The new atlas also highlights areas where soil biodiversity is most under threat (click for high-resolution version of this map)
JRC publishes European atlas of soil biodiversity
The JRC published today, for the first time, an indicator-based map of potential threats to soil biodiversity, in order to guide decision-makers in protecting this crucial resource. The biodiversity within our soils plays a vital role in agriculture and in the water and carbon cycle. The atlas brings to the public view the whole range of life in the soil and the crucial role it plays in maintaining other ecosystems. It also highlights areas within Europe where soil biodiversity is most at risk of decline relative to the current situation. The publication provides a comprehensive source of information for researchers, policy makers and teachers.
This visually stunning publication, coordinated by the JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), uses striking photographs, informative texts and maps to explain and illustrate the great diversity of life in the soil across Europe. The atlas functions as a comprehensive guide to soil biology, allowing non-specialists to access information about this unseen world. The first part of the book provides an overview of the below ground environment, soil biota in general, the ecosystem functions that soil organism perform, the important value it has for human activities and relevance for global biogeochemical cycles. The second part is more of an 'Encyclopedia of Soil Biodiversity'. Starting with the smallest organisms such as the bacteria, this segment works through a range of taxonomic groups such as fungi, nematodes, insects and macro-fauna to illustrate the astonishing levels of heterogeneity of life in soil.
This 128-page atlas is the result of collaboration between departments of the European Commission and partners from academia, industry and organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Each section is written by leading world experts and presented in a way accessible to non-specialists.
23/09/10