The topic of soil, sediment and water ecosystem functions includes research needs related to regulating and maintenance services. These are changes and interactions of biogeochemical cycles, soil carbon dynamics and climate change impacts on it, balancing bio-economic pressures with needs to adapt to climate change and protect biodiversity in forests and mires, identification of soil-related preconditions for sustainable intensification of food production, and assessment and mapping of soil ecosystem services.
Sustainability and sustainable management of natural resources require an optimization of soil functions including approaches, methods and instruments of the productive land against its transformation towards build-up areas. Other demands are intensive and ecologic acceptable productions in agricultural and forest country, the effect of land management due to ownership changes, and the harmonization of methods and structure of data.
Research needs are related to soil functions and services in general, the development of a specific methodology of evaluation of the demand and supply of soil functions and services associated with urban, industrial, natural and production (agricultural and forest) ecosystems. Challenges are also related to integrated modelling in order to optimize the management of landscapes linked with agro-systems. Special attention in different regions has to be given to re-valorisation of degraded sites according to their future urban, suburban or rural use (e.g. see “Evaluation of expenditure and jobs for addressing soil contamination in Member States” http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/pdf/Soil_contamination_expenditure_jobs.pdf). Attention has to be given also to potentials and dynamics of carbon sink and sequestration potential and GHG balance dependent from sites and land use. The restoration of soils is usually a way to improve ecological services - soil contamination often has detrimental affects. Even if sometimes ESS may be facilitated by contamination (e.g. biodiversity).
Key questions:
• What is the roadmap to reach the SDG target of a land degradation neutral world? What is the role of ecosystem services in this process? How can remediation technologies affect the process?
• How to understand, assess and optimize the soil functions and services in general, develop a specific methodology of evaluation of the demand and supply of soil functions and services associated to urban, industrial, natural and production (agricultural, forest) ecosystems?
• How optimized soil functions could support societal demands in urban areas?
• How to manage integrated models to optimize the management of the landscapes (agro-systems and urban structures)?
• How special attention in different regions could be given to re-valorisation of degraded sites according to their future (urban, suburban or rural) use?
• How can the potentials and dynamics of carbon sink, sequestration potential and GHG balance dependent from sites and land use be assessed and managed?