Archive:Agri-environmental indicator - soil quality
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This background article contains a fact sheet of the agri-environmental indicator (AEI) soil qality. Together with other fact sheets it provides an overview of the state of the agri-environmental indicators in the European Union (EU).
Indicator definition
The indicator provides an account of the ability of soil to provide agri-environmental services through its capacities to perform its functions and respond to external influences.
In the agri-environmental context, soil quality describes:
- The capacity of soil to biomass production
- The input-need to attain optimal productivity
- The soil-response to climatic variability
- Carbon storage; filtering; buffering capacity
Measurements
Main indicator:
Agri-environmental soil quality index
Supporting indicator:
- Sub-indicator 1: Productivity index
- Sub-indicator 2: Fertilizer response rate
- Sub-indicator 3: Production stability index
- Sub-indicator 4: Soil environmental services index
Links with other indicators
The indicator "Soil qality" is linked with following other indicators:
AEI 01 - Agri-environmental commitments
AEI 04 - Area under organic farming
AEI 05 - Mineral fertiliser consumption
AEI 09 - Land use change
AEI 10.1 - Cropping patterns
AEI 10.2 - Livestock patterns
AEI 11.1 - Soil cover
AEI 11.2 - Tillage practices
AEI 11.3 - Manure storage
AEI 12 - Intensification/extensification
AEI 15 - Gross nitrogen balance
AEI 16 - Risk of pollution by phosphorus
AEI 17 - Pesticide risk
AEI 19 - Greenhouse gas emissions
AEI 20 - Water abstraction
AEI 27.1 - Water quality - Nitrate pollution
AEI 27.2 - Water quality - Pesticide pollution
AEI 28 - Landscape - State and diversity
Main findings
Key messages
- Soil quality cannot be measured directly, therefore a model is provided to indicate its status across the EU. The model of agri-environemntal soil quality is developed to support planning and monitoring of resources use efficiency and sustainability of agricultural land use. Data from its sub domains (productivity index, fertilizer response rate) can be directly used to monitor developments based on The Resource efficiency roadmap of the EU (COM 2011 571, 20.9.2011), while the production stability index can be utilized in the formulation of adaptation and mitigation measures with regards to climate change. Soil environmental services are partly linked to climate change policy, and partly to environmental policies, such as the nitrate directive.
Factual Results
The composite indicator, the agri-environmental soil quality index consists of four sub-indicators of similar weight which have relevance either to the agricultural and/or to environmental performance of soil.
- Productivity index - has relevance to agricultural policy field and measures the capacity of soil to biomass production
- Fertilizer response rate - has relevance to agri-environmental policy field and measures the input-need to attain optimal productivity
- Production stability index - has relevance to agricultural policy field and measures the soil-response to climatic variability
- Soil environmental services index - has relevance to agri-environmental policy field and neasures the carbon storage, filtering, transforming, and soil biodiversity
For example in soil fertility evaluation the availability of water set the target of fertility level. However, productivity can be altered by fertilization. The degree of yield change to fertilization is a distinct response property of each soil. Therefore during soil quality evaluation, both the functional ability (reference level) and response property (elasticity of ability) has to be considered to secure both agricultural and environmental applicability of the soil quality indicator.
Supporting indicator 1 - Soil Productivity index
The level on which the soil is delivering its biomass production service is evaluated on the basis of soil properties at prevailing climatic and topographical conditions. Since productivity is a result of the interaction of soil, climatic and topographical conditions, these factors need to be assessed in their complexity.
Productivity differences of similar soils under intensive rainfed agricultural use and under grassland land cover vary with the changing availability of precipitation and differences in temperature regimes. For instance under temperate sub-oceanic climate, the rather stable thermal regime and balanced water availability of medium to high amount of precipitation not only secures plant available water on most soil types throughout the growing period, but facilitates decomposition and weathering throughout the year. These processes are limited under temperate continental or semi-arid Mediterranean climates, due to cold and/or arid periods in most years. With the increasing aridity at prevailing climates, the importance of soil physical and chemical properties in water and nutrient supply to plants is gaining increasing significance. Based on this principle of soil productivity processes, ranking of inherent productivity of soil has been performed by 8 major climatic areas. Productivity index for croplands and grasslands are provided in Figures 1 – 3.
Results of the model validation exercises show good fit with remote sensing derived productivity indicators. The model fit measured with R2 for grassland productivity was 0.85 and for croplands was 0.74. Both values indicate the reliability of the biophysical model of soil productivity (Tóth, 2012, Tóth et al. 2011). The difference between model fits of the two land use types are associated to higher variability of management practices on croplands.
Figure 3a. shows the average productivity of croplands in each NUTS3 region of the European Union. Please note, that this map does not consider the extent of croplands in the regions.
Figure 3b. shows the variability of the cropland productivity in each NUTS3 region, expressed through the standard deviation (SD). The higher the standard deviation, the more diverse the soil resource in the region is, from the viewpoint of its productivity (which in NUTS 3 regions also depend on topography)
Supporting indicator 2 - Fertilizer response rate
Since productivity of soil is only partly due to its inherent fertility, but also to the effect of management, mainly to nutrient input, the effect of fertilization was considered in this module. While acknowledging the importance of the applied technology of soil use on the actual productivity of soil on a detailed scale, such distinctions were regarded as non-necessary to be directly incorporated in our continental scale study. The goal of our study was solely to determine soil productivity – i.e. the capacity of soil to supply nutrients, water and rooting medium for plants – in a comparative manner and not to assess the effects of management differences. It is recognized, that in the case of the realization of biomass productive capacity technological advancement plays a role if we compare regions of contemporary Europe on a continental scale. However, the efficiency of input use, consequently the selection of the most appropriate techniques and amount of input is also determined by biophysical conditions to a great extent; e.g. large regional crop yield differences within France (ref.: Eurostat 2012) are due to biophysical differences rather than differences in available technology, capital or other socio-economic conditions. Therefore to evaluate the effect of management we only considered the influence of fertilization. To do this, we assigned a fertilizer response score to each soil unit in the seven climatic zones. Soils with the largest estimated relative fertility increase received the maximum of 8 points and soils with little influence of fertilization received 1 point. For example an Albic Arenosol in the sub-oceanic climate has among the highest relative productivity increase due to proper fertilization, while fertilization has little effect on the crop productivity of Calcaric Rendzinas in the semi-arid Mediterranean.
To calculate soil productivity for the cropland land use type, the inherent soil productivity and the fertilizer response scores were aggregated. Spatially weighted average of productivity scores were calculated for the soil mapping units (SMUs) of the Geographical Soil Database of Europe (GSDBE). In order to avoid the bias originating from the evaluation of non-cropland soils, only those soil typological units (STUs) were considered, which have cultivated land as primary or secondary land use type in the SGDBE.
Figure 4. shows the fertilizer response rate of croplands in the EU. Fertilizer response rate corresponds to the potential yield increase from extensive cropland management to intensive rainfed cultivation. On Figure 5, the numbers are provided as means of administrative regions (NUTS3).
Supporting indicator – 3 Production stability*
In the agri-environmental soil quality domain soil response properties are characterized by water and nutrient dynamics. Annual variations of yield depend on complex weather conditions, including precipitation and temperature regimes. The soil water element of productivity acts in interaction with the dynamics of nutrient availability. The water regime of soil types is reflected in the variability of yields over the years. This variety may differ to a great extent among soil classes. In the case of crop production the stability of yields is desirable; therefore soil characteristics responsible for higher variability should be considered as indicators of negative response property and consequently lower index of the production stability sub-indicator.
*The development of this sub indicator is in progress.
Supporting indicator – 4 Soil environmental services
The evaluation of productivity-independent environmental services of the soil is an important need. From the agricultural production perspective one should always consider, whether soil functions other than biomass production can be related to the production potential or they have to be analyzed separately. Nevertheless, all analyses should be based on the same integrated dataset because this can secure the most accurate information in the most economical way.
There are a number of soil functions – as defined by the Soil Thematic Strategy – that contribute to the environmental quality of soil. Four of these functions are recommended to be evaluated in relation to agri-environmental measures:
- Organic carbon storage
This indicator expresses the organic carbon content of soils relative to the theoretical maximum amount they can hold
- Substances filtering
Substances filtering capacity of any porous media is a function of the textural and colloid properties (Lapidus and Amundson, 1952). There are a number of models available to quantitatively estimate filtering capacity of European soils (e.g. EuroPEARL for pesticides, 2008). These models can be applied for the assessment. The development of this sub indicator is in progress.
- Substances transforming
Several patterns of material transformation exist in soil. Aerobic and anaerobic biological decomposition plays a major role in these processes. Results of redox processes, such as stabilization of humus etc. may also bear great importance for specific functions. Material exchange between soil components as well as between soil and non-soil components is another major process of which the magnitude is determined by the substances transforming capacity of soil. Soils need to be assessed by the availability and strength of these processes. The development of this sub indicator is in progress.
- Biodiversity and biological activity
In order to answer agri-environmental policy questions the role of soil biodiversity needs to be addressed – among others - in terms of threshold values of influences from impacts and interpretation of the functioning of soil biodiversity (Francaviglia and Parris, 2003). The development of this sub indicator is in progress.
Context
Introduction
Soil Quality is how well soil does what we want it to do. The Commission has put forward a number of criteria in the Thematic strategy for Soil Protection (COM 232 (2006)) for defining well functioning soils from the European perspective. Major soil functions have been identified as: food and biomass production, filtering and buffering capacity, pool of biodiversity and source of raw materials, carbon pool, habitat for humans and archive of geological and archaeological heritage. For agro-environmental purposes, since it covers both strictly agricultural criteria and wider environmental concerns a complex indicator has to be developed, taking the biomass production function and other soil functions into consideration.
Policy relevance and context
The original definition of the soil quality indicator, as for example in COM(2001)144, was strictly linked to a mono-functional perspective on soil protection. COM (2006) 232 232 and COM(2006) 231 have clarified that in the EU soils are considered in their full multi-functionality. Therefore, soil quality, as previously defined, was not taking into account this new European perspective. Meanwhile also in other OECD countries (USDA, http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/soil_quality/what_is/; D.L. Karlen et al., (2001, 2003 ) a fundamental re-thinking of the soil quality concept is taking place. In the EU the JRC has published the concept of soil quality assessment (Tóth et al. 2007), which takes both soil multifunctionality and the soil policy context of the European Union into account. Environmental performance of agriculture in countries with advanced technologies is largely determined by the various rural and environmental policies. According to the OECD (2008) three main policy areas can act to intensify or reduce the pressure of agricultural activities on the environment, namely:
- Agricultural policies,
Agricultural policies have production-related objectives, such as intensification. These policies are often accompanied by production constraints such as production quotas or set-aside land.
- Agri-environmental policies
These policies, part of the environmental pillar within rural development policy, are specifically designed to enhance some environmental benefitsassociated with agriculture or offset the effects of production-linked support.
- Environmental policies
Environmental policies aimed at specific environmental issues (e.g. water pollution) but that can have an effect on agriculture, and which can be either national or international in scope.
To monitor the effect of these policies on soil quality – or measure the influence of soil quality on the potentials and effectiveness of these policies – an integrated approach is required. This approach has to consider both agricultural (production) and environmental aspects of the soil quality domain.
The European Union adapted its Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (also referred as the Strategy; (CEC, 2006a) as the basic policy document for protecting the quality of soil resources in the EU. Detailed scientific background of the Strategy is provided in the documents prepared by working groups of scientist and different stakeholders from across Europe (Van Camp et al., 2004). An impact assessment accompanies the policy document (CEC, 2006b). With the publication of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection a framework has been put forward, which sets the way towards operational soil quality criteria in Europe.
According to the Strategy soil delivers its services through its main functions: (1) food and other biomass production, (2) storing, filtering and transformation of materials, (3) habitat and gene pool of living organisms, (4) physical and cultural environment for humankind, (5) source of raw materials, (6) acting as a carbon pool, and (7) archive of geological and archaeological heritage.
The main objective of the Strategy is to ensure sustainable utilization of soil functions. This has to be done by integration of soil protection policy to other policies of the European Community on, inter alia, agriculture and environment. In order to facilitate this integration, a common framework has been worked out to assess soil functions in relation to soil use and degradation threats (Tóth et al., 2007). The framework for bridging between the utilization and protection aspects of soil-use planning includes evaluation procedure of soil functions and soil dynamic response properties (to external influences). By implementing the evaluation scheme, a soil quality indicator can be derived. This indicator can be used to assess and monitor the effect of the land policies, whether agricultural, environmental or the combination of those.
Further policy areas and documents with relevance to soil quality – and the corresponding sub-indicator:
Common Agricultural Policy in general – all sub-indicators
Rural Development Programme – productivity indicator
The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive – productivity indicator; soil environmental quality
The Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive – all four sub-indicators
‘Nitrates Directive’ – fertilizer response rate (fertilizer input on sensitive areas has to be controlled)
Communication on Water Scarcity and Droughts’- production stability
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – production stability
‘National Emissions Ceiling Directive’ – soil environmental quality (carbon storage)
‘Framework Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides’ – soil environmental quality (filtering, transforming)
Convention on Biological Diversity – soil environmental quality (biodiversity)
Agri-environmental context
The original definition of the soil quality indicator, as for example in COM(2001)144, was strictly linked to a mono-functional perspective on soil protection. COM (2002) 179 and COM(2006) 231 have clarified that in the EU soils are considered in their full multi-functionality. Therefore, soil quality, as previously defined, was not taking into account this new European perspective. Meanwhile also in other OECD countries (USDA, http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/soil_quality/what_is/; Karlen et al. (2001, 2003) a fundamental re-thinking of the soil quality concept is taking place.
In the EU the JRC has published the concept of soil quality assessment (Tóth et al. 2007), which takes both soil multifunctionality and the soil policy context of the European Union into account.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA; Reid et al. 2005) was the first comprehensive attempt to characterize the complex interactions between the various functions of ecosystems from the viewpoint of their services to humans. In the synthesis report of the MEA four categories of ecosystem services were identified and described:
I. Provisioning Services
These cover material or energetic outputs from ecosystems, including food, water and other resources;
(see sub indicators 1, 2. 3 and 4)
II. Regulating Service
These cover elements which represent biotic or abiotic controls to the environment, such as flood and disease control;
(see sub indicator 4.)
III. Cultural Services
These cover non-material (intellectual/cognitive/symbolic) uses, such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; and,
IV. Supporting Services:
These underpin almost all other services. Ecosystems provide living spaces for plants or animals; they also maintain a diversity of different breeds of plants and animals.
(see sub indicator 4.)
Agri-environmental measures with strategies to conserve and enhance soil functions and ecosystem services need to address soil quality in a comprehensive manner. The proposed Agri-Environmental Soil Quality indicator expresses soil functions and services in the above framework of the MEA.
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