AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL SOIL QUALITY INDICATOR in the European - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 1

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010

Gergely Tóth

EUROPEAN COMMISSION JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE Institute for Environment and Sustainability

AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL SOIL QUALITY INDICATOR in the European Perspective

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 2

Policy background of SQ evaluation

The EU’s Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (COM (2006) 231)

Preservation of soil functions

• biomass production,
• physical and cultural environment for humans
• biodiversity pool
• archive of geological and acheological heritage
• source of raw material
• acting as carbon pool
• storing filtering and transforming nutrients, substances and water

Three main policy areas with agri-environmental effect (OECD 2008)

• Agricultural policies (production related)
• Agri-environmental policies (enhance environmental benefit associated to agriculture)
• Environmental policies (of specific issues – eg. climate, water pollution – with efect on agriculture)

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 3

Concept of evaluation of soil quality

After Tóth et al. 2008

Soil Functional Ability Soil Response Properties

SOIL QUALITY

The two main elements of soil quality corresponds to the 1) identification of existing potential to perform functions 2) indication of sensitivity/reaction to external influences

Constituents of soil quality

1. Optimal performance of soil functions often do not coincide 2. Performance of functions can be altered (by natural and antropogenic factors)

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 4

Four aspects of soil quality in the agri-environmental context

Productivity AGRICULTURAL

The capacity of soil to biomass production

Fertilizer response rate AGRI-ENV

The input-need to attain optimal productivity

Production stability AGRI-ENV

The soil-response to climatic variability

Soil environmental quality ENVIRONMENTAL

Carbon storage; filtering; buffering; soil biodiversity and biol. activity

SUB-INDICATORS 1-4

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 5

Biomass production function of a given soil is computed on the basis of soil properties at prevailing climatic conditions. Since productivity is a result of the interaction of soil, climatic and terrain conditions (and management), these factors need to be assessed in their complexity.

SUB-INDICATOR 1. BIOMASS PRODUCTIVITY

Methodology:

• Semi-quantitative PTR development (with statistical validation)
• STU productivity by climatic regions, taking water and nutrient

regime into account

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 6

SUB-INDICATOR 2. FERTILIZER RESPONSE RATE

The effect of N fertilization

• n wheat productivity of Luvisols (Tóth et al. 2005)

Methodology: Soil fertilizer response pedotransfer rule development by Soil Typological Units (groups) by climatic regions

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 7

SUB-INDICATOR 3. SOIL PRODUCTION STABILITY

Methodology: As at SUB-INDICATOR 1; Applying two climate scenarios a) optimal conditions b) suboptimal conditions (drought)

The effect of climate variation on wheat productivity index of Haplic Luvisols (Debreczeni et al. 2003)

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 8

SUB-INDICATOR 4. SOIL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

a) Organic carbon storage; b) Filtering; c) Transforming; d) Soil biodiversity and biological activity.

Methodology: a) Stolbovoy and Montanarella (2008) b) Filtering capacity model development (in progress) c) PTR development (in progress) d) Soil species diversity and functional diversity designation

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 9

sub-indicator Productivity Fertilizer response rate Production stability Soil environmental quality Organic carbon storage Substances filtering Substances transforming Biodiversity and biological activity

Input data Data source Climate Climate areas of Europe JRC + + + +

• +

Precipitation; potential evapotranspiration; aridity index JRC +

• +
• +

+ + Soil Soil type JRC (SGDBE) + + + + + + + Soil properties Texture JRC (SGDBE); LUCAS Soil (Eurostat, DG ENV, JRC) + + + + + + + Water capacity + + +

• +

+ + Depth + + + + + + + OM + + + + + + + CEC

• +
• +

+ + Mineralogy

• +

+ + Biological activity

• +
• +
• Land use/ management

Land use type CORINE Land cover; SGDBE + + + + + + + Mineral fertilizer consumption (N and P2O5) EUROSTAT + +

• Pesticide use

EUROSTAT

• +

Yield statistics Eurostat; JRC + + +

• Topography

Digital elevation model SRTM90 +

• +

Input Data Need of Sub-Indicators

(level of detail: NUTS 2 and 3)

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 10

SUMMARY

A concept to replace the obsolete Agri-Environmental Soil Quality Indicator (AE-SQI) has been developed. The new AE-SQI is compatible with the Soil Quality Indicators developed to support a wider range of EU policies. It includes four sub-indicators of:

– Productivity; – Fertilizer response rate; – Production stability; – Soil environmental quality.

The new AE-SQI can be used for policy development and monitoring, through its capacity to indicate :

• the effect of land use change on the availability and functioning capacity of

soil resources;

• the effect of land management (e.g. intensification) on the functioning

capacity of soil resources;

• the effect of climatic variability on the production function of soil resources;
• the capacity of soil to mitigate environmental problems (climate change,

water pollution etc.).

OECD Workshop on Agri-Environmental Indicators, Leysin, Switzerland, 23-26 March 2010 11

Thank you !