Browsing by Author "Chenu, Claire"

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    Comparing LUCAS Soil and national systems: Towards a harmonized European Soil monitoring network
    (Elsevier, 2024) Froger, Claire; Tondini, Elena ; Arrouays, Dominique; Oorts, Katrien; Poeplau, Christopher; Wetterlind, Johanna; Putku, Elsa; Saby, Nicolas P.A.; Fantappiè, Maria; Styc, Quentin; Chenu, Claire; Salomez, Joost; Callewaert, Seth; Vanwindekens, Frédéric M.; Huyghebaert, Bruno; Herinckx, Julien; Heilek, Stefan; Harbo, Laura Sofie; De Carvalho Gomes, Lucas; Lázaro-López, Alberto; Rodriguez, Jose Antonio; Pindral, Sylwia; Smreczak, Bożena; Benő, András; Bakacsi, Zsofia; Teuling, Kees; van Egmond, Fenny; Hutár, Vladimír; Pálka, Boris; Abrahám, Dominik; Bispo, Antonio
    A recent assessment states that 60–70% of soils in Europe are considered degraded. Protecting such valuable resource require knowledge on soil status through monitoring systems. In Europe, different types of monitoring networks currently exist in parallel. Many EU Member states (MS) developed their own national soil information monitoring system (N-SIMS), some being in place for decades. In parallel in 2009, the European Commission extended the periodic Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) led by EUROSTAT to sample and analyse the main properties of topsoil in EU in order to develop a homogeneous dataset for EU. Both sources of information are needed to support European policies on soil health evaluation. However, a question remains whether the assessment obtained by using soil properties from both monitoring programs (N-SIMS and LUCAS Soil) are comparable, and what could be the limitations of using either one dataset or the other. Conducted in the context of European Joint Programme (EJP) SOIL, this study shows the results of a comparison between N-SIMS and LUCAS Soil programs among 12 different EU member states including BE, DE, DK, EE, ES, FR, DE, HU, IT, NL, PL, SE and SK. The comparison was done on: (i) the sampling strategies including site densities, land cover and soil type distribution; (ii) the statistical distribution of three soil properties (organic carbon, pH and clay content); (iii) two potential indicators of soil quality (i.e. OC/Clay ratio and pH classes). The results underlined substantial differences in soil properties statistical distributions between N-SIMS and LUCAS Soil in many member states, particularly for woodland and grassland soils, affecting the evaluation of soil health using indicators. Such differences might be explained by both the monitoring strategy and sampling or analytical protocols exposing the potential effect of data source on European and national policies. The results demonstrate the need to work towards data harmonization and in the light of the Soil Monitoring Law, to carefully design the future of soil monitoring in Europe taking into account both LUCAS Soil and N-SIMS considering the significant impact of the monitoring strategies and protocols on soil health indicators.
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    Stakeholders' Perspectives on the Current State and Transition to Sustainable Soil Management Across Europe
    (Wiley, 2025-10-02) Pulido-Moncada, Mansonia; Stone, Tiffanie Faye; Løvlund Bach, Jonna; Hvarregaard Thorsøe, Martin; Munkholm, Lars J.; Baratella, Valentina; Vanino, Silvia; Farina, Roberta; Chenu, Claire; Cornu, Sophie; Mason, Eloïse; Keesstra, Saskia; Herrmann, Anke M.; Barron, Jennie; Stenberg, Bo; Jarosch, Klaus A.; Mihelič, Rok; Mavsar, Sara; Gonçalves, Maria da Conceição; Castanheira, Nádia Luísa; Ortman, Tove; László, Péter; Ramler, David; Madenoglu, Sevinc; Ozcan, Hesna; Leppälä, Johanna; Ruysschaert, Greet; Gimeno, Benjamin S.; Huyghebaert, Bruno; Kasparinskis, Raimonds; Siebielec, Grzegorz; Świątek, Karolina
    Implementing sustainable soil management practices to enhance soil health is a priority in research and policymaking across Europe. There is a need to identify the main soil challenges faced by different European stakeholders and the critical threats limiting the adoption of sustainable management of agricultural soils. The present study analyses stakeholders' perspectives on key soil challenges, knowledge gaps, and priorities for agricultural soil research across partner countries that participated in the European Joint Programme on Soil (EJP SOIL) 2020–2025. Two complementary stakeholder activities—a survey and a workshop—were conducted across 24 partner countries (divided into four regions: Central, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe) of the EJP SOIL consortium in 2024. Among 10 pre-identified soil challenges, the findings highlight that maintaining or increasing soil organic carbon, avoiding soil sealing, and avoiding soil erosion are the top three priorities across Europe. However, the perceived prioritisation of soil challenges differed both between and within regions, reflecting each country's specific soil health context. Divergences in perceptions between practitioners and other stakeholder groups underscore the need to develop actions aimed at better understanding the rationale behind such discrepancies and how to overcome them. In addition, other key challenges for achieving sustainable soil management across Europe include limited funding, policy incoherencies, poor knowledge dissemination and co- creation, and insufficient soil monitoring. Environmental factors influencing soil health, including climate change, together with governance and economic models, were perceived to be critical limitations to the adoption of sustainable management of agricultural soils. This study also emphasises the need for a diversity of engagement methods, policies, and system approaches to support a transition towards sustainable soil management. These findings underscore the need for future research agendas that focus on integrated knowledge and participatory approaches, and strategies involving societal awareness and policy alignment—key elements that have also informed broader strategies involving societal awareness and engagement towards sustainable soil management in Europe.