@techreport{Baritz2021,

title = {ETC/ULS Report 2021: Soil monitoring in Europe. Indicators and thresholds for soil quality assessments},

author = {R. Baritz and W. Amelung and V. Antoni and J. Boardman and R. Horn and G. Prokop and J. Römbke and P. Romkens and B. Steinhoff-Knopp and F. Swartjes and M. Trombetti and W. de Vries},

url = {https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-di/products/etc-uls-report-2021-soil-monitoring-in-europe-indicators-and-thresholds-for-soil-quality-assessments},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-24},

abstract = {This report summarizes the current state of knowledge about key soil indicators in the light of current and new policies in support of healthy soils. Healthy soils are understood to have full capacity of their functions and do not exceed the recommended thresholds. This approach is essential in order to assess soil health in the context of policy challenges and societal needs. The development and application of thresholds sensitive to the functioning of the soils, is the prerequisite to understand where soils are degraded. Once critical limits are exceeded, the soil cannot provide its multiple services, for example as a medium to filter contaminants or store and release nutrients. Indicators are sorted by soil threat, though the underlaying mechanisms is the sensitivity of parameters towards soil processes, thus its functions. Each indicator is introduced based on a short literature review, and explained based on common definitions. Quantified thresholds as targets for healthy soils are provided for soil organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous, acidification, soil pollution, erosion and compaction. No such limits are yet available for soil biodiversity, while for soil sealing, examples for politically set, country-specific limits are provided.   },

keywords = {Conservation and management, Environmental conservation, Land and soil, Soil functions},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Abdul-Malak2021,

title = {Carbon pools and sequestration potential of wetlands in the European Union},

author = {D. Abdul-Malak and A. I. Marín and M. Trombetti and S. San-Román},

editor = {European Topic Centre on Urban, Land and Soil Systems},

url = {https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-uls/products/etc-uls-reports/etc-uls-report-10-2021-carbon-pools-and-sequestration-potential-of-wetlands-in-the-european-union},

isbn = {978-3-200-07433-0},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-09-01},

urldate = {2021-09-01},

abstract = {Wetland ecosystems as defined by the Ramsar convention host a wide variety of wetland habitats across terrestrial, coastal and marine environments. When in good condition, wetland habitats provide many societal benefits and values, among others, they play a crucial role in the carbon cycle because of their capacities to limit the availability of oxygen to soil microbes and decomposition of organic matter. Policies and practices do not sufficiently consider these interconnections and interdependencies in Europe yet due to the fragmented consideration of this ecosystem in their schemes. The findings of this report argue that healthy European wetland habitats have an enormous capacity to contribute to carbon neutrality objectives in Europe. Across the wide array of European ecosystems they belong to, wetland habitats have a role in contributing to the carbon cycle. The most meaningful European wetland habitats to contribute to carbon storage include well-functioning salt marshes, healthy mires, bogs and fens as well as riparian, fluvial and swamp forests. Furthermore, when healthy, terrestrial wetlands namely mires, bogs and fens (where peatlands underly), followed by riparian, fluvial and swamp forests as well as inland marshes ensure a high carbon sequestration potential. If kept in a good condition or restored, the EU wetland related carbon stock capacity of their overall area in Europe (EU 27 and the UK) is estimated to be between 12 - 31 Gt CO2-eq, corresponding to an overall value ranging between 3 and 8 years of EU GHG emissions1. Whereas the Carbon sequestration potential of healthy EU Wetlands per year is calculated to range between 24 and 144 Mt CO2 eq yr-1 (24,352 and 14,3719 kt CO2 eq yr-1), being a quantity that contributes to “neutralising” between 1 and 4 % of the total GHG emissions registered in the EU27 and the UK (according to 2018 reference year for reported emission). These findings should trigger wetland conservation and restoration to become a high priority for the EU to support reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Climate reporting systems require Parties to report on anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gases which includes reporting heavily modified peatland habitats only partially and dominantly as a net carbon emitter. Using ecosystem-based approaches to managing reported peatland habitats and re-establishing their ecosystem functioning do transform many of them from climate ‘heaters’ (carbon net sources) into climate ‘coolers’ (carbon net sinks).},

keywords = {Climate Change, Ecosystem services, Environmental conservation, Land and soil, Soil functions, Wetlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Gregor2018,

title = {ETC/ULS Report 02/2018: Integrated accounting of land cover changes and soil functions},

author = {M. Gregor and M. Löhnertz and C. Schröder and E. Aksoy and G. Prokop and G. Louwagie },

url = {https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-uls/products/etc-uls-report-02-2018-integrated-accounting-of-land-cover-changes-and-soil-functions/@@download/file/uls_report_2018-02-lre.pdf},

year  = {2018},

date = {2018-01-02},

urldate = {2018-01-02},

institution = {European Topic Centre on Urban Land and Soil Systems (ETC/ULS)},

abstract = {This report is the outcome of a study that was executed during the past five years by the EEA and ETC/ULS with support from EIONET (NRCs land use and spatial planning) and the European Soil Data Centre of DG JRC.



The analysis represents the first attempt to assess land use efficiency at a European scale. Several new data sets relating specifically to soil functions, were published only recently, and this made assessment possible. A key aim of this work was to study land cover changes and their positive or negative impacts on soil functions, and to obtain a disaggregated hotspot analysis and an overall balance of those impacts on soil functions. The report follows a logical flow.



Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the context of the study. It lays out a framework by giving information on the status of land and soil in the context of land resource efficiency, listing the most relevant current global and European policies, and introducing the concepts of soil function and land multi-functionality.



Chapter 2 provides details of the study’s input data, in particular the land cover flows as well as the pan-European soil function data, further explains the concept of multi-functionality and introduces the impact evaluation matrix.



The combined presentation of land processes and soil functions is the major topic in Chapter 3, whereas Chapter 4 then focuses on the impacts of a number of selected, sector-related land processes on several of the soil functions. The latter also identifies a number of hotspot regions at the NUTS 3 level in which the potential of soils to provide certain functions might be substantially affected.



At the end of the report, Chapter 5 provides information on the balance of impacts, by looking at the predominantly positive and predominantly negative impacts to assess the overall situation in Europe, but also at national and regional level. Finally, Chapter 6 identifies the implications of the analysis for land governance and attempts to shed light on the status of land resource efficiency in Europe. },

keywords = {Land and soil, Soil functions},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}