Strengthening optimal food chain element transport by minimizing soil degradation recommendations for soil threats identification on different scales in the European union

Abstract

Introduction The functional relationships between the elements of the food chain are strongly affected by the degradation of soil. It was realized by the European Commission when it launched a new policy to maintain the optimum soil functions through minimizing soil degradation. In the context of communication "Towards a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection" by the European Commission, major threats have been identified representing the most important hazards endangering the functioning of soils (EC 2002, Varallyay 2005), including its ability to enhance plant productivity. According to current proposals, that would aim to strike the right balance between EU action and subsidiarity, Member States of the EU shall identify the location and boundaries of land areas in risk of degradation, for each major area-dependent threat to soils. Five major threats have been identified, which are soil and area specific in their appearance: (I) soil organic matter decline (2) erosion (3) compaction (4) salinisation/sodification and (5) landslides. Soil sealing and contamination as well represent major risks for soil functions, however, the probability of occurrence of these threats are mainly independent from soil and land characteristics (Birkis et al. 2005; JRC-IES 2005; Ling et al. 2004). With the collaboration of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the European Soil Bureau Network (ESBN), the Soil Information Working Group (SIWG) has been established to prepare a proposal with identification of common criteria to delineate risk areas on different scales (JRC-IES 2005). Present paper summarizes the main conclusions drawn by the SIWG and attempts to estimate the applicability of the approach.