral governance structure for soil health. This committee coordinates institutional expertise from agencies, research institutions, agricultural chambers and regional authorities, ensuring strategic alignment and preparing Austria for EU‑level reporting obligations. SHENA simultaneously develops a digital Soil Knowledge and Networking Platform that consolidates at least ten existing databases (eBOD, BORIS, LUCASSA, ABOD.at and others), integrates 500+ resources and enables multi‑actor engagement through interactive tools, expert directories and knowledge exchange formats.
A central methodological contribution is the development of a harmonized soil monitoring roadmap that defines ten core indicators aligned with European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), Copernicus and Soil Mission standards. This roadmap builds on different projects (e.g. SoMONA, Bosporus)and Austria’s existing GIS infrastructures, improving data accessibility from ~10% to 50% by 2029 and to 70% by 2034. It provides a structured pathway for integrating heterogeneous datasets, reducing redundancy and enabling consistent national reporting to the EU Soil Observatory.
To strengthen societal uptake, SHENA trains 120 Soil Ambassadors - municipal officers, farmers, educators, planners and soil entusiasts - who act as multipliers for soil literacy, sustainable land management and local implementation. Their outreach activities, combined with targeted policy engagement, contribute to reducing areas of poor soil health, improving habitat management across 200 ha and enhancing carbon sequestration capacities.
Finally, SHENA embeds Austria within a broader European knowledge ecosystem through seven bilateral workshops with Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, culminating in a jointly endorsed position paper on cross‑border soil governance.
Together, these actions demonstrate how Austria can operationalize harmonized soil metrics, digital infrastructures and multi‑actor engagement to build a coherent, future‑oriented soil governance system aligned with EU ambitions.
How to cite: Thompson, E., Stefaner, K., van Hoesel, T., Begusch - Pfefferkorn, K., and Spanischberger, A.: SHENA (Soil Health Network Austria) - Austria’s Integrated Pathway towards a harmonized, digital and future ‑ ready Soil Health Governance System, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-10411, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10411, 2026.
The National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC), created within Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and supported by EU Next Generation funding, is committed to advancing the conservation and sustainable management of Italian and Mediterranean biodiversity. A central mission of the NBFC is to foster the adoption of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and ecological restoration practices in both natural and urbanized landscapes, with a strong emphasis on improving soil health and enhancing ecosystem services.
Urbanization exerts significant pressure on soil ecosystems, compromising their ability to deliver essential services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity support. Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), including green infrastructures, are increasingly recognized as effective strategies to mitigate these impacts and enhance urban resilience. However, robust and scientifically validated tools for monitoring their effectiveness remain limited.
This study explores the potential of soil biochemical indicators, specifically stable isotope composition and enzyme activities, as sensitive metrics for evaluating soil health and NbS performance in urban environments. The approach was initially tested along an urban-to-natural gradient in Pisa and Livorno, where areas dominated by Quercus ilex L. served as reference sites. Results demonstrated that these indicators effectively detect alterations in soil functioning associated with urban pressure, confirming their diagnostic value.
Building on this validation, the methodology was extended to major Italian cities (Turin, Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples) to assess the capacity of different NbS to restore soil functionality and improve ecosystem services. Preliminary findings indicate that green infrastructures significantly enhance soil biochemical processes, particularly those linked to carbon and nutrient dynamics. These outcomes provide a scientific basis for integrating soil health indicators into urban planning and NbS design, reinforcing their role in promoting sustainability and resilience in Mediterranean cities.
How to cite: Macci, C., Peruzzi, E., Scartazza, A., Doni, S., Rosellini, I., Masciandaro, G., and Vannucchi, F.: Soil Biochemical Indicators for Evaluating Urban Nature-Based Solutions: Insights from a Multi-City Study in Italy, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-10735, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10735, 2026.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) are key indicators of soil quality, ecosystem functioning, and climate change mitigation in Mediterranean environments, which are particularly vulnerable to land degradation and climate variability. Despite extensive research efforts, evidence on SOC and N in Mediterranean soils remains fragmented across regions, land uses, and methodological approaches.
This study presents a systematic map of international research on SOC and N in the Mediterranean Basin published between 1958 and 2025, with the objective of identifying research trends, thematic emphases, and knowledge gaps. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science databases. Search strings were developed iteratively using Boolean operators to maximize coverage of soil traits, soil management, land use, and soil quality, combined with geographic keywords representing Mediterranean countries and regions. All retrieved records were exported, merged, and screened after duplicates were removed. Study selection was carried out collaboratively by members of the SHARInG-MeD consortium, following predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria aligned with the project objectives.
A total of 60,822 records were retrieved. After removal of 16,553 duplicates (37.4%), 44,269 publications were screened. Of these, 18,012 studies (41%) met the objectives of the SHARInG-MeD project, and 5,373 publications specifically addressed soil organic carbon and nitrogen and were included in this systematic map. The mapped literature shows a strong temporal increase in SOC and N research since 1958, with pronounced geographical imbalances favoring northern Mediterranean countries. Agricultural land use, soil management practices, and land-use change emerged as dominant research themes, while long-term experiments, paired-site approaches, and harmonized analytical methodologies remain underrepresented.
This systematic map represents the most comprehensive synthesis to date of SOC and nitrogen research in Mediterranean soils and provides a robust evidence base for future meta-analyses, methodological harmonization, and evidence-based soil management and policy development at the Mediterranean scale.
Funding : The present work was funded by the research and innovation action “Soil Health and Agriculture Resilience through an Integrated Geographical information systems of Mediterranean Drylands” (SHARInG-MeD) funded by the “Partnership for Research & Innovation in the Mediterranean Area” (PRIMA Foundation) under the grant agreement number 2211.
How to cite: Tlili, A., Yahyaoui, A., Dridi, I., Halouani, N., Aranda, E., Ortas, I., Fountas, S., El Mayad, H., Saia, S., and Ben Amor, R.: Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in Mediterranean Soils: A Systematic Mapping of Research from 1958 to 2025, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-14590, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-14590, 2026.
The Ramli is an agricultural practice involving the cultivation of crops on sandy substrates in the lagoons of the Ghar El Melh area in northern Tunisia. These unique 17th-century gardens were created due to a lack of cultivable land and fresh water. The Ramli system at this site has been recognised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) because of its unique traditional practices, which have been adapted to sandy and wetland environments. This agricultural practice involves growing crops in sandy soil. The plant roots are supplied with rainwater that floats on the surface of seawater and is moved by the tides. This agro-environmental system allows crops to be grown all year round, even during periods of drought, without the need for an artificial water supply. However, this site is affected by climate change, rapid urban growth, and intensive human activity, which have damaged the ecosystem and reduced agricultural production. This study aims to determine the physicochemical properties, fertility status and elemental composition of agricultural soils in Ramli using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The chemical and fertility indicators were determined, including organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), the C/N ratio, pH, total and active carbonates, electrical conductivity, and the concentrations of exchangeable cations (Sodium, potassium, Magnesium and Calcium) and micronutrients (Fe, bromine and Chloride). The results of soil analysis of Ramli crops show that the soil texture is silty-sandy, with a predominance of sand. The soils are alkaline, with levels ranging from 7.88 to 8.26. Salinity values range from 0.273 to 1.68 mS/cm, with higher values localised in the southwest and northeast zones. This indicates the influence of low rainfall and weak communication between the lagoon and the sebkha, promoting the retention of soluble salts. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) values range between 3.54 and 9.55 mS/cm, and the C/N ratio in the study area varies between 7.02 and 10.01. The percentage of organic matter is less than 14%. Nutrient analysis of Sodium (g/kg), Chloride (g/kg), Potassium (g/kg), Magnesium (g/kg), Calcium (g/kg), Phosphorus (mg/kg), and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (%) shows that the plots in the study area are generally poor in these elements. The presence of bromine (Br) in soil samples can indicate pesticide or herbicide contamination. Indeed, the Ramli soils are associated with low water retention and limited fertility, making them vulnerable to drought and nutrient deficiencies. These results highlight the importance of adopting appropriate agricultural practices to ensure the sustainability of agriculture in the region.
Funding
The present work was funded by the research and innovation action “Soil Health and Agriculture Resilience through an Integrated Geographical information systems of Mediterranean Drylands” (SHARInG-MeD) funded by the “Partnership for Research & Innovation in the Mediterranean Area” (PRIMA Foundation) under the grant agreement number 2211.
How to cite: Yahyaoui, A., Mansour, N., Tlili, A., Halouani, N., Dridi, I., and Ben Amor, R.: Assessing soil quality of Ramli agricultural plots (northern Tunisia): a FAO globally important agricultural heritage system , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-14721, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-14721, 2026.
Soil hydraulic properties play a fundamental role in regulating water flow, solute transport, and overall ecosystem functioning, and are therefore key indicators of soil physical health. Because lab-based measurements often neglect the role of soil structures on water flow and retention, soil hydraulic properties were deduced from infiltration measurements in the field using the Beerkan method. The Beerkan method offers practical advantages, including simple instrumentation, low water requirements, and relatively short measurement times compared with other infiltration techniques. To test its applicability for different soil conditions and land management types, infiltration measurements were conducted for soils of an agricultural research station in Sweden and in dry coniferous forests in Switzerland. The infiltration data were combined with soil texture and bulk density measurements to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water retention. For the agricultural soils, the comparison of the field-based measurements with pedotransfer functions allowed to quantify structural effects. The infiltration experiments in the forest revealed the seasonal changes of hydraulic properties (and soil health status) as a result of limited wettability. This study evaluates both its strengths and limitations of the Beerkan method and provides guidance for its broader application across Europe and to evaluate the influence of land use and soil texture on soil structural development.
How to cite: Fan, H.-J., Hateffard, F., Gumbricht, T., Hugelius, G., and Lehmann, P.: Soil hydraulic properties deduced from infiltration measurements – effect of land use and soil texture, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-15539, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-15539, 2026.
To anchor the application of indicators for soil health monitoring in teaching, it is important that the students learn to measure and interpret indicator values. However, the large number of indicators can be overwhelming for students without a strong background in soil science. To address this challenge and to provide guidelines and motivation for the use of indicators, we developed a teaching framework that links physical soil health indicators to analogous functions in the human health domain. This approach was implemented in a block course consisting of 6 afternoons, in which students were tasked with selecting an appropriate set of indicators to assess the physical health of a specific soil profile. In the first part of the course, 18 physical soil health indicators were introduced alongside their analogues in human body functions, and field methods for indicator measurement were explained. In the second part, students designed a field experiment and monitoring set-up to quantify soil health status based on a selected indicator set. In the final part, experimental results were analysed, interpreted, and presented. The human health analogy provided an intuitive framework that supported indicator selection, interpretation, and integration, helping students to understand and quantify physical soil health as a coherent system rather than a collection of isolated indicator measurements.
How to cite: Lehmann, P.: Teaching Physical Soil Health Indicators Using Analogies from Human Health, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-15876, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-15876, 2026.
Soil pH is widely used as an indicator of soil health (Lebron et al., 2025) because it regulates various chemicals, physical, and biological processes. Soil electrical conductivity (EC), a proxy for soil salinity (Hassani et al., 2024; Shokri et al., 2025), is often analysed alongside soil pH to characterise soil chemical conditions. Although studies suggest a strong correlation between soil pH and EC, their relationship has rarely been quantified at continental or global scales. In this study, we applied a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) to globally investigate the relationship between soil pH, soil EC, and a set of environmental covariates representing soil texture, climate, terrain, and vegetation. Soil pH observations were obtained from the WoSIS and LUCAS databases. Our results suggest that soil EC is the most influential predictor (16.00%) for soil pH predictions, followed by soil water balance (14.00%), NDVI (12.00%), bulk density (10.00%), and minimum temperature (10.00%). Our analysis also shows that the relationship between soil pH and EC was distinctly non-linear. Soil pH increased from 6.59 to 7.29 as EC rose from 0 to 0.6 dS/m, then declined gradually until EC reached approximately 32 dS/m, beyond which pH stabilised near 6.71. Overall, the identified non-linear pH and salinity relationship provides new insight into the chemical constraints shaping soil conditions at continental to global scales.
How to cite: Zarif, M. A., Robinson, D. A., Lebron, I., Panagos, P., and Shokri, N.: Global patterns reveal a non-linear relationship between soil pH and salinity, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-18637, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-18637, 2026.
Soil is a vital component of the Earth, providing essential ecosystem services related to biodiversity, plant growth, agricultural production, carbon sequestration, and environmental quality. However, geodiversity, including geology, geomorphology, and sediments, remains underrepresented in conventional ecosystem service frameworks. The SUS-SOIL is a 4-year project, develops 15 Subsoil-Living Labs, including Tunisia. Aims to apply a harmonized soil sampling methodology to assess how parent material and land use influence soil properties, aiming to disentangle geological controls from land-use and management effects across contrasting lithological settings.
In Tunisia, study sites are located in the north where agricultural, forest, and urban land uses occur in close spatial proximity under comparable topographic conditions. Sites were selected on Oligocene, Mio-Pliocene, and Quaternary parent materials, enabling assessment of lithological controls on soil development in a Mediterranean semi-arid to sub-humid context. Agricultural systems include annual crops, permanent crops, and grasslands, while forest sites comprise natural and managed coniferous and broadleaved stands, complemented by urban soils from parks and home gardens.
Soil sampling is conducted to a maximum depth of 1 m using a composite protocol that distinguishes the plow layer (0-20 cm), consistent with the EU-LUCAS framework, from underlying organic and mineral subsoil horizons. The methodology integrates physico-chemical analyses (texture, bulk density, compaction, water retention, pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) with microbiological indicators of soil functioning and ecotoxicology.
In Tunisia, 120 agricultural sites, 72 forest sites, and 12 urban sites were selected based on three main parent rock types to ensure geological diversity and comparability. Additional criteria included the close spatial proximity of contrasting land uses under identical topography, site accessibility, and the long-term availability of land for experiments investigating subsoil impacts on crop production.
Recent investigations in northwest Tunisia demonstrate that parent material and land use strongly control soil physical and chemical properties. Detailed profiling of representative soils-Luvisols, Cambisols, Vertisols, and Fluvisols-across contrasting lithologies highlights substantial variation in texture, carbonate content, organic matter distribution, and nutrient dynamics linked to geology and land use. For instance, Luvisols and Fluvisols developed on different parent rocks exhibit distinct horizon characteristics and fertility potentials. Alluvial Fluvisols show higher natural fertility but require careful water management, while clay-rich Luvisols are more susceptible to erosion due to their structure and lower organic inputs under certain uses. Complementary micronutrient analyses indicate that boron distribution in forest and agricultural soils varies with texture, organic matter, and depth, with forest soils showing higher available B in deeper layers, while agricultural soils derived from sedimentary rocks exhibit higher total B content.
The Tunisian case study highlights the importance of understanding soil-parent material interactions in the southern Mediterranean. It provides guidance for developing site-specific soil management strategies under increasing climatic pressures.
Funding: This study was supported by the SUS-SOILproject funded by the European Union GA 101157560. Views and opinions expressed are of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
How to cite: Mlaiki, F., Tlili, A., Chmingui, W., Ben Amor, R., Halouani, N., Mosquera-Losada, M. R., and Dridi, I.: Title: Soil-Parent Material and Land Use Effects on Sub-Soil Properties in Northern Tunisia: Evidence from the Tunisian SUS-SOIL Living Lab, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-14958, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-14958, 2026.
The measured soil spectrum in the visible and near-infrared (vis–NIR) range contains information on various soil physical properties, as well as mineralogical and chemical composition. Therefore, this approach can serve as a rapid and cost-effective alternative for assessing soil health. However, the raw soil spectrum is high-dimensional and less suitable for modeling purposes. In this study, we compared the performance of four methods, including PCA, kernel PCA (KPCA), autoencoders (AE), and convolutional autoencoders (CNN-AE), based on their reconstruction error, which directly measures information loss during dimensionality reduction. We used a comprehensive soil dataset from Denmark comprising 7,009 vis–NIR spectra covering a wide range of land uses and soil types. Our analysis shows that reconstruction error decreases as the number of latent variables (LVs) increases, as expected, due to the greater capacity to preserve information. Notably, across all latent dimensionalities, nonlinear methods consistently outperformed PCA. At low latent dimensionalities (5–10 LVs), nonlinear methods achieved approximately 45–55% lower reconstruction error than PCA. As the number of LVs increases, this performance gap decreases. However, PCA still consistently shows lower performance than the other methods. Given the strong representation of soil chemical, physical, and hydrological properties in the spectra, we mapped the latent variables across Denmark using diverse spatial predictors. The mapped latent variables captured complex, nonlinear soil–landscape relationships that reflect key mineral and organic soil components. Overall, our results suggest that spectral representations could serve as a scalable approach to support national soil mapping.
How to cite: Norouzi, S., de Jonge, L. W., Moldrup, P., Greve, M. H., and Gutierrez, S.: Dimensionality reduction of soil vis–NIR spectra: implications for soil health assessment and mapping, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-16358, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-16358, 2026.
Earthworms, among other soil organisms, play a role in integrating various soil conditions and the impact of management practices. Although they are underrepresented in harmonised soil monitoring, they are valuable indicators of soil quality across different agricultural land uses. To connect soil biological diversity and abundance with soil quality in a consistent way, it requires long-term, standardized, and reusable datasets that are both machine-readable and compatible across different systems.
We introduce a harmonised earthworm database from Estonia that supports soil health assessment across croplands and grasslands in the Boreal region. The database compiles data from national survey programs and research projects conducted between 1995 and 2022, containing 1292 sampling points from 259 farmer-managed fields. Earthworms were sampled mainly in autumn and identified as 12 species representing three different ecological groups. The dataset includes the abundance of adults and juveniles, diversity, biomass, and individual mass, along with soil properties, soil types, textures, land-use categories, cropping systems, and tillage practices.
Legacy datasets were integrated by harmonising methods, cleaning data, and standardising variables with the documentation of sampling designs, analytical methods, and metadata. The database is being prepared for open publication under FAIR principles, with machine-readable formats and ongoing development of a data management plan and DOI assignment.
The first research based on this dataset indicated that land use is a primary factor structuring earthworm community composition, whereas soil properties regulate earthworm abundance [1]. This database provides a foundation for future soil biodiversity research under changing land use.
Reference:
[1] Sutri M et al. (2025). Earthworm community structure under different land-use systems. Applied Soil Ecology, 211, 106151.
How to cite: Konsap, K., Sutri, M., Kuu, A., Escuer-Gatius, J., Ivask, M., and Shanskiy, M.: A harmonised long-term and multi-site earthworm database from Estonia for boreal cropland and grassland soil assessments, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-18996, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-18996, 2026.
