Browsing by Author "Montanarella, Luca"

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    The distribution of peatland in Europe.
    (Jointly by International Mire Conservation Group and International Peat Society, 2006) Montanarella, Luca; Jones, Robert J. A.; Hiederer, Roland
    This paper derives the distribution of peatland in Europe as the extent of peat and peat-topped soils indicated by soil databases. The data sources were the 1:1,000,000 European Soil Database (v1.0) and a data set of organic carbon content (%) for the topsoils of Europe at 1km x 1km resolution that was recently published in map form. The strong influences of vegetation and land use on soil organic carbon (OC) content were taken into account in computing the 1km (OC) data set, as was the influence of temperature. The areas of peat and peat-topped soils estimated from the European Soil Database are generally in close agreement with those obtained using the Map of OC in Topsoils of Europe. The results reveal a strong northern bias in the distribution of organic soils across Europe. Almost one-third of the peatland resource of Europe is in Finland, and more than a quarter is in Sweden. The remainder is in Poland, the UK, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, The Netherlands and France. Small areas of peat and peat-topped soils also occur in Lithuania, Hungary, Denmark and the Czech Republic. For most European countries, the distribution of peat and peat-topped soils is probably more accurately portrayed by the Map of OC in Topsoils of Europe than by the European Soil Map and Database. Such baseline data are important for the conservation of peat and for making much more precise estimates of carbon stocks in topsoil than have been possible hitherto. The results are also relevant to the planning of effective soil protection measures at European level.
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    Estimating organic carbon in the soils of Europe for policy support.
    (Blackwell, 2005-10) Jones, Robert J. A.; Hiederer, Roland; Rusco, E.; Montanarella, Luca
    The estimation of soil carbon content is of pressing concern for soil protection and in mitigation strategies for global warming. This paper describes the methodology developed and the results obtained in a study aimed at estimating organic carbon contents (%) in topsoils across Europe. The information presented in map form provides policy-makers with estimates of current topsoil organic carbon contents for developing strategies for soil protection at regional level. Such baseline data are also of importance in global change modelling and may be used to estimate regional differences in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and projected changes therein, as required for example under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, after having taken into account regional differences in bulk density.
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    Modeling sediment yields in Italian catchments.
    (Elsevier, 2005-02-01) van Rompaey, Anton; Bazzoffi, Paolo; Jones, Robert J. A.; Montanarella, Luca
    Sediment yield observations, derived from 40 long-term sedimentation records in Italian reservoirs, were used to calibrate and validate the spatially distributed sediment delivery model WaTEM/SEDEM using the best data available at national scale. The sediment yield data set includes records from semi-natural catchments in northern Italy as well as agricultural and semi-natural basins in central and southern Italy. The average size of the catchments is 150 km2 with mean annual sediment yields ranging from 0.20 to 20 t ha−1 year−1. WaTEM/SEDEM estimates mean annual sediment fluxes to permanent river channels. Depending on the local transport capacity, the sediment flux is detachment-limited or transport-limited. The optimal transport capacity parameters for Italian conditions were derived via automatic calibration procedures. A global model calibration procedure taking into account all catchments in the dataset led to an overestimation of the sediment yield for the mountain catchments and an underestimation for the non-mountain catchments. Sediment yield estimates are more reliable when calibration procedures are applied separately for mountain and non-mountain catchments. The model performance of WaTEM/SEDEM is rather poor in the mountain catchments (R=0.25), which suggests that the model structure is too simplified to come to an adequate description of the sediment fluxes. The model performance for the non-mountain catchments, which are more important from a management point of view, is significantly better (R=0.51). Considering the fact that data layers with a 75×75 m resolution were used, the results are encouraging the further development and application of spatially distributed sediment yield models at regional and national scale levels.
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    Projected changes in mineral soil carbon of European forests, 1990–2100
    (Agricultural Institute of Canada, 2006) Smith, Pete; Smith, Jo; Wattenbach, Martin; Meyer, Jeannette; Lindner, Marcus; Zaehle, Sönke; Hiederer, Roland; Jones, Robert J. A.; Montanarella, Luca; Rounsevell, Mark; Reginster, Isabelle; Kankaanpää, Susanna
    Forests are a major land use in Europe, and European forest soils contain about the same amount of carbon as is found in tree biomass. Changes in the size of the forest soil carbon pool could have significant impacts on the European carbon budget. We present the first assessment of future changes in European forest soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks using a dedicated process-based SOC model and state-of-the-art databases of driving variables. Soil carbon change was calculated for Europe using the Rothamsted Carbon model using climate data from four climate models, forced by four Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emissions scenarios (SRES). Changes in litter input to the soil due to forest management, projected changes in net primary production (NPP), forest age-class structure, and changes in forest area were taken into account. Results are presented for mineral soil only. Under some climate scenarios carbon in forest soils will increase slightly (0.1 to 4.6 Pg) in Europe over the 21st Century, whilst for one scenario, forest SOC stocks are predicted to decrease by 0.3 Pg. Different trends are seen in different regions. Climate change will tend to speed decomposition, whereas increases in litter input due to increasing NPP and changing age-class structure will slow the loss of SOC. Increases in forest area could further enhance the total soil carbon stock of European forests. Whilst climate change will be a key driver of change in forest soil carbon, changes in ageclass structure and land-use change are estimated to have greater effects.
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    Soil legacy data rescue via GlobalSoilMap and other international and national initiatives
    (Elsevier, 2017-06-15) Arrouays, Dominique; Leenaars, Johan G. B.; Richer-de-Forges, Anne C.; Adhikari, Kabindra; Ballabio, Cristiano; Greve, Mogens; Grundy, Mike; Guerrero, Eliseo; Hempel, Jon; Hengl, Tomislav; Heuvelink, Gerard; Batjes, Niels; Carvalho, Eloi; Hartemink, Alfred; Hewitt, Alan; Hong, Suk-Young; Krasilnikov, Pavel; Lagacherie, Philippe; Lelyk, Glen; Libohova, Zamir; Lilly, Allan; McBratney, Alex; McKenzie, Neil; Vasquez, Gustavo M.; Mulder, Vera Leatitia; Minasny, Budiman; Montanarella, Luca; Odeh, Inakwu; Padarian, Jose; Poggio, Laura; Roudier, Pierre; Saby, Nicolas; Savin, Igor; Searle, Ross; Solbovoy, Vladimir; Thompson, James; Smith, Scott; Sulaeman, Yiyi; Vintila, Ruxandra; Viscarra Rossel, Raphael; Wilson, Peter; Zhang, Gan-Lin; Swerts, Martine; Oorts, Katrien; Karklins, Aldis; Feng, Liu; Ibelles Navarro, Alexandro R.; Levin, Arkadiy; Laktionova, Tetiana; Dell'Acqua, Martin; Suvannang, Nopmanee; Ruam, Waew; Prasad, Jagdish; Patil, Nitin; Husnjak, Stjepan; Pásztor, László; Okx, Joop; Hallett, Stephen H.; Keay, Caroline; Farewell, Timothy; Lilja, Harri; Juilleret, Jérôme; Marx, Simone; Takata, Yusuke; Kazuyuki, Yagi; Mansuy, Nicolas; Panagos, Panos; van Liedekerke, Mark; Skalsky, Rastislav; Sobocka, Jaroslava; Kobza, Josef; Eftekhari, Kamran; Kacem Alavipanah, Seyed; Moussadek, Rachid; Badraoui, Mohamed; Da Silva, Mayesse; Paterson, Garry; da Conceição Gonçalves, Maria; Theocharopoulos, Sid; Yemefack, Martin; Tedou, Silatsa; Vrscaj, Borut; Grob, Urs; Kozák, Josef; Boruvka, Lubos; Dobos, Endre; Taboada, Miguel; Moretti, Lucas; Rodriguez, Dario
    Legacy soil data have been produced over 70 years in nearly all countries of the world. Unfortunately, data, information and knowledge are still currently fragmented and at risk of getting lost if they remain in a paper format. To process this legacy data into consistent, spatially explicit and continuous global soil information, data are being rescued and compiled into databases. Thousands of soil survey reports and maps have been scanned and made available online. The soil profile data reported by these data sources have been captured and compiled into databases. The total number of soil profiles rescued in the selected countries is about 800,000. Currently, data for 117, 000 profiles are compiled and harmonized according to GlobalSoilMap specifications in a world level database (WoSIS). The results presented at the country level are likely to be an underestimate. The majority of soil data is still not rescued and this effort should be pursued. The data have been used to produce soil property maps. We discuss the pro and cons of top-down and bottom-up approaches to produce such maps and we stress their complementarity. We give examples of success stories. The first global soil property maps using rescued data were produced by a top-down approach and were released at a limited resolution of 1 km in 2014, followed by an update at a resolution of 250 m in 2017. By the end of 2020, we aim to deliver the first worldwide product that fully meets the GlobalSoilMap specifications.
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    Subsoil Compaction: A hidden form of Soil Sealing in Europe
    (Joint Research Centre, 2001-06) Jones, Robert J. A.; Montanarella, Luca
    There are two definitions of ‘soil sealing’: (I) ‘covering (sealing) the soil surface by impervious materials, e.g. concrete, metal, glass, tarmac and plastic’; and (II) ‘changing the nature of the soil such that it behaves as an impermeable medium, e.g. by compaction’. The main causes of soil sealing according to the first definition (I) are building development (e.g. industrial and residential premises) and transport (e.g. roads). Changing the nature of the soil such that it behaves as an impermeable medium (definition II) is an extension to include the potential effects of the passage of machinery (mostly agricultural) and the effects of heavy rainfall. Intensification of agriculture is now recognised as often having a detrimental effect on soils, not least the widespread development of compaction. The worst effects of compaction at the surface can be rectified relatively easily by cultivation but once subsoil compaction occurs, it can be extremely difficult and expensive to alleviate. It is now clear that the detrimental effects of subsoil compaction go far beyond agricultural concerns of a decrease in yield and increase in management costs. Environmental impacts include increased erosion risk, accelerated runoff and increased pollution. A preliminary attempt to assess the susceptibility of subsoils in Europe to compaction is presented here in the context of soil sealing. The resulting distribution is only the first stage in assessing the vulnerability of subsoils in Europe to compaction. The biggest problem with soil sealing as an environmental indicator is the difficulty of establishing the true extent at the regional and larger scales. However, subsoil compaction should not be ignored because it probably affects a larger area in Europe than urbanisation (land consumption) and in this respect it must be regarded as an important process of soil sealing.
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    Towards a harmonisation of the soil map of Africa at the continental scale
    (Elsevier, 2013-12-31T00:00:00Z) Dewitte, Olivier; Jones, Arwyn; Spaargaren, Otto; Breuning-Madsen, Henrik; Brossard, Michel; Dampha, Almami; Deckers, Jozef; Gallali, Tahar; Hallett, Stephen H.; Jones, Robert J. A.; Kilasara, Method; LeRoux, Pieter; Michéli, Erika; Montanarella, Luca; Thiombiano, Lamourdia; van Ranst, Eric; Yemefack, Martin; Zougmore, Robert
    In the context of major global environmental challenges such as food security, climate change, fresh water scarcity and biodiversity loss, the protection and the sustainable management of soil resources in Africa are of paramount importance. To raise the awareness of the general public, stakeholders, policy makers and the science community to the importance of soil in Africa, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has produced the Soil Atlas of Africa. To that end, a new harmonised soil map at the continental scale has been produced. The steps of the construction of the new area-class map are presented, the basic information being derived from the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). We show how the original data were updated and modified according to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources classification system. The corrections concerned boundary issues, areas with no information, soil patterns, river and drainage networks, and dynamic features such as sand dunes, water bodies and coastlines. In comparison to the initial map derived from HWSD, the new map represents a correction of 13% of the soil data for the continent. The map is available for downloading.
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    Use of soil and climate data to assess the risk of agricultural drought for policy support in Europe.
    (INRA / EDP Sciences, 2001-01) Zdruli, Pandi; Jones, Robert J. A.; Montanarella, Luca
    This paper describes the use of soil and climatic data for assessing the risk of drought in Europe. Soil moisture regimes are defined for soil classification purposes and these can be used to delineate areas with the same type of soil climate. Maps showing the distribution of arid soils in USA and dry areas in Southern Europe are presented. In the case of agricultural drought, it is the soil water available to plants (SWAP) that is the most important soil factor in assessing this risk and a simple model for estimating this is described. This model can be linked to spatial and point data from the European Soil Database. In the absence of sufficient soil water retention measurements, preliminary maps of SWAP in Europe have been produced using pedotransfer rules. The study concludes that basic soil maps can be used to identify some areas where agricultural drought is likely to be a problem. However more precise modelling of droughtiness, based on interactions of soil available water with the average soil moisture deficit, estimated from meteorological data, is needed, to support policy making today.