Soil and land - Publications

Highly saline soil threatens agricultural productivity, ecosystem stability, and food security. Removing excess salts from soil relies on freshwater flushing – a challenge for arid regions. This study developed a sustainable soil remediation system able to remove 95.9% of salt from soil in 7 days.

Much of Central Europe’s calcareous (limestone/chalk) grassland has been lost to agriculture. This study found that restoring grassland via shrub removal and grazing increased habitat diversity. This positively impacted wild bee species diversity, although total bee abundance was unaffected.

Agricultural rewilding combines the process of restoring ecosystems to a natural state with agricultural production. Its drawbacks have not been fully explored, say these UK researchers. Through literature review they identify a need for clearer standards, guidelines and policy support. 

The document clarifies how the provisions of the Birds and Habitats Directives apply when designating and managing Natura 2000 sites in the context of climate change impacts.

Soil biodiversity is an underrepresented topic in ecosystem monitoring and policymaking. This French nationwide study presents a framework for assessing soil biodiversity that takes into account a wide variety of organisms and environments, and could inform the EU’s Soil Monitoring Law.

The 7th National Report to the CBD on progress on the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

A Hong Kong study finds that people are more willing to pay for urban river restoration when they perceive it to bring ecological and recreational benefits. Citizens were less willing to pay for river restoration to achieve economic benefits, such as increased house prices.

This study explored the restoration of drained Baijianghe peatland in northeastern China. It assessed how rewetting affected the microbial communities, enzyme activity, and physical and chemical properties of peat, finding restoration to enhance carbon sequestration and restore ecological function.

Restoring the many ecosystem services provided by grasslands is a global sustainability priority. This study shows that applying multiple grassland restoration treatments at once, rather than individually, restores more grassland ecosystem services with fewer tradeoffs between services.