Soil organisms are essential for key ecosystem services, such as nutrient availability, pathogen suppression, water retention, and climate regulation. However, our understanding of the relationships between soil organisms and these services under different land-use types is still limited. This is exactly where BIOservicES comes in: a multidisciplinary team of experts is working to develop new indicators, tools, and incentive systems to identify and monitor the key soil organisms that are crucial for ecosystem services in European land use.
The project investigates 25 experimental sites across five biogeographical regions, covering eight different land-use types. Based on this, a set of soil biological key indicators is being developed. These indicators aim to improve our understanding of the links between soil organisms and ecosystem services and to support landscape planning and decision-making processes. In addition, BIOservicES studies how climate change affects soil functionality and the provision of ecosystem services—particularly in systems with low biodiversity.
Another goal of the project is to quantify the scaling potential and impacts of innovations in sustainable soil management. This includes considering the role of private investments and institutional arrangements in protecting and maintaining soil health. The project also assesses the financial value of ecosystem services provided by soil organisms—both marketable services, such as agricultural yields or timber production, and non-marketable services, such as carbon storage, soil protection, water filtration, and nutrient cycling.
This approach is intended to help overcome existing barriers and promote the transition to sustainable land management based on healthy soils with high biodiversity.
Regional Coordination Alpine Space, Task leader WP2.6
