1 Soil indicators to assess the effectiveness of restoration strategies in dryland ecosystems Edoardo A.C. Costantini 1 , Cristina Branquinho 2 , Alice Nunes 2 , Gudrun Schwilch 3 , Ilan Stavi 4 , Claudio Zucca 5 1 Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, CRA-ABP Agrobiology and Pedologi Research Centre, Firenze, Italy 2 Centre for ecology, evolution and environmental changes, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal 3 University of Bern, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Switzerland 4 Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Ketura 88840, Israel 5 Soil Conservation and Land Management International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan and Dep. of Agriculture & Desertification Research Centre (NRD), Sassari, Italy. [email protected]
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Soil indicators to assess the
effectiveness of restoration
strategies in dryland ecosystems
Edoardo A.C. Costantini1, Cristina Branquinho2, Alice Nunes2,
Gudrun Schwilch3, Ilan Stavi4, Claudio Zucca5
1 Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, CRA-ABP Agrobiology and Pedologi Research Centre, Firenze, Italy
2 Centre for ecology, evolution and environmental changes, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal
3 University of Bern, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Switzerland
4 Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Ketura 88840, Israel
5 Soil Conservation and Land Management International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan and Dep.
of Agriculture & Desertification Research Centre (NRD), Sassari, Italy.
The sum of single values obtained for the six parameters (the minimum is 6 and the maximum 30) in a given soil establishes the class of biological fertility – IBF RANGE
Biological fertility class I
II
III
IV
V
alarm stress medium good high
Range 6 7-12 13-18 19-24 25-30
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IBF map of Po Plain
in the Lombardy region
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3) the soil biological quality index QBS-ar (Parisi; 2001)
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EPIEDAPHON - EMIEDAPHON
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EUEDAPHON
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Soil Biological Quality index: methods
• The QBS index is based on microarthropod groups present in a soil
sample.
• Each type found in the sample receives a score from 1 to 20 (eco-
morphological index, EMI), according to its adaptation to soil
environment.
• The QBS index sums up these scores, thereby characterizing the
microarthropod community of the sample being studied.
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Recovery of soil biology after
deep earthworks
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Soil functional indicators,
the LFA (Tongway and Hindley, 2004)
The LFA uses semi-
quantitative field-based
indicators to evaluate
the soil surface
condition at the hillslope
scale, targeting surface
properties that control
nutrient cycling and
infiltration processes,
such as surface cover
by perennial plants,
litter cover and degree
of decomposition,
surface roughness, soil
texture, and surface
crust stability
Indicator stability, SI; Infiltration/Runoff, IR
Nutrient Cycling, NC;
N. of classes SI IR NC
Rainsplash Protection 5 X
Perennial Vegetation Cover 4 X X
Litter cover 10 X X X
Litter origin 2 X X
Litter decomposition 4 X X
Cryptogam Cover 5 X X
Crust Brokenness 5 X
Erosion Type and Severity 20 X
Deposited Materials 4 X
Surface Roughness 5 X X
Surface resistance to disturbance 5 X X
Soil slaking 5 X X
Texture 4 X
Conclusions
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1. Some of the many soil characteristics affecting green water
availability are related to soil organic matter
2. SOM is a key attribute for many ecosystem functionalities
3. SOM is deeply affected by local climate and management
4. SOM functional forms, and related biological activities and
organisms, are still far from being well understood and
characterized, nevertheless, there are some new indicators
5. Effectiveness of restoration strategies can be estimated by
means of qualitative soil surface and vegetation indicators
6. Sound, easy and reliable indicators linking climate,
vegetation and soil functions at the detailed scale are still few!!