{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1111/1365-2745.14136", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-21T16:17:27Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-06-08", "title": "Drought intensity alters productivity, carbon allocation and plant nitrogen uptake in fast versus slow grassland communities", "description": "Abstract

Grasslands face more frequent and extreme droughts; yet, their responses to increasing drought intensity are poorly understood. Increasing drought intensity likely triggers abrupt shifts (thresholds) in grassland ecosystem functioning which can implicate recovery trajectories.

Here, we determined how drought intensity affects plant productivity, and plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. We exposed model grassland plant communities with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (a fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs a slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant community), to a gradient of drought intensity. The drought gradient ranged from well\uffe2\uff80\uff90watered to severely water\uffe2\uff80\uff90limited conditions. We identified thresholds of plant community productivity (above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass) at peak drought and 2\uffe2\uff80\uff89months after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, and measured net ecosystem exchange and ecosystem respiration of C\uffc2\uffa0throughout the drought and recovery phases. At peak drought and 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89week after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, we traced recently acquired C from plants to the soil and into microbial biomass and fatty acids using 13C pulse labelling, and measured plant and soil N.

At peak drought, slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant communities were more drought resistant than fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy communities, as the threshold in plant productivity occurred at a higher drought intensity for the slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90 than the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. Shortly after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, microbial uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90assimilated C increased with increasing past drought intensity, coinciding with an increase in soil N availability and leaf N. Threshold responses to drought intensity at peak drought translated into non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear recovery responses, with greater compensatory growth in the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. At peak drought, increasing drought intensity reduced C uptake and increased relative C partitioning to leaves and microbial biomass. Upon re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, plant community strategy mediated drought intensity effects on plant and soil C and N dynamics and plant recovery trajectories. The fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community recovered quickly, with higher leaf N than the slow community, while the slow community increased C allocation to microbial biomass.

Synthesis. Our findings highlight that C and N dynamics in the plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil system display non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear responses to increasing drought intensity both during and after drought, which has implications for plant community recovery trajectories.

Soils are the foundation of agricultural production, ecosystem functioning and human well\uffe2\uff80\uff90being. Bridging soil knowledge gaps and improving the knowledge system is crucial to meet the growing EU soil policy ambitions in the face of climate change and the ongoing trend in soil degradation. The objective of this article is to assess the current state of knowledge, knowledge use and knowledge gaps concerning sustainable soil management in Europe. This study is based on interviews with 791 stakeholders and 254 researchers and on a comprehensive review of >1800 documents carried out under the European Joint Programme on agricultural soils. Despite differences in stakeholder groups, the conclusions are rather consistent and complementary. We identified major knowledge gaps with respect to (1) soil carbon stocks, (2) soil degradation and fertility and (3) strategies for improved soil management. Transcending these three areas, particularly the loss of soil organic carbon, peatland degradation and soil compaction, are most critical, thus, we stress the urgency of developing more models and monitoring programmes on soils. Stakeholders further report that insufficient transfer of existing soil research findings to practitioners is a hindrance to the adoption of sustainable soil management practices. In addition to knowledge production, soil knowledge gaps may be addressed by considering seven recommendations from the stakeholders: (1) raising awareness, (2) strengthening knowledge brokers, (3) improving relevance of research activities and resource allocation for land users, (4) peer\uffe2\uff80\uff90to\uffe2\uff80\uff90peer communication, (5) targeting advice and information, (6) improving knowledge access, and (7) providing incentives. We argue that filling and bridging knowledge gaps should be a priority for policymakers and the insights provided in the article may help prioritise research and dissemination needs enabling a transition to more sustainable soil management in Europe.Soil plays a central role in most aspects of human societies, and there is a large body of literature about sustainable soil management. Nevertheless, soil is currently facing degradation arising from different threats, which undermines sustainable development globally. In order to design effective research and policy strategies, it is necessary to identify the current knowledge level about sustainable soil management. This study summarises the key findings from a systematic stocktake of available knowledge about agricultural soil management practices in 23 European countries, which included the identification of soil management practices in use, the associated impacts and the soil challenges addressed. The aim of the study was to understand the current state of knowledge about the impacts of soil management practices, investigated and/or implemented across Europe. The results were analysed at the European level and were also grouped into European Regions and Environmental Zones. Key findings from this study were the identification of knowledge gaps that are key to climate mitigation and adaptation. There is a knowledge gap about soil management practices to avoid greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils, as the few reported studies evidence the complexity of the processes governing these emissions. Further knowledge is needed on the impact of tillage practices on long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term carbon storage and distribution along the soil profile, as the reported knowledge was not consensual about carbon storage in deeper soil layers.Sustainable agricultural soil management practices are key to restore, maintain and improve soil health. The European Joint Programme for SOIL (EJP SOIL) has identified twelve main soil challenges in Europe. To assess the potential and eventually increase the adoption of soil\uffe2\uff80\uff90improving management practices, it is necessary to know (i) the current levels of adoption of the practices, (ii) socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90technical barriers influencing their adoption, and (iii) their bio\uffe2\uff80\uff90physical limits. This study compiled an inventory of soil\uffe2\uff80\uff90improving management practices relevant to European conditions, and used a survey among soil scientists to assess the levels of adoption of these practices in Europe. In total, 53 soil management practices were identified that address one or several of the soil challenges. The adoption of most practices was low or spatially heterogeneous across Europe, highlighting region\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific limitations to sustainable soil management. Qualitative interviews were conducted to explore the importance of socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90technical aspects of adoption. Using conservation agriculture as an example, factors that can hinder adoption included the availability of knowledge and adequate machinery, financial risks, and farming traditions. Through a modelling approach, 54% of arable land in Europe was found to be suitable for cover cropping, indicating that the adoption of soil management practices is frequently limited by climatic constraints. We propose a region\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific approach that recognizes the importance of identifying and overcoming socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90technical barriers, and by acknowledging bio\uffe2\uff80\uff90physical limits that may be expanded by innovation.Mineral dust produced by wind erosion of arid and semiarid surfaces is a major component of atmospheric aerosol that affects climate, weather, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors such as human health, transportation, solar energy, and air quality. Understanding these effects and ultimately improving the resilience of affected countries requires a reliable, dense, and diverse set of dust observations, fundamental for the development and the provision of skillful dust-forecast-tailored products. The last decade has seen a notable improvement of dust observational capabilities in terms of considered parameters, geographical coverage, and delivery times, as well as of tailored products of interest to both the scientific community and the various end-users. Given this progress, here we review the current state of observational capabilities, including in situ, ground-based, and satellite remote sensing observations in northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe for the provision of dust information considering the needs of various users. We also critically discuss observational gaps and related unresolved questions while providing suggestions for overcoming the current limitations. Our review aims to be a milestone for discussing dust observational gaps at a global level to address the needs of users, from research communities to nonscientific stakeholders.Agricultural intensification negatively affects the environment through soil degradation, loss of agrobiodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and nutrient leaching. Thus, the introduction of crop diversification strategies and alternative management practices is crucial to re-design agricultural intensification systems. To better understand the contribution of crop diversification to more sustainable agricultural systems, an accurate evaluation of synergies and trade-offs is needed. In this context, the 5-year Horizon 2020 DIVERFARMING project aims to define sustainable, diversified cropping systems with low-input farming practices, adopting a multi-disciplinary approach. The overall objective of this study was to improve the understanding of the stakeholders\uffe2\uff80\uff99 perceptions of barriers and opportunities for implementing farming practices and crop diversification strategies in intensive rainfed and irrigated cereal-based cropping systems in Italy. Fifty stakeholders, grouped in farmers and technical agricultural advisors, field technical officers from public agricultural administrations, technical experts from NGOs with experience on farming practices, and researchers in agriculture, were engaged by public consultations to capture their practical knowledge of current farming practices for promoting suitable diversified cropping system, as alternative to agricultural intensification systems. The analysis of the stakeholders\uffe2\uff80\uff99 perceptions of barriers and opportunities to the transition of cropping systems towards diversification was done using a multi-criteria decision analysis The most important agro-environmental problem identified by the stakeholders in both the cropping systems was the loss of profitability, associated with the risk of farm abandonment, while minimum tillage, maintenance of vegetation covers, application of organic matter/manure and use of green manure, integrated pest management, and change of rotations were identified as the most adequate and effective practices to be adopted in the case study areas. Crop rotation and legumes were the most adequate diversification strategies selected for the intensive rainfed cereal-based cropping systems, while crop rotations with processing tomato and multiple cropping with short cycle maize and wheat were selected as the most appropriate alternatives for irrigated cereal-based production. Our findings highlight relevant strengths and drawbacks for the implementation of diversified cropping systems under low-input agricultural practices. An important strength is that the crop alternatives selected for the diversification are already cultivated as monocultures and are adapted to the local pedoclimatic conditions, while a major weakness is that few farmers are experts in crop diversification. These results can provide insights to support the planning of agricultural policies at different levels.

", "keywords": ["low-input agricultural practices", "12. Responsible consumption", "Low-input agricultural practices", "Soil challenges", "crop rotation", "Crop rotation", "Multi-criteria decision process", "11. Sustainability", "Multiple cropping", "intercropping", "", "GE1-350", "survey", "Survey", "multi-criteria decision process", "2. Zero hunger", "Stakolder perception", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "soil challenges", "Environmental sciences", "multiple cropping", "Intercropping", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "stakeholder perception", "intercropping"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.861225"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Frontiers%20in%20Environmental%20Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3389/fenvs.2022.861225", "name": "item", "description": "10.3389/fenvs.2022.861225", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3389/fenvs.2022.861225"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-07-14T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "11250/3025285", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-21T16:22:16Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-04-19", "title": "Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils?", "description": "

The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisation, fragmentation, decentralisation) brings new challenges for delivering advice to support soil health management. This paper asks: To what extent do agricultural advisory services have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils across Europe? Using the \u2018best fit\u2019 framework, analytical characteristics of the AAS relevant to the research question (governance structures, management, organisational and individual capacities) were identified. Analysis of 18 semi-structured expert interviews across 6 case study countries in Europe, selected to represent a range of contexts, was undertaken. Capacities to provide soil health management (SHM) advice are constrained by funding arrangements, limited adviser training and professional development, adviser motivations and professional cultures, all determined by institutional conditions. This has resulted in a narrowing down of access and content of soil advice and a reduced capacity to support the transition in farming to healthy soils. The extent to which emerging policy and market drivers incentivise enhanced capacities in AAS is an important area for future research.

", "keywords": ["S1", "KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE", "agricultural advisers", "Environmental Studies", "0211 other engineering and technologies", "Environmental Sciences & Ecology", "sustainable soil management", "02 engineering and technology", "3301 Architecture", "4104 Environmental management", "SYSTEMS", "advice", "MANAGEMENT", "S589.7_Agricultural", "0502 Environmental Science and Management", "soil policy", "METAANALYSIS", "2. Zero hunger", "Science & Technology", "CHALLENGES", "soil health", "agricultural advisory services; soil health; governance; agricultural advisers; sustainable soil management; soil policy; advice", "S", "GOVERNANCE", "3304 Urban and regional planning", "Agriculture", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "POLICY", "FIT", "governance", "agricultural advisory services", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "FARM ADVISERS", "FRAGMENTATION", "Life Sciences & Biomedicine"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/10944/3/10944-Ingram-et-al-%282022%29-Do-Agricultural-Advisory-Services.pdf"}, {"href": "http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/5/599/pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/11250/3025285"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Land", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "11250/3025285", "name": "item", "description": "11250/3025285", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/11250/3025285"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-04-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10261/406605", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-21T16:22:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2025-10-20", "title": "Stakeholders' Perspectives on the Current State and Transition to Sustainable Soil Management Across Europe", "description": "ABSTRACT

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\uffe2\uff80\uff932025. Two complementary stakeholder activities\uffe2\uff80\uff94a survey and a workshop\uffe2\uff80\uff94were 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\uffe2\uff80\uff90identified 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\uffe2\uff80\uff90creation, 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\uffe2\uff80\uff94key elements that have also informed broader strategies involving societal awareness and engagement towards sustainable soil management in Europe.Mineral dust produced by wind erosion of arid and semiarid surfaces is a major component of atmospheric aerosol that affects climate, weather, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors such as human health, transportation, solar energy, and air quality. Understanding these effects and ultimately improving the resilience of affected countries requires a reliable, dense, and diverse set of dust observations, fundamental for the development and the provision of skillful dust-forecast-tailored products. The last decade has seen a notable improvement of dust observational capabilities in terms of considered parameters, geographical coverage, and delivery times, as well as of tailored products of interest to both the scientific community and the various end-users. Given this progress, here we review the current state of observational capabilities, including in situ, ground-based, and satellite remote sensing observations in northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe for the provision of dust information considering the needs of various users. We also critically discuss observational gaps and related unresolved questions while providing suggestions for overcoming the current limitations. Our review aims to be a milestone for discussing dust observational gaps at a global level to address the needs of users, from research communities to nonscientific stakeholders.

Grasslands face more frequent and extreme droughts; yet, their responses to increasing drought intensity are poorly understood. Increasing drought intensity likely triggers abrupt shifts (thresholds) in grassland ecosystem functioning which can implicate recovery trajectories.

Here, we determined how drought intensity affects plant productivity, and plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. We exposed model grassland plant communities with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (a fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs a slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant community), to a gradient of drought intensity. The drought gradient ranged from well\uffe2\uff80\uff90watered to severely water\uffe2\uff80\uff90limited conditions. We identified thresholds of plant community productivity (above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass) at peak drought and 2\uffe2\uff80\uff89months after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, and measured net ecosystem exchange and ecosystem respiration of C\uffc2\uffa0throughout the drought and recovery phases. At peak drought and 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89week after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, we traced recently acquired C from plants to the soil and into microbial biomass and fatty acids using 13C pulse labelling, and measured plant and soil N.

At peak drought, slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant communities were more drought resistant than fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy communities, as the threshold in plant productivity occurred at a higher drought intensity for the slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90 than the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. Shortly after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, microbial uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90assimilated C increased with increasing past drought intensity, coinciding with an increase in soil N availability and leaf N. Threshold responses to drought intensity at peak drought translated into non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear recovery responses, with greater compensatory growth in the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. At peak drought, increasing drought intensity reduced C uptake and increased relative C partitioning to leaves and microbial biomass. Upon re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, plant community strategy mediated drought intensity effects on plant and soil C and N dynamics and plant recovery trajectories. The fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community recovered quickly, with higher leaf N than the slow community, while the slow community increased C allocation to microbial biomass.

Synthesis. Our findings highlight that C and N dynamics in the plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil system display non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear responses to increasing drought intensity both during and after drought, which has implications for plant community recovery trajectories.