BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//pretalx//pretalx.earthmonitor.org// BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Athens BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20001029T040000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10 TZNAME:EET TZOFFSETFROM:+0300 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20000326T030000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:EEST TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0300 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-3A7NZP@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T141500 DESCRIPTION:Green Earth Program – Earth Observation-Supported Soil Rehabi litation in Drylands using Biological Soil Crusts\n\nJessica Friedrichs\, Ines Wagner\, Andreas Burr\, Pia Swatkowski\, Marvin Braun\, Olga Spang\, Charis Benetatos\n\nBlue Horizon S.à.r.l.\, Betzdorf\, Luxembourg\n\nKeyw ords: Induced biological soil crusts\; soil health\; soil biodiversity\; c arbon sequestration\; dryland ecosystems\; Earth Observation\; AI\n\nThe ‘Green Earth Program’ is an end-to-end Earth Observation and biotechno logy-driven framework. It is designed to combat dryland degradation and de sertification through the rehabilitation of soil functions and ecosystem r esilience. Built around five integrated stages - identify\, analyse\, prod uce\, treat and monitor - the programme aims to bring life back to soils i n arid and semi-arid environments.\n\nAt its core\, the approach leverages induced biological soil crusts as a foundational rehabilitation mechanism to improve soil fertility\, stabilise surfaces and initiate natural recov ery processes on the microorganism level. A locally produced\, GMO-free mi x of active microorganisms is cultivated in scalable\, energy- and cost-ef ficient raceway pond cultures. These raceway ponds are powered on-site by renewable energy\, so that CO2 is captured from the atmosphere already dur ing cultivation. Once applied\, the biological soil crusts enhance nitroge n cycling and increase soil organic carbon through photosynthetic carbon f ixation. This key pioneer step starts over a biological succession and pro gressively re-establishes soil functions such as biodiversity\, carbon seq uestration\, erosion control and nutrient retention. It thereby reverses d egradation trajectories in drylands.\n\nEarth Observation and Artificial I ntelligence run through the whole framework\, guiding from initial assessm ent to long-term monitoring. They reveal where degradation is occurring by monitoring for example soil health parameters\, inform how and when treat ments are applied and track the recovery of treated areas over time as the biological soil crusts establish and grow.\n\nIn the longer term\, the fo rmation of stable biological soil crust systems is intended to create mass ive\, long-term CO2 sinks and form the basis for higher plant communities. Furthermore\, the Green Earth Program can also provide an ecological foun dation for future land-use systems. For example\, it can support drought-a ffected agroforestry and orchard systems (olive\, argan) from drought and erosion\, through soil stabilisation and increased water retention. It can also protect dust-affected photovoltaic installations by stabilising surr ounding soils against wind erosion.\n\nBy combining bioprocess engineering with advanced monitoring\, the Green Earth Program offers a scalable path way for rehabilitating soils and dryland ecosystems\, through measurable s oil health improvements. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater III SUMMARY:Green Earth Program – Earth Observation-Supported Soil Rehabilita tion in Drylands using Biological Soil Crusts - Jessica Friedrichs\, Andre as Burr URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/3A7NZP/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-NNKJR8@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T141500 DESCRIPTION:Soil maintenance depends on erosion not exceeding soil replacem ent\, yet tolerable soil loss rates (defined as the maximum erosion rate p ossible before soil profiles begin to thin over time) remain poorly constr ained and are often represented by broad global defaults that do not adequ ately reflect environmental variability. This study updates the global evi dence base for soil production from the weathering of parent material and explores how these rates can be used to derive more spatially explicit est imates of tolerable soil loss. We compiled a global database of 528 soil p roduction rate (SPR) observations with soil depth information from 29 publ ications covering approximately the last 30 years. Across the main dataset \, SPRs span approximately six orders of magnitude\, ranging from 6 x 10-5 to 2.47 mm yr⁻¹\, with a mean of 0.0869 mm yr⁻¹ and a median of 0.0 33 mm yr⁻¹. Strong differences were evident among environmental setting s\, with especially low rates in dry climates\, and the highest rates asso ciated with steep slopes and metamorphic lithologies.\nTo move beyond glob al averages\, we used an ensemble of 10\,000 regression trees to identify robust combinations of environmental controls on SPRs\, resulting in the d elineation of seven globally mappable soil production zones. The selected tree structure indicates that climate\, lithology\, slope\, and sampling d epth (as a proxy for overlying soil profile thickness) interact to produce distinct regional rates of soil production. Our results are mapped at ful l global scale at 1 km resolution to allow for comparison with global mode l estimates of soil erosion rates. Mapping these zones for upland-hillslop e soils (where explicit soil profile thickness estimates are available and where soils are most vulnerable to loss through erosion) shows that SPRs are lowest across hot arid regions\, including much of Australia\, central Asia\, southern Africa\, and the southern USA–Mexico border region\, wh ile higher SPRs occur widely in tropical regions and in some higher latitu de regions with metamorphic lithology. These results illustrate that toler able soil loss thresholds should be spatially differentiated\, and that co mmonly cited universal values (e.g. 2 t ha-1 yr-1) likely overestimate tol erable soil loss rates in many landscapes. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Deriving spatially explicit tolerable soil loss rates from a global synthesis of soil production rates - Chris Feeney URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/NNKJR8/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-77QAQG@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T141500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T143000 DESCRIPTION:Humulus lupulus L. (HOPs) that is used in the pharmaceutical an d industrial area\, grow out only in Pazaryeri /Bilecik at Turkey. The aim of this study is to monitor the sustainable health of the HOP agricultura l ecosystem through soil and plant microfungal indicators. For this purpos e\, microfungal biodiversity in soils where HOPs plants are grown and in H OPs plants themselves has been monitored since 2022 in the Pazaryeri/Bilec ik region of Türkiye. In this monitoring system\, the method followed for soil and plant is as follows: soil samples are taken annually and/or seas onally\, while plant samples are taken during the months of March-August\, covering the growth and harvest period of HOPs. In determining microfunga l biodiversity\, Rose Bengal-added Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA-RB)\, Speziel Nahrstoffarmer agar (SNA)\, and Selective Fusarium Agar (SFA) + Rose Beng al media were used. The obtained isolates were identified using molecular and morphological methods based on multi-gene region sequencing. In conclu sion\, Dematiaceous organisms\, primarily Aspergillus\, Paecilomyces\, Pen icillium and Taloromyces\, Fusarium genera\, were recorded in the soil\, a long with mildew and powdery mildew on plants. This study aimed to reveal the agroecosystem health of HOP by establishing a calendar of this biodive rsity over the year and providing findings on how climate variables affect the process. Living Lab applications on this subject are ongoing\; steps are being taken to understand the ecological conditions and their conseque nces through training and working processes with local authorities and far mers. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater III SUMMARY:Living Lab for Sustainable HOP Agroecosystem Health Monitoring Thro ugh Soil and Plant Microfungal Indicators - Rasime Demirel\, Seda Öztaş Tarı\, Ayten Harman\, Sanem Akdağ URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/77QAQG/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-LPYY8Q@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T151500 DESCRIPTION:Mediterranean agricultural landscapes in south-eastern Spain ar e increasingly affected by gradual\, spatially heterogeneous soil degradat ion processes\, including vegetation decline\, water stress\, bare soil ex posure and surface warming. Early detection is challenging when monitoring relies on occasional field observations alone\, yet timely identification of at-risk areas is critical for guiding soil health management and comba ting desertification. Developed within the NEMESIS project\, a Mediterrane an Soil Health Living Lab network\, this study supports efforts to combat desertification\, reduce land degradation and promote sustainable land man agement through soil health descriptors\, Earth Observation (EO) data and place-based monitoring.\nThis work presents a satellite-based framework fo r assessing and predicting desertification risk in agricultural plots loca ted in the Region of Murcia (37.930981 N\, −2.203217 E)\, using Sentinel -2 imagery acquired at five-day intervals between 2015 and 2026. Seven spe ctral and biophysical indicators were derived from the multitemporal archi ve: NDVI and MSAVI to describe vegetation vigour and canopy development\; NDMI to represent moisture-related vegetation response\; BSI and BSF for m onitoring bare soil exposure\; a land surface temperature proxy (LST) to c apture thermal stress\; and FCover to estimate fractional vegetation cover .\nThese indicators were integrated into a Desertification Degree Index (D DI)\, a spatial composite combining all seven components using weighted ag gregation and global normalisation across the observation period to ensure temporal comparability. Pixel-wise temporal trend analysis was performed using linear regression\, producing maps of change and statistical signifi cance masks to identify areas with consistent degradation or recovery sign als.\nTo explore short-term risk evolution\, predictive models were applie d to the multitemporal DDI series. These models used the historical behavi our of the indicators to forecast future desertification risk and generate maps of expected surface condition\, allowing both plot-level interpretat ion and pixel-level identification of vulnerable areas.\nThe results ident ified zones of elevated desertification risk and captured intra-annual veg etation and soil dynamics that would be overlooked by annual composites. A reas with lower vegetation indices\, persistent bare soil exposure\, reduc ed moisture response and higher surface temperature were associated with g reater vulnerability\, while zones with stable vegetation cover and lower thermal stress showed lower apparent risk. The short-term forecasts provid ed information on likely surface condition\, supporting agronomic interven tion. By translating a dense decade-long satellite archive into actionable soil health indicators\, this work demonstrates the operational potential of EO for early warning and targeted monitoring in Mediterranean semi-ari d agricultural systems. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Satellite-Based Assessment and Neural Network Prediction of Deserti fication Risk in Mediterranean Agricultural Landscapes - Adrian Canovas-Ro driguez\, María Fernanda García-Cruz\, Andres Julian Colunje Diaz URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/LPYY8Q/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-FPNTCU@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T151500 DESCRIPTION:Waste4Soil is a European research initiative focused on transfo rming food-processing residues and other bio-based waste streams into safe \, effective and locally adapted soil improvers. By working through Living Labs across different pedoclimatic regions and cropping systems\, the pro ject aims to support circular bioeconomy models while improving soil healt h\, resource efficiency and the sustainable use of organic amendments in a griculture.\n\nWithin the agronomic work of Waste4Soil\, a broad assessmen t was conducted to evaluate the effects of selected soil improvers on soil properties\, biological activity\, crop performance and nutrient dynamics . Soil samples from the Living Labs were analysed for a wide range of phys ical\, chemical and biological indicators\, including pH\, electrical cond uctivity\, soil organic carbon\, nitrogen\, phosphorus\, potassium\, labil e carbon and nitrogen fractions\, enzyme activities\, soil respiration\, m icrobial biomass\, functional microbial genes and community-level physiolo gical profiles. The results showed that the effects of soil improvers were highly site- and product-specific\, reflecting differences in soil type\, crop\, climate\, amendment composition and application rate.\n\nSeveral a mendments improved key soil health indicators. For example\, compost- and biochar-based products increased soil organic carbon\, labile carbon fract ions\, microbial functional diversity or enzyme activities in specific Liv ing Labs\, while other responses were neutral or dependent on local condit ions. Additional experiments assessed nitrogen mineralisation\, partial re placement of commercial fertiliser\, crop performance and disease suppress iveness. Selected soil improvers were able to replace part of the nitrogen fertiliser without reducing lettuce biomass\, while some biochar and prot ein hydrolysate products showed suppressive effects against the soil-borne pathogen Globisporangium ultimum. Long-term modelling further indicated t hat soil improvers may contribute to increased carbon and nitrogen stocks\ , particularly when products contain stable organic matter such as biochar -rich materials. Overall\, the agronomic work confirms the potential of lo cally produced soil improvers to enhance soil health and support sustainab le crop production\, while highlighting the need for context-specific reco mmendations. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater III SUMMARY:Food processing residues as circular soil improvers for soil health - Vera Proskynitopoulou URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/FPNTCU/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-SJEYJL@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T151500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T153000 DESCRIPTION:Forests\, which cover a large portion of the Earth's terrestria l surface\, play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance as dynam ic ecosystems that are directly affected by climate change and characteriz ed by high levels of biodiversity. Within this biodiversity\, microfungi c ontribute significantly to the sustainability and resilience of forest eco systems through their roles in carbon cycling\, nutrient cycling\, soil fo rmation\, and soil–tree interactions. Determining the biodiversity of mi crofungi\, which directly influence soil health in this living and densely populated ecological niche\, enables the monitoring of forest and soil he alth while also providing insight into the extent to which urban forests h ave developed forest-like ecological characteristics.\nMonitoring forest b iodiversity is essential not only for assessing forest and soil health but also for understanding afforestation processes\, the condition of protect ed areas\, the impacts of human activities\, the prevention of biodiversit y loss\, and the influence of urban environments on forests established wi thin cities. Furthermore\, such monitoring facilitates cooperation among r elevant authorities in the development of sustainable management strategie s.\nWithin the scope of this study\, the microfungal biodiversity of urban forest and agricultural soils\, as well as its interactions with climatic factors\, was investigated. Soil samples were collected from an urban for est and surrounding agricultural lands in the Eskişehir province of Türk iye according to the LUCAS soil sampling protocol. Cultural isolation was performed from soil samples using Potato Dextrose Agar supplemented with R ose Bengal. A total of 71 and 58 isolates were obtained from agricultural and forest sites\, respectively. Morphological examination revealed that t he isolates predominantly belonged to the genera Aspergillus\, Penicillium \, and Talaromyces\, as well as members of the family Dematiaceae. Microfu ngal biodiversity was further determined using ITS DNA barcoding and Sange r sequencing techniques.\nThe results of this study demonstrated that micr ofungal biodiversity in agricultural soils tends to favor pathogenic\, res istant\, and/or mycotoxigenic microfungi possessing sexual reproductive st ructures\, likely due to environmental factors and anthropogenic influence s. In addition\, the study highlights the ecological importance of microfu ngal biodiversity lost as a consequence of human intervention and aims to support the integration of soil microfungal biodiversity assessments into sustainable forest and agricultural management practices. Furthermore\, th e identification of potential bioindicator species reflecting changes driv en by human activities and global warming\, together with the contribution of DNA barcode data to international genetic databases\, is anticipated. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater III SUMMARY:Monitoring Hidden Microfungal Biodiversity from Urban Forest to Agr icultural Soils - Rasime Demirel\, Merve KESKINOGLU INCE URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/SJEYJL/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-8AMPY9@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Abstract\nSoils are the largest terrestrial carbon pool providi ng important ecosystem services\, essential for sustainable land managemen t\, agricultural productivity\, and climate regulation. Spaceborne imaging spectrometers represent a promising tool for producing up-to-date\, inexp ensive and spatially explicit maps. The recent availability of spaceborne imaging spectroscopy sensors provide high signal-to-noise ratio\, such as the EnMAP\, offers new opportunities for detailed and spatially explicit s oil assessment.\nThis study investigates the potential of EnMAP hyperspect ral imagery for retrieving and mapping key topsoil properties\, with a par ticular focus on soil organic carbon (SOC)\, using advanced machine learni ng and spectral processing techniques. The analysis conducted across agric ultural landscapes in Kopaida region in Central Greece and was supported b y an extensive soil sampling campaign designed to capture the spatial vari ability of soil conditions within the study area.\nBare soil spectra were extracted from EnMAP imagery\, and the effects of spectral transformations and feature selection on model performance were assessed. Random Forest ( RF) models were trained based on different spectral transformations and fe ature-selection methods\, and their impacts on predictive performance were compared to derive a robust modelling workflow. The SOC results showed st rong performance at the laboratory scale. Results demonstrated the potenti al of EnMAP hyperspectral observations for operational soil monitoring and support the development of scalable methodologies for regional soil monit oring and digital soil mapping. Overall\, the generated soil maps revealed substantial spatial variability across the study area\, highlighting the influence of local environmental factors on soil distribution patterns. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Kopaida Regional Soil Spectral Library: Advancing Soil Property Mon itoring through Spectroscopy - Spyridon E. Detsikas URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/8AMPY9/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-WERME8@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Authors: Jasmin Liedtke\,  Surya Gupta\, Valentin Amrhein\, Ch ristine Alewell\nDepartment of Environmental Sciences\, University of Base l\, Switzerland\n\nThe European Soil Strategy for 2030 in combination with the Soil Monitoring Law aim\nto support the restoration of soils across E urope and reduce overall soil loss and\ndegradation. Despite its fundament al role in supporting ecosystem functioning and\nbiodiversity\, soil healt h is rarely included in monitoring of protected areas. In addition\,\nand despite soils being the fundament of all terrestrial ecosystems\, soil pro tection\nand nature conservation continue to be addressed largely separate ly in policy\nstrategies. We systematically reviewed the literature to inv estigate how soil has been\nobserved and potentially monitored within prot ected areas and how useful this could\nbe to assess soil health in nature conservation. Overall\, there was a lack of\nawareness for soil or soil he alth in conservation contexts\, and there was little\nconsensus on which i ndicators could be monitored and be suitable for long-term\nassessments. O nly few protected areas assessed soil parameters at all\, and if so\, it\n was often to address specific conservation challenges with indicators chos en to the\nlocal conditions. No indicator set was meaningful on its own fo r European-wide\nconservation targets\, which highlights the need for an i ntegrative soil health\nmonitoring method for protected areas. SHERPA was designed with an open\ndecision-tree structure and would therefore already be applicable in most cases with\nits existing keys for forests and grass lands. The development of additional keys for\nwetlands and sparsely veget ated areas will be needed\, because these land use\ntypes are priorities f or conservation in Europe. Integrating soil health and soil\nmonitoring in to conservation contexts could not only significantly improve\nconservatio n effectiveness but be critical for achieving the targets of the EU\nBiodi versity Strategy for 2030. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Soil health monitoring in nature conservation across European prote cted areas - Jasmin Liedtke URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/WERME8/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-M9XGPJ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:The development of reliable and scalable biological indicators is a major challenge for the implementation of the EU Soil Strategy and Mi ssion Soil. Among soil mesofauna\, Collembola (springtails) are key regula tors of decomposition processes\, microbial dynamics\, and nutrient cyclin g\, yet their potential as indicators of soil health remains insufficientl y explored at continental scale.\nWithin the Horizon Europe SOB4ES project \, we analysed Collembola communities across more than 430 sites distribut ed among nine European pedoclimatic regions and contrasting land-use syste ms. Using a harmonized dataset of sampling plots integrating biological\, soil\, climatic\, management\, and Earth Observation data\, we identified the key environmental drivers and anthropogenic pressures shaping Collembo la abundance and diversity.\nBiological observations were integrated with soil physico-chemical properties\, climatic variables\, topographic descri ptors\, management information\, and Earth Observation products. Machine-l earning models and explainable artificial intelligence (SHAP) were applied to identify the factors governing Collembola abundance and diversity.\nTh e analyses revealed a striking contrast between density and species-richne ss responses. Collembola density showed relatively low predictability\, re flecting strong local-scale variability and dependence on soil structure\, moisture conditions\, and climate. In contrast\, species richness was pre dicted with very high accuracy by the XGBoost model (R² ≈ 0.92)\, indic ating a strong and consistent response to broad environmental gradients. S oil pH emerged as the dominant predictor\, followed by precipitation\, soi l moisture\, nitrogen availability\, temperature\, and pedoclimatic contex t. Species richness increased under alkaline\, nutrient-rich\, and moist c onditions\, while specific soil and landscape characteristics further modu lated diversity patterns.\nThese findings demonstrate that Collembola spec ies richness is a robust and sensitive indicator of soil ecological condit ion across Europe. By combining standardized biodiversity monitoring with Earth Observation data and explainable artificial intelligence\, this stud y provides a scientifically grounded and operational framework for integra ting soil biodiversity into future European soil health monitoring systems .\nAuthors: Cristina Fiera¹\, Minodora Manu1\, Ioana Vicol1\, Monica Mito i1\, Constantin-Tiberiu Sahlean1\, Dariusz Skarżyński²\, Jörg-Alfred S alamon3\, Marjetka Suhadolc4\, Karen Vancampenhout5\, Wim H. van der Putte n6\,7\, George Zalidis8\, María Jesús Iglesias Briones9\, and SOB4ES con sortium DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Assessing Soil Health Across Europe Using Collembola Diversity Indi cators - Fiera Cristina URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/M9XGPJ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-QMHNMF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Understanding what controls soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks ac ross broad spatial scales remains a central challenge in soil science. Whi le climate and soil physicochemical properties are well-established driver s of SOC variation\, the contribution of soil biota remains poorly quantif ied at the European scale. Most large-scale SOC assessments rely on a rest ricted set of abiotic predictors\, leaving the biological drivers of SOC l argely unresolved.\n\nThis study addresses this gap using the continent-wi de dataset collected within the Horizon Europe SOB4ES project\, encompassi ng soils from major land-use types and pedoclimatic regions across Europe. We first describe general patterns of SOC stocks across these land-use ty pes and pedoclimatic regions\, providing a continental-scale overview of S OC distribution. We then apply random forest analysis to a comprehensive s et of predictors spanning four categories: climatic variables\, topographi c variables\, soil physicochemical properties\, and biological variables. The latter include soil fauna (earthworms\, enchytraeids\, oribatid mites\ , and collembolans) and microbial properties (biomass\, basal respiration\ , and bacterial and fungal diversity)\, enabling us to quantify their rela tive importance for SOC variation and identify key interactions among pred ictors.\n\nThe findings will provide new insights into the biotic and abio tic controls on SOC stocks across European soils\, and may serve as a basi s for future large-scale soil carbon assessments. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:SOB4C: The relative importance of biotic and abiotic drivers of soi l carbon stocks at the European scale - Astrid Sneyders URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/QMHNMF/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-YECZSZ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:This work presents a UAV-based hyperspectral imaging pipeline f or high-resolution Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) mapping at the field scale. T he system combines hyperspectral remote sensing\, ground-truth soil sampli ng\, and machine learning to generate detailed SOC distribution maps that can support precision agriculture and soil monitoring applications.\nThe p ipeline begins with data acquisition using a hyperspectral camera mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In this study\, a real-time hyperspec tral imager based on a large Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) filter was used. Unlike conventional fixed-band hyperspectral systems\, the tunable F PI design developed by VTT allows the user to programmatically select the spectral bands and wavelength combinations most suitable for a specific ap plication\, enabling more flexible and efficient data acquisition. The sen sor operates in the 650–1200 nm wavelength range using an InGaAs detecto r with 1280 × 1024 pixel resolution and captures full 2D spatial informat ion for every spectral channel while minimizing acquisition delays. \nThe UAV captures hyperspectral imagery at sub-meter spatial resolution\, allow ing detailed observation of soil variability across agricultural fields. C ompared to conventional multispectral imagery\, hyperspectral data provide s significantly richer spectral information\, enabling the detection of su btle soil characteristics and absorption features related to organic carbo n content.\nTo create reference data for model development\, soil samples were collected from multiple locations within each field and analyzed in t he laboratory to determine SOC content. The laboratory measurements were t hen spatially linked with the hyperspectral imagery to form a training and testing dataset consisting of spectral signatures and corresponding SOC v alues. Image preprocessing included radiometric correction\, geometric ali gnment\, and bare-soil identification to reduce the influence of vegetatio n and non-soil materials on the spectral signal.\nThree machine learning a lgorithms were evaluated for SOC prediction\, including Convolutional Neur al Networks (CNN)\, Random Forest\, and Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) models . Model performance was assessed using 5-fold cross-validation with metric s such as Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R²). Among the evaluated approaches\, XGBoost achieved the best predicti ve performance and was selected for final SOC map generation.\nThe trained model was subsequently applied to the full hyperspectral dataset to produ ce continuous high-resolution SOC maps for multiple agricultural fields. T he resulting maps reveal fine-scale spatial variability in soil carbon con tent that would be difficult to capture using traditional sampling approac hes alone. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:UAV-Based Hyperspectral SOC Mapping Using a Tunable Fabry-Pérot Im ager and Machine Learning - Wannes De Man\, Haris Ampas\, Tuna Coppens\, N ick Berkvens URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/YECZSZ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-X3K8B3@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:The SoilWise Project\, a Horizon Europe Mission Soil project (2 023–2027)\, builds an open-access catalogue that harvests soil metadata from across Europe and makes it discoverable through a search interface (t he SoilWise Finder) and an AI chatbot (the Soil Companion)\, which will la ter be part of the European Soil Observatory (EUSO). Yet what surfaces in SoilWise\, and how well\, depends on the publishing choices data and knowl edge providers make. We illustrate how metadata records go through the Soi lWise pipeline\, so that data and knowledge providers understand how they can make their work FAIR (Findable\, Accessible\, Interoperable\, and Reus able). \nStarting from publication on Zenodo with a DOI and a grant-agreem ent number\, the record is picked up automatically by the SoilWise Harvest er via OpenAIRE. It is then harmonised from its source format into a commo n SoilWise data model and deduplicated against records from other aggregat ors such as the INSPIRE Geoportal and data.europa.eu. A validation step sc ores the record for completeness and INSPIRE compliance\, while an augment ation step enriches it with standardised SoilVoc concept identifiers\, nor malised resource types\, and geographic information extracted from text wh ere explicit spatial metadata is missing. The processed metadata record is stored across three parallel structures\, each supporting a different mod e of access: a relational database\, a semantic Knowledge Graph\, and a fu ll-text search index. Finally\, the record becomes discoverable both throu gh the SoilWise Finder's faceted search interface and through the Soil Com panion\, an AI assistant that uses retrieval-augmented generation to synth esise natural-language answers from across the catalogue.\nAt every stage\ , the concrete publishing decision that determines whether a metadata reco rd succeeds is highlighted: a DOI and grant reference for harvesting\, a r ecognised metadata standard for harmonisation\, complete core fields for v alidation\, and controlled-vocabulary keywords and geographic extent for a ugmentation and search. This work is aimed at Mission Soil data managers\, data stewards\, researchers\, and Living Lab participants\, with the prac tical message that understanding the pipeline is what enables soil data an d knowledge providers to make their work findable today and preserved in E USO at the JRC. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:SoilWise project: the journey of a FAIR metadata record from public ation to reusability - Radu Giurgiu\, Wannes De Man URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/X3K8B3/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-WV9HZB@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Plastic pollution is increasingly recognized as a major environ mental challenge in agroecosystems due to the widespread use of plastic-ba sed materials for irrigation\, protection\, and plant support. Despite the ir practical benefits\, their persistence and fragmentation lead to the ac cumulation of (micro)plastics in soils\, contributing to long-term contami nation and negatively affecting soil health. As such contamination origina tes from material inputs\, the selection and use of agricultural products represent a key starting point for reducing impacts and advancing regenera tive agriculture.\nIn perennial production systems such as apple orchards\ , mitigating this issue is particularly challenging. Due to the long lifes pan of orchards\, materials must meet high functional requirements\, inclu ding long-term durability\, UV resistance\, and weather resistance\, which makes substitution with alternatives significantly more difficult. Furthe rmore\, the complete removal of plastic debris during orchard clearing is often not feasible. Therefore\, it is essential that potential alternative materials undergo complete degradation under natural soil conditions.\nTh is study aims to examine the current use of plastic products in apple orch ards across different applications and to identify potential alternatives\ , focusing on applications where substitution was deemed more feasible (li ke tying material). The methodology combined local retailer inquiries with targeted online research to compile and analyze a comprehensive product l ist\, including potential alternatives.\nIn addition\, a farmer perception survey was conducted to assess awareness of plastic-related environmental impacts\, knowledge of available alternatives\, and perceived barriers to their adoption.\nThe material assessment revealed that common polymers su ch as polyethylene (PE)\, polypropylene (PP)\, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC ) dominate specific application areas. The evaluation further highlighted limited availability and transparency of material composition information\ , as well as challenges related to recycling and end-of-life management\, particularly for fossil-based plastics. A range of potential alternatives was identified\, including biopolymers derived from renewable biological r esources and biobased or non-plastic options such as natural fibre-based p roducts. While these alternatives may reduce plastic inputs\, application- specific evaluation shows that high costs\, limited durability\, and const raints in circular economy strategies—including reuse\, recycling\, and biodegradation—remain major barriers to effective substitution.\nAddress ing plastic inputs and their potential impacts on soils requires more than substitution\; it demands a systemic approach aligned with regenerative a griculture\, integrating material selection\, product design\, application -specific requirements\, and improved end-of-life management. Supporting f armer decision-making and fostering innovation in sustainable material sol utions are key steps toward regenerative and soil-protective agricultural systems. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Use and Substitution Potential of Agricultural Plastics in Apple Or chards - Mirjam Hofer URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/WV9HZB/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-VGXTAD@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Soil biodiversity is increasingly recognized as a key component of soil health and ecosystem functioning. However\, biological indicators remain underrepresented in routine soil monitoring program compared with physical and chemical parameters. The SoilLife1st project aimed to evaluat e the effects of soil-improving agricultural practices on soil health in P ortuguese horticultural systems\, with a particular focus on soil biologic al quality.\nBetween 2022 and 2025\, six commercial horticultural fields l ocated in the Ribatejo\, Oeste and Alentejo Litoral regions were monitored . Biodiverse cover crops were established prior to the main cash crops and compared with control plots under conventional management. Soil biologica l quality was assessed using the QBS-ar (Soil Biological Quality based on Arthropods)\, a recognized indicator that integrates the diversity of soil microarthropod groups with their degree of adaptation to soil habitats.\n Microarthropods play a fundamental role in organic matter decomposition\, nutrient cycling and soil structure formation\, while also responding rapi dly to changes in soil conditions and management practices. \nResults show ed higher QBS-ar values in plots where cover crops were implemented\, indi cating a significant improvement in soil biological quality compared with control treatments.\nThese findings demonstrate the potential of cover cro ps to enhance soil biodiversity and support the use of QBS-ar as a tool fo r soil health assessment. The work contributes to the integration of biolo gical indicators into soil monitoring frameworks and supports the implemen tation of the European Soil Monitoring Law and future soil health policies . DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Assessing soil biological quality in Mediterranean horticultural sy stems using the QBS-ar: Evidence from the SoilLife1st project - Maria Godi nho URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/VGXTAD/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-TZFHT8@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Extreme weather events\, including droughts\, heatwaves\, inten se rainfall and episodic non-seasonal frosts\, are increasingly disrupting soil functionality and agricultural production stability. In Mediterranea n agricultural landscapes\, these pressures interact with long-standing so il degradation processes such as declining organic matter\, erosion\, sali nisation\, compaction and reduced biological activity\, creating new risks for food security and land management. There is therefore a growing need for integrated\, spatially explicit tools that can assess not only the cur rent condition of soils\, but also their capacity to buffer climatic stres s\, recover after disturbance and support stable crop production over time . \n\nThe Soil Resilience and Food Security Index (SRFSI) is proposed as a composite framework for evaluating the resilience of agricultural landsca pes under climate-extreme conditions. The index integrates four complement ary dimensions: Soil Resilience Capacity\, representing the ability of soi ls to sustain carbon storage\, water regulation\, nutrient cycling\, struc tural stability and biological functioning\; Biological and Agroecological Management\, capturing the contribution of practices such as compost and manure application\, biofertilisers\, microbial inoculants\, cover crops\, crop-residue retention\, reduced tillage\, diversified rotations and land scape elements that enhance biodiversity and water regulation\; Climate-Ex treme Resilience\, assessing exposure and response to drought\, heatwaves\ , heavy rainfall\, erosion risk\, salinity stress and crop-relevant non-se asonal frosts\; and Food Security Stability\, reflecting yield stability\, stress-year yield retention\, production reliability and post-event recov ery. \n\nThrough SRFSI\, a framework is proposed that can function both as a baseline diagnostic approach and as a scenario-based tool for assessing soil and production resilience. By comparing index scores under current c onditions\, climate-extreme scenarios and post-intervention conditions\, r esilience loss and adaptation gain can be quantified across different crop s\, soil types and management systems. Remote-sensing proxies\, open soil and climate datasets\, field measurements and farm-management information are combined to support implementation at field\, farm\, municipal and reg ional scales. This approach is intended to support the identification of v ulnerable agricultural areas\, the evaluation of biological and agroecolog ical soil-management interventions\, and the design of strategies that hel p maintain productive\, resilient and food-secure agricultural systems und er increasing climate uncertainty. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Towards a Soil Resilience and Food Security Index for Climate-Resil ient Agricultural Landscapes - Konstantinos Karyotis\, Maria Marily Christ ou URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/TZFHT8/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-TYD3CJ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Despite advances in soil health research\, a significant commun ication gap persists between scientific jargon and public discourse\, whic h can hinder widespread behavioural change . The Horizon Europe SOILSCAPE project addresses this gap by utilising cultural and creative industries\, arts\, and participatory methodologies to transform human-soil relationsh ips and foster deep\, emotional connections to soil ecosystems. This poste r outlines the project’s multifaceted approach to improving soil literac y\, structured across five core blocks of action:\n1. Mapping Societal Per ceptions & Capacities: To understand current soil narratives\, SOILSCAPE a nalysed 122 mass and social media datasets\, identifying dominant metaphor s and communication gaps . Concurrently\, the project mapped regional gove rnance frameworks and established a capacity matrix of over 900 art-soil s takeholders to mobilise cross-sector collaboration.\n2. SEPIA: A Photovoic e-Inspired Approach: The project developed SEPIA (Soil Environments Based on a Photovoice-Inspired Approach)\, a participatory methodology that capt ures community soil perceptions directly through citizens' camera lenses . By facilitating focus group discussions around these images\, SEPIA revea ls how diverse groups relate to local "soilscapes\," providing intuitive e ntry points to boost soil awareness.\n3. Cultivating "Soil Orchestras": Th e project has established a self-sustaining network of eight multidiscipli nary "Soil Orchestras" across Europe . Currently engaging 145 members\, th ese orchestras function as social learning ecosystems\, rooting scientific accuracy in creative engagement to empower local communities.\n4. Empower ing Grassroots Action (FSTP): SOILSCAPE launched a Financial Support to Th ird Parties (FSTP) program. Demonstrating massive public interest with >40 0 applications \, the project is funding 36 diverse sub-projects to use ar ts-based approaches to increase soil literacy and contribute to the SOILSC APE festivals.\n5. Tools in Progress: The first edition of the SOILSCAPE festival was successfully held in Portugal (April 2026) and France (May 20 26)\, with festivals planned for 2027 in all 8 orchestra countries. Simult aneously\, a Soil Literacy Portal is being co-designed with the JRC and DG Agri to host interactive "Soils & Arts" modules\, alongside a finalized S oil Literacy Press Kit featuring 12 science-backed fact sheets to bridge t he gap between soil research and public discourse . DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Cultivating Soil Literacy: Bridging the Science-Society Gap through Arts and Participatory Engagement - Mackenzie Baert URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/TYD3CJ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-SZYN3E@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Regenerative agriculture is gaining interest and recognition by farmers\, governments and the agrifood sector as a response to improve th e overall sustainability of food production. It is referred to also from c limate objective standpoint\, i.a.\, within the EU CRCF framework. Cultiva tion practises that build resilience and soil health often align with soil carbon sequestration\, thus supporting integrated policies and incentive schemes. For the CAP\, result-based payments are increasingly being advoca ted by administration and farmers alike to increase effectiveness of polic y (often motivation for the former group) and flexibility at farm level (m otivation for the latter group). \nBut so far we lack management indicator s and that would be sufficiently attributable\, effective and supported by viable monitoring systems. Considering as indicators for result-based pay ments\, soil carbon does not optimally capture the farm management benefit s nor does it alone fully align with farm level sustainability objectives. Therefore\, on the basis of five-year experimental study and aligned MRV development (Carbon Action collaboration)\, as well as parallel work by th e European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA)\, BSAG proposes to test Gross (or Net) Primary Productivity as an indicator for carbon seque stration with multiple benefits. GPP is calculated from satellite-derived NDVI and PAR data. It is important to note that the GPP is not intended as a direct proxy indicator for soil carbon stock increase\, but if the righ t MRV is applied and due farm data is available\, soil carbon stock can be calculated as a higher tier metric if needed. \nThe GPP as a target is e xpected to lead to increase of green vegetation in time (as days over a ye ar/cropping cycle) and space (as arable hectares) through\, e.g. addition/ increase of undersown crops\, cover crops\, winter crops\, legumes\, green manuring or grazing\, including switching to rotational grazing. In addit ion to increasing carbon sequestration in the soil through increased photo synthesis\, these practises are associated with improved soil structure\, reduced soil erosion\, increased water infiltration and soil's water holdi ng capacity\, increased biodiversity below and above ground and increased farm systems resistance to diseases and pests. Thereby\, this measure is a ligned with pesticide and fertilizer reduction targets. The pilot would al so help establish complementarity across the CAP and the CRCF. In this app roach\, additional carbon sequestration to qualify for CRCF certification would be accounted separately with additional farm level data on yields an d carbon inputs. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Green Field Landscapes for Resilient Agriculture and Carbon Sequest ration - a pilot scheme for an outcome-based incentive - Kaj Granholm URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/SZYN3E/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-NBFHW9@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:The European Mission "A Soil Deal for Europe" highlights the ne ed for robust\, scalable and operational indicators capable of supporting soil health assessment across diverse agricultural systems. While physical and chemical soil properties are routinely monitored\, biological indicat ors remain underused despite their central role in ecosystem functioning a nd agricultural sustainability.\nThis study presents the establishment of a biological soil health baseline within the French Living Lab located in the Landes (South-West France). A total of 135 soil samples were collected across 25 farms representing a diversity of agricultural systems and pedo climatic conditions. Three complementary biological indicators were assess ed: total microbial abundance\, relative microbial biodiversity and dehydr ogenase activity as a proxy for overall microbial metabolic activity.\nThe objective was not only to characterize the current biological status of s oils across the territory\, but also to evaluate the potential of combinin g these indicators into an operational framework for long-term soil health monitoring within a Living Lab context. Attention was given to the relati onships among community size\, biodiversity and biological activity\, as w ell as to the variability observed between farms and management contexts.\ nResults reveal substantial spatial heterogeneity across the territory\, h ighlighting the diversity of biological soil conditions encountered under real farming situations. Preliminary analyses indicate that microbial abun dance\, biodiversity and enzymatic activity provide complementary rather t han redundant information\, suggesting that multiple biological dimensions should be considered when assessing soil health. The data further demonst rate the feasibility of deploying harmonized biological monitoring at terr itorial scale and provide a reference point against which future changes a ssociated with soil health interventions can be evaluated.\nBeyond the cha racterization of current conditions\, this work contributes to ongoing eff orts to identify practical biological indicators for soil health assessmen t and monitoring. The baseline established through this study will support the evaluation of future innovations implemented within the Living Lab an d offers a framework that could be replicated in other European territorie s engaged in the transition towards healthy soils. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Can Biological Indicators Capture Soil Health Differences Across Fa rming Systems? Evidence from 135 Samples in the French Living Lab - Wafa G uiga URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/NBFHW9/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-EL7GRA@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Soil fauna are key components of soil biodiversity and contribu te to decomposition\, nutrient cycling\, soil structure formation and the regulation of biological processes in agricultural soils. However\, soil f aunal responses to management are often assessed using different metrics\, such as activity density\, density\, biomass and taxonomic richness\, whi ch may reflect distinct biological processes. As a result\, it remains unc lear whether agricultural practices that benefit one dimension of soil fau na also support others.\n\nWe conducted a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed f ield studies from European agricultural landscapes to compare how cropping intensity\, crop type\, farming type and agri-environmental measures affe ct soil fauna communities relative to intensively managed arable reference s. The dataset included 1\,383 paired observations from 43 publications an d covered major soil fauna groups and management contexts. Effect sizes we re calculated as log response ratios and analysed using multilevel random- effects models that accounted for between-study heterogeneity and dependen cies among comparisons sharing controls. We further evaluated whether resp onses differed among soil fauna metrics and major decomposer taxa.\n\nSoil fauna responses varied strongly among metrics. Lower cropping intensity a nd agri-environmental measures produced the clearest positive effects on d ensity and biomass\, suggesting that reduced disturbance\, permanent or se mi-natural vegetation\, and more continuous resource inputs favour the bui ld-up of larger and more abundant soil fauna communities. Farming type was more closely associated with activity density and taxonomic richness\, wi th organic or ecological farming generally showing positive effects. Crop type alone showed weaker and less consistent responses. Among individual a gri-environmental measures\, forests\, fallows\, grasslands\, habitat stri ps and field margins generally supported higher density or biomass\, where as richness responses were more variable. Taxon-specific analyses showed t hat positive responses were concentrated in several decomposer groups\, in cluding Acari\, Collembola\, Enchytraeidae\, Lumbricidae and Nematoda\, al though the strength of evidence differed among taxa.\n\nOur results show t hat soil fauna metrics are not interchangeable indicators of biological so il condition. Density and biomass responded most consistently to managemen t interventions\, whereas activity density and richness were more context- dependent. Integrating multiple soil fauna metrics and taxon-specific resp onses can therefore improve biological assessment of agricultural soils an d support the design of management practices that better conserve soil bio diversity DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Soil fauna responses to agricultural management across Europe: a me ta-analysis of biological metrics and decomposer taxa - Nga Thi Thanh Mai URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/EL7GRA/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-ECXQB7@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Materials and Methods \n\nLand use classification is a key tool for understanding and monitoring both natural and human-modified landscap es. It supports environmental protection\, sustainable agricultural manage ment\, and urban planning. Its importance is also reflected in the Land Us e\, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) framework\, which is closely lin ked to European Union climate policies\, carbon stock changes\, greenhouse gas emissions\, and ecosystem resilience. Satellite remote sensing provid es an efficient and cost-effective way to monitor land use over large area s. However\, accurately separating similar land cover types\, especially i n agricultural areas with small parcels and strong seasonal changes\, rema ins a difficult task. This study investigates the use of deep learning met hods to improve land use classification using Sentinel-2 imagery\, support ed by suitable preprocessing steps and additional ancillary data.\nWe comp iled a time series of Sentinel-2 imagery\, computing monthly median reflec tance values for each spectral band\, resulting in 12 composite images. To ensure data quality\, individual images with more than 20% cloud cover we re excluded before median calculation. Further filtering was applied at th e pixel level using the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) and the No rmalized Difference Water Index (NDWI)\, setting a <30% threshold to remov e pixels associated with snow cover and water bodies. The study was conduc ted in the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Region\, utilizing 2022 Land Parce l Information System (LPIS) data provided by the National Paying Agency of Greece as ground truth\, including the field boundaries and crop type lab els.\nWe evaluated multiple deep learning models for land use classificati on\, including and Temporal CNN Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLS TM) Bidirectional GRU (BiGRU) Multi-Head Attention (MHA) and Transformer E ncoder. Performance was assessed using the Classification Report from the scikit-learn library\, which provided key metrics such as precision\, reca ll\, F1-score\, and support. By analyzing results at the crop type level\, we identified underperforming classes and refined the classification stra tegy by merging related categories\, ultimately enhancing overall model ac curacy.\n \nResults and Evaluation\n\nAs the dataset is highly imbalanced among crop-type classes\, we utilized the F1-score to select the best perf orming model which was temporal CNN achieving the value of 0.85\, which is comparable to the reported State-of-the-Art at various works.\n\nConclusi on\n\nOverall\, the study shows that multitemporal deep learning applied to Sentinel-2 parcel sequences provides a robust and scalable framework fo r operational crop type classification. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Deep Learning-Based Crop Type Classification Using Multitemporal Se ntinel-2 Data - Giorgos Varras URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/ECXQB7/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-BB3D7A@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Grassland systems play a critical role in regulating soil carbo n dynamics and delivering essential ecosystem services\, particularly unde r the pressures of global climate change. Effective monitoring of soil phy sical and chemical properties is therefore critical to support sustainable grassland management. However\, conventional laboratory-based analyses ar e often costly\, time-consuming\, and difficult to implement at large scal es.\nSpectroscopy\, combined with machine learning\, offers a promising al ternative by enabling rapid and cost-effective prediction of soil properti es. This study evaluates the potential of a commercially available near-in frared (NIR) spectrometer\, NeoSpectra\, to support practical soil monitor ing in grassland systems. The use of an accessible device aims to simulate real-world conditions\, potentially allowing farmers to perform measureme nts directly in the field or in simple laboratory settings. NIR spectrosco py operates in a wavelength range that is highly sensitive to organic carb on and N–H bonds\, which reflects the change of C and N content and maki ng it a suitable tool for monitoring grassland soils. The approach integra tes spectral data with multiple machine learning models to predict soil ph ysical and chemical properties\, with a focus on optimizing model performa nce and assessing its robustness under conditions that reflect realistic a pplication scenarios. \nThis study highlights the potential of combining N IR spectroscopy with machine learning as a scalable tool for soil health m onitoring. The approach provides a rapid and accessible method for evaluat ing grassland soils and shows potential to support decision-making in sust ainable land management under changing environmental conditions. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Application of Portable NIR Spectroscopy and Machine Learning for S oil Health Assessment in Swedish Grassland - Hsiang-Ju Fan URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/BB3D7A/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-99HZ93@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Phytoremediation offers a sustainable approach for remediating heavy metal-contaminated soils through strategies that either enhance meta l uptake (phytoextraction) or reduce metal mobility (phytostabilization). This study evaluated the influence of metal bioavailability on phytoremedi ation outcomes in an acidic boreal forest soil (pH =5.6) using chelator-as sisted phytoextraction and biochar-assisted phytostabilization. A 10-week greenhouse experiment was conducted on moderately contaminated soil using Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) and six chelator treatments: control\, ED TA\, citric acid (CA)\, oxalic acid (OA)\, and combinations of EDTA with C A or OA at rates of 3 mmol kg⁻¹ for natural chelators and 1.5 mmol kg ⁻¹ EDTA in combined treatments. EDTA significantly increased the solubi lity of Cd\, Cu\, and Zn in soil and pore water\; however\, severe phytoto xicity resulted in plant mortality when EDTA was applied alone or in combi nation with natural chelators. In contrast\, CA and OA caused no phytotoxi city but produced only limited increases in metal bioavailability and phyt oextraction. A second three-month growth chamber experiment evaluated bioc har (BC) and H2O2-modified biochar (HBC) applied at 5% (w/w) to a higher h eavy metal-contaminated soil using Canada wild rye (Elymus canadensis)\, l ittle bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)\, and switchgrass (Panicum virgat um). Biochar amendments improved plant growth\, reduced metal accumulation in plant tissues\, and enhanced metal stability. In BC-amended soils\, Ca nada wild rye produced the highest biomass and reduced shoot Cd\, Cu\, and Zn concentrations by up to 81%\, 77%\, and 84%\, respectively. Results de monstrate that metal bioavailability is a key factor governing phytoremedi ation success in acidic boreal soils. While chelator amendments increased metal solubility\, excessive mobilization caused phytotoxicity and limited phytoextraction. Conversely\, biochar reduced metal availability\, enhanc ed plant growth\, and improved metal stability\, highlighting the importan ce of balancing metal availability with plant tolerance during phytoremedi ation. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Selecting Phytoremediation Strategies for Acidic Boreal Forest Soil s: A Comparison of Chelator-Assisted Phytoextraction and Biochar-Assisted Phytostabilization Across Contamination Levels - Darshani Kumaragamage\, S rimathie Indraratne URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/99HZ93/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-GKP8GR@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:Soil is a living archive of how societies govern\, value\, and manage their land. Yet more than 60% of Europe’s soils remain in unhealt hy condition. Solutions exist\, but they often fail to take root because t he deeper human imprint (i.e.\, economic short-termism\, fragmented govern ance\, and cultural detachment from soil) remains unaddressed. Current soi l policies and assessments focus mainly on one-way causality\, describing how human activities degrade soils\, while underestimating the feedback lo ops through which degraded soils in turn reshape behaviours\, governance\, and economic systems. This leads to policies that undervalue the true cos ts of degradation and overlook soil health as a driver of transformative c hange. LandPrint responds by conceptualising soil as part of a layered soc io-ecological system: socio-cultural practices (subsoil)\, political-regul atory frameworks (topsoil)\, and economic and behavioural incentives (surf ace)\, all interacting with biophysical indicators. Through these\, LandPr int integrates evidence\, models\, and participatory methods to reveal the two-way feedbacks between land degradation and human systems. The project is structured around four interconnected roots: Explore (harmonised indic ator & data matrix across disciplines)\, Explain (mapping behavioural\, in stitutional\, and economic drivers)\, Experiment (nested modelling with ag roeconomic tools\, ABM\, and FABLE pathways)\, and Enable (Policy Toolbox\ , EU Soil Policy Lab\, peer-learning cycles\, and cultural foresight works hops). Five case studies across diverse pedoclimatic and socio-economic co ntexts provide the evidence base\, feeding data into EU infrastructures su ch as SoilWise and EUSO.LandPrint directly supports the EU Mission “A So il Deal for Europe” by delivering 3 advances: (i) evidence on the true c osts and multi-layered drivers of degradation\, (ii) policy tools for read iness\, feasibility\, and equity\, and (iii) pathways to embed soil health in climate resilience and territorial cohesion. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:LandPrint: Mapping the Human Imprint on Soil Health Drivers\, Costs \, and Solutions Across Europe - Georgios Chatzichristos\, Emanuel Lekakis \, Sofia Magopoulou\, ELENI KALOPESA URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/GKP8GR/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-CKYVYS@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:The MRV4SOC Knowledge Hub (KH) is a central component of the pr oject’s digital infrastructure\, designed as a CKAN-based platform to su pport Monitoring\, Reporting\, and Verification (MRV) of soil organic carb on across Europe. It provides a unified and scalable environment for stori ng\, managing\, and disseminating heterogeneous datasets\, including remot e sensing products\, in-situ measurements\, and process-based model output s. By harmonizing these diverse data streams\, the KH facilitates access t o high-quality\, well-documented information for scientific\, policy\, and practitioner communities.\nA core strength of the KH lies in its robust d ata repository architecture\, which ensures secure storage\, version contr ol\, and full provenance tracking. This enables transparency\, reproducibi lity\, and long-term data stewardship. All datasets are accompanied by det ailed metadata compliant with the INSPIRE Directive and aligned with Joint Research Centre (JRC) and EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) guidelines. Metadata profiles capture key attributes such as data origin\, spatial and tempora l coverage\, processing workflows\, and licensing conditions\, ensuring co nsistency and interoperability across datasets and platforms.\nThe KH is c losely connected to the SoilWise project and its repository under the EUSO framework\, serving as a key data provider and integration node. Through standardized vocabularies and controlled terminologies aligned with Europe an soil data standards\, the KH ensures semantic interoperability\, enabli ng consistent interpretation of datasets across systems. Its RESTful API s upports automated metadata harvesting and synchronization (e.g.\, via OAI- PMH and CKAN APIs)\, allowing SoilWise to seamlessly access\, ingest\, and integrate harmonized MRV4SOC datasets into the broader European soil data ecosystem.\nAdvanced search and discovery functionalities further enhance accessibility\, enabling users to locate datasets through keyword queries \, metadata filters\, and semantic search supported by integrated glossari es. In addition\, geospatial visualization capabilities\, enabled through a GeoServer infrastructure\, allow users to explore spatial datasets inter actively and assess their relevance before download.\nBy combining standar dized metadata\, interoperable APIs\, semantic harmonization\, and direct integration with SoilWise\, the MRV4SOC Knowledge Hub demonstrates a pract ical implementation of FAIR data principles. It not only preserves and dis seminates project outputs but also strengthens European soil data infrastr uctures\, supporting coordinated monitoring\, modelling\, and evidence-bas ed decision-making under the EUSO mission. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:Building the MRV4SOC Knowledge Hub: An Interoperable Digital Platfo rm for Soil Monitoring\, Data Integration\, and Open Science - Dimitra Pal antza URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/CKYVYS/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-H8BNUP@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T170000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261207T180000 DESCRIPTION:SOC enrichment and GHG mitigation in Greek Mediterranean vineya rd \n\nDaphne Kitsou¹\, Paraskevi Chantzi¹˒²\, Dimitrios Gkoutzikostas ¹\, Vasileios Rousonikolos¹\, Theodoros Gkrimpizis¹\, Konstantina Gkour amani¹\, and Georgios Zalidis¹˒² \n\n¹Interbalkan Environment Centre – Green Innovation Hub\, Thessaloniki\, Greece\n²Aristotle University o f Thessaloniki\, Thessaloniki\, Greece\n\nBuilding soil organic carbon (SO C) while lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a key challenge for Me diterranean vineyards. We assessed SOC dynamics and the GHG footprint of a 0.4 ha vine field in Epanomi\, Central Macedonia\, Greece\, over two cons ecutive seasons. A cradle‑to‑farm‑gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) c ompared a 2024 business‑as‑usual baseline with a 2025 season in which carbon farming practices were introduced.\nIn 2024\, the vineyard was mana ged with full tillage\, low organic inputs and rainfed conditions\, and th e SOC stock was assumed to be stable. Emissions were dominated by field en ergy use and no measurable change in soil carbon stocks was detected. In 2 025\, reduced tillage and a winter cover crop were adopted while fertilize r inputs remained comparable\, allowing the effect of management on carbon flows to be isolated. Soil analyses showed an increase in soil organic ma tter from 2.03 to 3.10% and SOC from 1.18 to 1.80% in the top 30 cm\, indi cating substantial carbon accumulation.\nBetween the two seasons\, the GHG footprint per hectare decreased by about one‑third\, and the emission i ntensity per kilogram of grapes was almost halved. Overall\, the results d emonstrate that combining reduced tillage with cover cropping can substant ially enhance SOC storage while simultaneously lowering operational GHG em issions in Mediterranean perennial systems. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Basement (Foyer) SUMMARY:SOC enrichment and GHG mitigation in Greek Mediterranean vineyard - Paraskevi Chantzi\, Daphne Kitsou URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/H8BNUP/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-HFJRT3@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T141500 DESCRIPTION:Soil degradation across Africa ranks among the most severe glob ally. It is driven by erosion\, nutrient depletion\, unsustainable agricul tural practices\, and climate change. Without urgent action to address soi l degradation\, it will continue to threaten agricultural productivity\, f ood security\, biodiversity\, and the livelihoods of millions of farming h ouseholds.\nEffectively addressing soil degradation requires reliable\, ac cessible\, and interoperable soil health data and information. However\, a cross many African countries\, national soil information systems remain fr agmented or underdeveloped\, limiting the ability of policymakers\, resear chers\, and practitioners to monitor conditions\, assess trends\, and impl ement evidence-based interventions at scale.\nIn response to these challen ges\, the EU-funded African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) project\, led by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)\, will establish a c ontinental framework for soil data integration\, monitoring\, and dissemin ation. The project aims to develop an observatory framework\, including an African Soil Data Centre (ASDAC) and a Soil Health Dashboard. ASDAC will increase soil data availability by endorsing FAIR principles\, while the d ashboard will increase the usability of data by producing derived data pro ducts. Building on the Soils for Africa (S4A) initiative and its open-acce ss continental soil information system\, AUSO will be owned by the African Union Commission\, and operation is delegated to FARA. At its core\, AUSO is designed as a two-way system: it connects national soil information sy stems to continental-scale tools\, standards\, and datasets — strengthen ing national capacities — while national data in turn enriches continent al soil maps and supports policy development at the African Union level.\n After 18 months of project implementation\, the first AUSO results are com plete. This session will provide an invaluable opportunity to gather user perspectives and expert feedback\, helping to guide the further developmen t of AUSO and ensure that it meets the needs of soil data users across Afr ica. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Building African Union Soil oservatory - Thaïsa van der Woude\, Pa ul van Genuchten\, Abdul-Wahab Mossa\, Chipo\, Betony Colman URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/HFJRT3/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-W89DCJ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T141500 DESCRIPTION:The European Soil Mission highlights the need for practical app roaches that enable farmers to assess and improve soil health directly in the field. While many soil health assessments rely on laboratory analyses\ , there remains a need for accessible and cost-effective methods that can support management decisions under real farming conditions. The Horizon Eu rope GroundWork project (started in October 2025) addresses this gap by de veloping and testing a new adaptive management framework\, the Ecosystem-M ediated Management Approach (EMMA)\, with a strong emphasis on in situ soi l health measurement. \nEMMA is currently under development within GroundW ork and will be co-created and refined throughout the project. It is desig ned as an iterative decision-support framework that helps farmers continuo usly improve grazing systems through cycles of ecosystem assessment\, obje ctive setting\, management intervention\, monitoring\, and adaptation. Rat her than focusing only on short-term production outcomes\, EMMA links mana gement decisions to key ecosystem processes\, including water cycling\, mi neral cycling\, energy flow\, and community dynamics\, which underpin soil and pasture functioning. \nThe framework will be implemented and tested a cross five European Living Labs covering diverse pedoclimatic and farming contexts. The primary focus is on understanding how grazing management inf luences soil health\, while also capturing related effects on vegetation\, biodiversity\, and livestock health and welfare. EMMA is supported by a m onitoring framework that is developed as part of the project and is intend ed to provide practical\, field-based indicators that farmers can use dire ctly. \nSoil health assessment within this framework focuses on physical\, chemical\, and biological indicators that can be measured or observed in situ using simple and low-cost methods. These practical indicators will be validated during the project by results from laboratory measurement of re lated scientific indicators. \nA key objective of GroundWork is to iterati vely develop and validate EMMA and its monitoring framework through close collaboration between farmers\, researchers\, and advisors. The usefulness \, feasibility\, and reliability of the proposed indicators will be evalua ted in real farming conditions across the Living Labs\, ensuring continuou s refinement based on both scientific evidence and user experience. \nThis work will contribute to a practical and scalable approach for in situ soi l health measurement that is embedded within adaptive grazing management a nd supports the transition towards more resilient and soil-aware livestock systems in Europe. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:In Situ Soil Health Measurement to Support Regenerative Grazing Pra ctices Across European Living Labs (GroundWork project) - Justine Luca URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/W89DCJ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-N7PAPF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T141500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T143000 DESCRIPTION:In the framework of carbon farming\, remote sensing (RS) is use d to produce soil property maps for the upscaling of soil carbon stocking potentials\, as modeled in in-field simulations. Reducing the uncertainty of the soil maps produced is a key element to obtain reliable upscaling pr oducts and finally calculate credible carbon credit potentials of the inte rested territories. The MRV4SOC project have tested the in-situ simulation of a RothC model in 3 demonstration sites in central-northern Italy\, to calculate carbon credits of croplands and agroforestry. The soil input par ameters used were soil organic carbon stock of the first 30 cm depth\, and soil textural fractions\, clay and sand. The MRV4SOC project has tested d ifferent procedures to produce soil map input parameters by remote sensing \, such as: 1) a calibration of the bare soil composite of Europe SoilSuit e (SRC)\, 2) a calibration of Sentinel and ENMAP spectral libraries using local field and lab-collected soil spectral libraries with VNIR spectrorad iometers\, and 3) a calibration of the SRC using a data augmentation strat egy. AI models used for each calibration cases were: for case 1) quantile random forest (QRF) models\, for case 2) XGBoost models\, and for case 3) QRF and convolutional neural networks (CNN). The three strategies showed h igh calibration performance\, but validation performance differs based on the model and strategy used\, as well as the uncertainty of products.\n\nA uthors: Carlos Lozano Fondon\, carlos.lozanofondon@crea.gov.it\; Kevin Kü elh\, kevin.kuehl@dlr.de\; Dimitra Palanza\, dpalant@auth.gr\; Konstantino s Karyotis\, kkaryiotis@auth.gr\; Costanza Andrenelli\, mariacostanza.and renelli@crea.gov.it\; Roberto Barbetti\, roberto.barbetti@crea.gov.it\; Ma ria Fantappiè\, maria.fantappie@crea.gov.it. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:A comparison of model performances and uncertainty of soil remote s ensing products calibration for large-scale carbon farming accounting - Ma ria Fantappiè\, Carlos Lozano Fondón URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/N7PAPF/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-KJWDRR@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T144500 DESCRIPTION:Effective Monitoring\, Reporting\, and Verification (MRV) is th e cornerstone of high-integrity carbon farming projects. A well-known appr oach to quantify the effect of a carbon farming project is to measure sequ estered soil organic carbon (SOC) in the project area and compare it to se questered SOC in designated baseline control sites (“Measure & Re-Measur e” in Verra’s VM0042). The required number of soil samples in the proj ect area and in baseline control sites is a key driver of MRV costs and de termines the uncertainty deductions enforced by carbon methodologies.\n\nT his presentation addresses a critical discrepancy between expected and act ual sample size requirements when following the “Measure & Re-Measure” approach in a classical design-based estimation (DBE) framework. Sample s ize equations commonly found in the literature and in methodologies focus on temporal change rather than effect size (against a baseline). This lead s to significantly lower sample sizes than required to achieve the desired statistical power. Apart from deriving more suitable equations\, we analy ze the role of sample allocation between project area and baseline control sites. Our research shows that the optimal sample allocation ratio can ra rely be attained\, as it demands practically infeasible sampling densities in the baseline control sites. At the same time\, deviations from optimal allocation can inflate total sample sizes by a factor of three or more\, directly threatening project economics.\n\nWe propose a two-fold remedy to this inefficiency. First\, instead of applying a purely statistical crite rion for sample size determination\, we propose using the Economic Optimum Number of Samples (EONS). EONS is a holistic approach that integrates sam pling costs\, uncertainty deductions\, and carbon credit prices. The econo mic optimum is attained where the cost of taking an additional soil sample equals the marginal revenue gained from lower uncertainty deductions. Sec ond\, we demonstrate how shifting from classical DBE to a Digital Soil Map ping (DSM) approach drastically improves project economics by lowering req uired sample sizes. We provide a method to determine EONS for DBE and DSM- based approaches\, and argue that DSMs should be the preferred option wher ever applicable. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Sample Size Requirements for Carbon Farming Projects with Baseline Control Sites - Erik Scharwächter URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/KJWDRR/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-QDA9EZ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T144500 DESCRIPTION:Earth Observation is creating new possibilities for mapping and monitoring soil health\, yet the value of these products depends on how w ell they respond to the needs of the people who manage\, advise on\, regul ate\, or make decisions about soils. This potential will expand further wi th the advent of the Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions CHIME and LSTM . CHIME will provide hyperspectral observations across the VIS–NIR–SWI R domain\, while LSTM will add thermal infrared information related to lan d surface temperature and emissivity. Their synergistic use is expected to broaden the range and quality of EO-derived soil health information\, inc luding indicators linked to soil organic carbon\, texture\, moisture\, min eralogy\, degradation risk\, and sustainable land management.\n\nAt the sa me time\, more advanced EO products do not automatically lead to better up take. In agricultural landscapes\, soil information is interpreted through local knowledge\, advisory networks\, policy requirements\, certification schemes\, farm constraints\, and trust in the data source. NextSoils+ add resses this challenge by placing stakeholder engagement and co-creation at the centre of EO-based service development.\n\nThe project brings togethe r farmers\, agronomists\, cooperatives\, regional authorities\, researcher s\, certification bodies\, NGOs\, and policy actors across Mediterranean p ilot regions. Engagement activities include stakeholder identification\, p ower–interest mapping\, influence mapping\, targeted consultations\, int eractive meetings\, and structured feedback. These activities help clarify which soil-related decisions matter most to different actors\, what infor mation is useful in practice\, and how EO-derived indicators should be com municated to support interpretation and uptake.\n\nEarly service outputs\, such as soil organic carbon maps\, digital interfaces\, and indicator-bas ed visual products\, are used as shared reference points for dialogue. The y allow stakeholders and technical teams to discuss local relevance\, usab ility\, uncertainty\, trust\, and integration into existing farming\, advi sory\, certification\, or reporting workflows.\n\nBy linking the emerging capabilities of CHIME and LSTM with iterative stakeholder engagement\, Nex tSoils+ contributes practical insights into how EO-based soil health produ cts can evolve into services that are scientifically robust\, understandab le\, and relevant for real soil management contexts. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Shaping NextSoils+ Soil Health Services with Stakeholders for the S entinel Expansion Missions - Konstantinos Karyotis\, Eva Sarigiannidou URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/QDA9EZ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-QUT8EQ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T144500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T150000 DESCRIPTION:Soil biological properties are increasingly considered key indi cators of soil health because soil biota regulate essential ecosystem func tions such as nutrient cycling\, organic matter turnover and plant product ivity. However\, their use in monitoring programmes remains challenging du e to potentially high temporal and spatial variability. This raises an imp ortant question: are soil biological properties too sensitive for long-ter m and large-scale soil monitoring?\nTo address this\, we evaluated the tem poral dynamics of total and active soil microbial communities in an experi mental grassland managed by NEIKER\, where rotational grazing has been app lied since 2013 and compared with a free-grazing system. Soil samples were collected every three weeks from April to November 2024 at two depths (0- 20 cm and 20-50 cm). Environmental DNA (eDNA) and environmental RNA (eRNA) metabarcoding of 16S rRNA and ITS markers were used to characterize total and active prokaryotic and fungal communities.\nDNA- and RNA-derived prof iles showed clear differences. DNA-based community composition and alpha d iversity remained relatively stable over time\, indicating that the reside nt microbial community may provide robust indicators for long-term monitor ing. In contrast\, RNA-based profiles varied substantially between samplin gs\, suggesting that active microbial communities respond rapidly to short -term changes in climate and pasture conditions.\nThese results highlight that the suitability of biological indicators depends on monitoring object ives and temporal scale. DNA-based metrics may be more suitable for detect ing long-term trends\, while RNA-based analyses can better capture short-t erm ecosystem responses. Our findings underline the importance of understa nding seasonal variability and defining ecosystem-specific normal operatin g ranges to identify appropriate sampling periods and improve the integrat ion of biological indicators into soil health monitoring programmes. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Implications of total and active soil microbiome dynamics for long- term soil health monitoring - Lur Epelde URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/QUT8EQ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-JWKHXL@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T151500 DESCRIPTION:ECHO is a Horizon Europe project that engages European citizens in soil protection and restoration by increasing their knowledge of soil health and involving them directly in soil science through data collectio n across all EU countries. Between 2024 and 2027 citizen scientists in ECH O collect data on the eight soil health indicators outlined in the Mission Soil Implementation Plan. These data are uploaded to the ECHOREPO (https: //echorepo.echosoil.eu)\, a long-term open access repository. This ensures that citizen science data is accessible to scientists\, citizens\, farmer s\, stakeholders and other end-users\, while complementing existing Europe an datasets.\nIn this study\, we aimed to validate citizen science-generat ed data (CSGD) from approximately 100 soil samples selected to be represen tative of the main land-uses and soil types covered by Italian citizens. F or these samples\, we then compared on-site assessments of pH\, SOC and te xture with results from laboratory methods.\nWhile soil pH\, SOC and textu re were measured on-site by citizens using pH strip method\, soil colour e stimation\, and the feel method\, laboratory analyses followed standard IS O methods.\nComparing CSGD with laboratory analyses enabled us to assess v ariability between the approaches and inform CSGD integration with Europea n soil health monitoring programmes. Additionally\, these results were com pared with existing soil and environmental datasets\, such as LUCAS 2018 c ampaign and LUCAS-derived raster\, to better understand where variability and complementarities occur\, using the dataset from the ECHOREPO. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Advancing soil monitoring through citizen science-generated data - Céline Laurent URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/JWKHXL/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-MJGAZ7@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T151500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T153000 DESCRIPTION:Monitoring soil health at regional and global scales depends on the ability to integrate and harmonise soil data collected across institu tions\, laboratories\, and monitoring programmes. Despite increasing volum es of soil information\, datasets remain highly fragmented and are often n either publicly accessible nor easily discoverable. When available\, they are typically stored in heterogeneous formats and frequently lack consiste nt metadata or methodological descriptions. These barriers limit data reus e and constrain the development of effective soil monitoring systems.\nThe Varda Foundation\, an independent non-profit stewarding digital public go ods for agriculture\, addresses this challenge through SoilHive\, an open digital platform designed to support the discovery\, harmonisation\, and r euse of soil data. Rather than generating new datasets\, SoilHive focuses on making existing data work together. It is built as precompetitive tool: a shared\, open infrastracture on top of which researchers\, institutions \, and developers can train new models\, and build new data products. In S eptember 2026\, SoilHive will be released as fully open-source\, with a mo dular architecture designed for federated deployment across institutions. This is not just a technical choice\, it reflects a commitment to building something the community owns and shapes together.\nAt the core of the pla tform is a robust data harmonisation module designed to directly tackle th e fragmentation problem described above. Users can bring heterogeneous dat asets into a common structure through a guided interface\, without requiri ng deep technical expertise. The underlying data model covers more than 50 core soil properties and 80 sub-properties\, structured through explicit parent–child ontological relationships\, with controlled vocabularies\, and standardised units with automated conversion. Once harmonised\, data i s immediately model- and AI-ready\, accessible via both interface and API\ , and structured for direct integration into downstream analytical and mac hine learning pipelines.\nTo ensure the platform remains relevant across d ifferent geographies and user communities\, new functionalities including interpretation dashboards and data visualisation tools are being co-develo ped with a diverse range of stakeholders\, from research institutions and policy makers to farmer organisations\, across Europe and sub-Saharan Afri ca. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:SoilHive: An Open-Source Platform for Global Soil Data Harmonisatio n - Ester Miglio URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/MJGAZ7/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-PDE8EG@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T151500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T153000 DESCRIPTION:Global agriculture faces the challenge of increasing productivi ty while maintaining environmental sustainability. Agricultural system mod els support climate-smart land management\; however\, accurately predictin g soil organic carbon (SOC) density changes and indexing soil health remai ns difficult because of the complex interactions among soils\, climate\, l and use\, and management practices. Emerging technologies such as Artifici al Intelligence (AI)\, including remote sensing\, drones\, and spectroscop y\, provide opportunities for real-time monitoring and decision-making des pite having several challenges.\nThis study advances the MODASYS (Model fo r Decision-Making in Agri-Environmental Systems) framework\, facilitating the assessment of nutrient and land-management strategies aligned with the Climate Action Plan. By integrating high-resolution georeferenced soil da tasets with the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). For this\, SoilG rids (Global Soil Map) and the National Soil Database of Ireland were harm onised using ArcGIS and Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE)\, supported by advanced statistical and Machine Learning approaches\, to gen erate a robust and spatially consistent soil dataset and map. The resultin g Soil Health Indices (SHIs) benchmark observed (O) SOC against Typical (T ) values\, which remain limited for organo-mineral and organic soils\, rev ealing substantial spatial variability across land uses and soil types in Ireland.\nBy integrating LPIS-mapped datasets with the MODASYS API\, the f ramework enables high-resolution simulations of soil and climate-driven va riables to predict SHIs and quantify carbon footprints\, facilitating the precise delineation of optimal carbon-management zones. Simulations from a n Irish dairy farm case study using nine land-use scenarios showed that\, although the highest SHI (O/T SOC = 3.8) was predicted in grasslands\, mix ed farming systems incorporating agroforestry and reduced nitrogen inputs achieved high SHI values (0.94) while simultaneously lowering carbon footp rints and maintaining profitability through reduced reliance on synthetic fertilisers. In contrast\, a New Zealand case study with twelve crop-field sequences predicted declining O/T SOC ratios (from 1.20 to 1.12 over five years) despite fields remaining within a “High” SHI category\, highli ghting the limitations of relative indices in detecting absolute carbon de pletion.\nThe MODASYS framework demonstrates the power of integrated soil- health modelling for strategic agricultural planning\, carbon farming\, an d climate resilience. Future iterations will incorporate AI-driven digital twin methodologies\, evolving the model into a dynamic platform for predi ctive soil management and sustainable intensification in the face of escal ating climate risks. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Toward a Digital Twin for Agriculture: Soil Health and Carbon Asses sment with MODASYS - Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/PDE8EG/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-FSMT7Z@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T161500 DESCRIPTION:Soil biodiversity plays a central role in regulating ecosystem functioning and maintaining soil health through its influence on nutrient cycling\, carbon dynamics\, soil structure formation and water regulation. At the same time\, environmental change and land-use intensification alte r soil physicochemical conditions and vegetation dynamics\, with cascading consequences for belowground communities and ecosystem functioning. Despi te increasing recognition of the importance of soil biodiversity within Eu ropean soil health initiatives\, identifying scalable and operational indi cators capable of capturing soil ecological responses across contrasting p edoclimatic regions remains a major challenge.\nUsing harmonized datasets generated within the SOB4ES project\, we integrated soil biodiversity indi cators\, soil physicochemical properties\, land-use information and Earth Observation-derived climatic\, vegetation and topographic variables across European sites. The analyses employed machine-learning approaches and exp lainable artificial intelligence methods to investigate large-scale relati onships among soil biodiversity\, environmental gradients and ecosystem se rvice-related functions under different climatic and land-use contexts.\nA cross multiple organism groups\, diversity-based metrics generally showed stronger and more consistent relationships with environmental gradients th an abundance- or density-based indicators\, supporting their relevance for large-scale soil health assessment frameworks. Soil pH\, soil organic car bon\, moisture conditions and soil texture parameters emerged as dominant cross-taxa predictors\, while climatic and vegetation-related variables de rived from Earth Observation data explained a substantial proportion of sp atial variation in belowground biodiversity patterns. However\, the influe nce of environmental predictors frequently differed among land-use types\, indicating that biodiversity responses are strongly context-dependent and shaped by interactions among soil conditions\, vegetation structure and m anagement intensity. \n\nOverall\, the integration of harmonized biodivers ity observations\, remote-sensing data and machine-learning approaches dem onstrated strong potential for supporting spatially explicit soil health m onitoring and the identification of robust biological indicators under glo bal change and land-use pressures across Europe.\n\nAcknowledgments: The w ork and all the authors were supported by the Horizon Europe project SOB4E S under Grant Agreement No. 101112831. We acknowledge all participating in vestigators from the SOB4ES consortium who contributed to the existing sam ple collection and the field sampling for the generation of the spatial da tabase used in the current analysis. Partners from KNAW\, UVIGO\, NUID UCD \, UNICT\, KU Leuven\, CU\, ARO\, IBB\, UL\, UoC\, SLU\, EFWSL\, Airfield\ , MFO\, and INRAe provided these contributions. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Using earth observation and machine learning to identify environmen tal drivers and land-use pressures of soil biodiversity across European la ndscapes - Maria Marily Christou\, Snezhana Mourouzidou URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/FSMT7Z/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-MTKCDF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T164500 DESCRIPTION:Soil enzymatic activity is a term everyone hears but few actual ly measure. Yet\, it is a key indicator of soil health and functionality —and one of the few biological indicators you can measure with minimal e ffort.\nIn this workshop\, we will cover the essentials: what enzymes are\ , why you should measure their activity\, and how it’s done. We are even bringing devices so we can run measurements right there in the room and s how you exactly what to do with the data. We will explore the relationship between enzymatic activity and biodiversity\, how it links to nutrient fl uxes and pollution\, how it changes over time\, and the common challenges of interpretation. \n\n"Interpretation can be as nasty as making sense out of your tax declaration\, challenging as keeping your Monstera alive or f inding the right star constellation on the sky among the many points. " \n Jasmin Fetzer\, PhD\n\nFurthermore\, we will demonstrate how to deploy fie ld measurements effectively and translate that data into direct\, actionab le steps for your farming system.\nWhat we won’t do is show you complex graphs with massive error bars. This will be a hands-on\, application-orie nted session suitable for any level of soil biology knowledge. You can eve n bring your own soil! DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater III SUMMARY:Measure soil enzymatic activity (right here in the room) and learn why you should do it more. - Sonia Meller URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/MTKCDF/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-HSXWWG@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T164500 DESCRIPTION:If you produce soil data or knowledge in a Mission Soil project \, will anyone find it after your website goes offline? The SoilWise Proje ct\, a Horizon Europe Mission Soil project (2023–2027)\, builds an open- access catalogue that harvests soil metadata from across Europe and makes it discoverable through a search interface (the SoilWise Finder) and an AI chatbot (the Soil Companion)\, which will later be part of the European S oil Observatory (EUSO). But what surfaces in SoilWise\, and how well\, is decided by the publishing choices data providers make. This hands-on sessi on shows providers exactly what\, how\, and why to publish so their output s are found and reused.\nWe use the journey of a single metadata record as our teaching device. Following a real soil dataset as our worked example\ , we walk through what happens at each stage of the SoilWise pipeline (har vesting\, harmonisation\, validation\, augmentation\, storage\, and discov ery) and\, at every stage\, show the concrete publishing decision that mak es it succeed: a DOI and grant-agreement number so the harvester picks the record up via OpenAIRE\; a community standard so it harmonises cleanly\; complete core fields so it passes validation\; and recognised-vocabulary k eywords and geographic extent so augmentation and search work in the provi der’s favour.\nParticipants then get hands-on with the SoilWise publishi ng tools: the Tabular Soil Data Annotation tool\, the SoilWise GeoPackage \, and the DOI Resolution Widget.\nThe session is aimed at data providers: Mission Soil project data managers and coordinators\, data stewards\, res earchers\, and Living Lab participants. Attendees leave with a clear publi shing checklist and a working understanding of how following the SoilWise guidelines makes their soil data findable in the catalogue and\, ultimatel y\, in the European Soil Observatory at the JRC\, the platform’s foresee n long-term home. Bring a laptop. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Make your soil data or knowledge record findable: a hands-on SoilWi se publishing workshop - Radu Giurgiu\, Wannes De Man URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/HSXWWG/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-AZNSEH@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T161500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261208T163000 DESCRIPTION:In the context of rapid global change and increasing anthropoge nic pressures on ecosystems\, robust monitoring of soil health and ecosyst em functioning is essential to support evidence-based and data-driven mana gement. Among soil functions\, the capacity to store and cycle carbon is c ritical\, both for climate regulation and broader ecosystem service provis ion. However\, quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics across spati al and temporal scales remains challenging due to the cost\, labour intens ity\, and limited spatial coverage of conventional sampling approaches.\n\ nThis study explores the potential of combining digital soil mapping (DSM) approaches with spectroscopic techniques (NIRS and MIRS) as scalable tool s for monitoring soil carbon dynamics and identifying SOC hotspots. We def ine hotspots as areas with either high carbon stocks or pronounced suscept ibility to change under management or disturbance. Using datasets from ong oing monitoring initiatives in Flanders and across Europe—including SOB4 ES\, INFORMA\, LEGACY and AARDEWERK—we assess how integrated data-driven approaches can improve the spatial targeting and temporal tracking of man agement and disturbances on soil carbon.\nCase studies span forest ecosyst ems\, grasslands and peatlands\, focusing on the effects of management int erventions and disturbances such as drainage\, rewetting\, eutrophication and fire. Spectroscopic methods enable rapid\, cost-effective estimation o f SOC\, while DSM integrates environmental covariates to extrapolate these observations across landscapes. Together\, these approaches provide a fra mework for identifying priority areas for intervention and for evaluating management outcomes. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Data-driven ecosystem management: assessing soil carbon responses t o land use and restoration practices using spectroscopy and digital soil m apping - Karen Vancampenhout\, Sam Ottoy URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/AZNSEH/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-BMKRC7@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T093000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T100000 DESCRIPTION:Soil health depends fundamentally on the people who manage it. In Greece\, farmers steward 45.5% of the national territory\, making their behavior central to any effort to regenerate degraded soils. Yet adoption of regenerative agriculture (regen ag) practices remains low\, not for la ck of proven benefits\, but because farmers face a sequence of compounding barriers—a "transition path"—each of which sharply reduces the probab ility of adoption.\nMapping the pathway of a farmer to transition reveals further insights at crucial intervention points. First\, farmers must hear about regen ag at all: peer networks rarely transmit novel practices\, ag ronomists are not trained in them due to outdated agricultural curricula\, and commercial media has structural disincentives to promote practices th at reduce dependency on agrochemical inputs. Second\, farmers must judge t he information credible\, typically by seeking endorsement from universiti es or public institutions. Third\, the farmer must actually be the decisio n-maker on the farm—a condition disproportionately unmet by younger farm ers\, who are more receptive to innovation but rarely hold final authority . Fourth\, even a convinced\, empowered farmer needs accessible\, affordab le technical guidance to adapt practices to local conditions\, which is la rgely unavailable. Finally\, and critically\, regulatory and subsidy syste ms fail to recognize diversified systems like agroforestry: a farmer imple menting multilayered agroforestry may be forced to register as monoculture \, losing subsidy eligibility\, insurance coverage\, and market access for the crop grown.\nFramed through the lens of ambiguity tolerance—only a minority of people readily accept ambiguous\, unclassified systems—this analysis argues that regenerative practices remain structurally excluded r ather than simply under-promoted. Concrete interventions at each stage are necessary: integrating regen ag into agronomy curricula and subsidy class ification systems\, establishing peer-learning networks\, funding accessib le on-farm training\, and documenting real-world gaps through pioneer-farm er research. Understanding adoption as a probabilistic pipeline\, rather t han a single knowledge deficit\, reframes soil health policy: the goal is not persuasion alone\, but removing systemic obstacles at every step. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Understanding the Barriers to Regenerative Agriculture Adoption: A Behavioral Pathway Analysis for Greek Farmers - Sheila Darmos URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/BMKRC7/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-NPTBBF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T141500 DESCRIPTION:Assessing soil health requires indicators that capture both the structural condition of soils and their capacity to perform essential eco system functions. Soil structure is a key component of soil health because it influences water flow\, aeration\, root development\, carbon storage\, and biological activity. \nHowever\, assessing soil structure holisticall y remains a challenge. \nDetailed metrics like X-ray computer tomography-d erived pore geometry or saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) provide va luable insights into soil structure and function but are costly and time-c onsuming to measure and rely on delicate undisturbed sampling. The Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) offers a rapid field-based soil struct ural quality assessment\, yet it remains unclear whether relationships pre viously reported between VESS and established structural indicators also h old across contrasting land-use types and soil properties\, leaving its po tential as a universal soil health indicator unknown. \n \nConsequently\, we investigated whether VESS supports the functional assessment of more de tailed structural soil metrics across different land uses and soil texture s. In this study\, 66 sites representing cropland\, grassland\, and forest ecosystems across Switzerland were sampled.\nAt each site\, VESS was perf ormed and four undisturbed soil cores were collected from the topsoil for assessment of CT-derived macropore metrics and soil hydraulic properties. VESS scores were compared with CT-derived macroporosity\, macropore connec tivity\, Ksat\, soil texture\, pH\, bulk density\, and soil organic carbon .\n \nVESS scores were well distributed across both land-use types and tex tural classes and did not show a consistent trend with either factor alone . This indicates that visual soil structural quality cannot be explained b y land use or texture in isolation and suggests that VESS can be applied a cross a broad range of soil conditions.\nSites with favorable VESS scores generally exhibited larger and better connected macropore networks resulti ng in higher Ksat-values\, indicating that several relationships previousl y reported in agricultural systems also persist across contrasting land-us e types and textures\, although their interpretation depends on the domina nt type of soil structure formation. Our findings suggest that VESS provid es a rapid first assessment of soil structural quality and supports the in terpretation of more detailed soil health indicators. The value of VESS-ap plication is greatest when its interpretation is combined with basic soil properties (to assess conditions of structure formation)\, making it a pro mising indicator for efficient large-scale soil health monitoring across d ifferent land use types. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Scores of Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) as a Soil Heal th Indicator Across Contrasting Land Use Types and Soil Textures - Niklas Schmücker URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/NPTBBF/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-LSEJKZ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T141500 DESCRIPTION:Soils are complex ecosystems intrinsically interwoven with the surrounding environment. Local conditions such as topography\, geomorpholo gy\, drainage\, parent material\, and microclimate are well-established dr ivers of soil formation\, development\, and function. Contemporary climate change constitutes a major global threat to soil functionality\, although climatic variability has influenced pedogenesis throughout Earth history. Over millennia\, and increasingly since the advent of mechanized agricult ure and the widespread use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides\, agric ultural intensification has become a dominant force shaping soil ecosystem processes. These transformations have degraded ecosystem integrity and fu nctioning in many regions\; within the European Union\, an estimated 60– 70% of soils are considered to be in poor health.\nThis article argues tha t understanding soil function and defining soil health must begin from two complementary perspectives: first\, recognizing the hierarchical organiza tion of patterns and processes operating both within soils and in relation to the broader environment\; and second\, applying a thermodynamic framew ork. The spatial scales relevant for soil ecosystem analysis span more tha n 50 orders of magnitude\, from elementary particles to the observable uni verse\, while temporal scales range from instantaneous radiation–matter interactions to the persistence of Precambrian paleosols. Across these spa tial and temporal dimensions\, soils have evolved through Darwinian select ion favoring thermodynamically efficient dissipative systems capable of bu ilding internal organization while converting\, regulating\, and redirecti ng external energy and matter flows into negentropy. To improve the unders tanding\, management\, and optimization of soil health and ecosystem servi ces\, this article presents a conceptual framework linking soil functions to the spatial and temporal scales at which soils operate\, together with the observational approaches required to assess relevant indicators across these scales. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Understanding soil health from hierarchical and thermodynamic persp ectives - Thomas Gumbricht URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/LSEJKZ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-XAPMRF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T141500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T143000 DESCRIPTION:Soil degradation affects an estimated 60–70% of soils in the European Union\, generating annual costs exceeding €50 billion. In respo nse\, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030\, the Mission “A Soil Deal for Europ e\,” and the proposed Soil Monitoring Law establish a coherent policy fr amework in which harmonized soil health indicators serve as the primary me chanism for assessing\, monitoring\, and restoring soil health. Within thi s context\, the Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia (CluBE)\, a triple-helix platform connecting public authorities\, researc h organizations\, and businesses\, investigates how Soil Health Living Lab s operationalize these indicators in practice through three Horizon Europe projects: iCOSHELLs\, URSOILL\, and Waste4Soil.\nCluBE is an accredited m ember of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL)\, the internationally recognized accreditation body for Living Labs. This accreditation validat es the methodological rigor of the Western Macedonia Soil Living Lab\, inc luding its co-creation processes\, multi-actor governance\, and real-life experimentation approach\, while connecting CluBE to a European network th at supports knowledge exchange\, benchmarking\, and replication of success ful soil restoration practices.\nThe iCOSHELLs project applies a harmonize d set of physical\, chemical\, and biological soil health indicators acros s six Living Labs\, including the Greek Mine Soil Health Living Lab in Wes tern Macedonia\, where restoration strategies are tested in post-lignite m ining areas affected by elevated chromium and nickel concentrations. Indic ator monitoring is integrated within structured co-creation processes and capacity-building activities.\nURSOILL extends indicator-based assessment to urban environments through five Living Labs and more than 60 experiment al sites across Europe\, including 14 in Greece. Using the Healthy Soil Li ving Lab framework\, it evaluates soil quality\, quantity\, and performanc e through indicators addressing contamination\, biodiversity and fertility loss\, compaction\, sealing\, topsoil degradation\, carbon storage\, wate r regulation\, habitat quality\, and safe human use.\nWaste4Soil complemen ts these initiatives by focusing on agricultural soils through circular bi oeconomy solutions. Coordinated by CluBE in Western Macedonia\, the projec t tests bio-based soil improvers derived from agro-industrial residues and digestate under real farming conditions. Key indicators include soil orga nic carbon\, total nitrogen\, available phosphorus\, and microbial biomass .\nTogether\, these Living Labs demonstrate how the EU Soil Monitoring Law ’s harmonized indicator framework can be implemented across post-mining\ , urban\, and agricultural landscapes. While the Soil Monitoring Law defin es what should be measured\, Living Labs provide the mechanisms through wh ich indicators are translated into stakeholder engagement\, locally valida ted restoration solutions\, informed land-management decisions. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:The Role of the Western Macedonia Living Lab in Soil Health: From C o-Creation to Harmonized Monitoring - Savvas Karagiorgos URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/XAPMRF/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-UZLZ3G@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T141500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T143000 DESCRIPTION:The main methodologies governing the voluntary carbon market (V CM) and Scope 3 accounting now allow the use of Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) for soil organic carbon (SOC) stock estimation. Verra’s VT0014 has quic kly become the industry standard for DSM-based SOC stock estimation and pr ovides step-by-step guidance on uncertainty estimation. This guidance is l argely based on Wadoux & Heuvelink (2023) and is applicable for a large cl ass of models. However\, the generality of the approach has the cost of su boptimality: uncertainty of the resulting SOC stock estimates is larger th an necessary\, which directly influences project economics. \n\nIn this wo rk\, we empirically study the uncertainty estimator from Wadoux & Heuvelin k (2023) and compare it to a Random Forest Residual Kriging (RFRK) approac h (Hengl et al.\, 2015\; Szatmári et al.\, 2024). We also include the cla ssical Horvitz-Thompson estimator (HTE) calculated from soil samples only. For a fair comparison\, we apply the Wadoux & Heuvelink (2023) estimator on top of a Quantile Regression Forest (QRF) model that uses the same cali bration data\, covariates and hyperparameters as the Random Forest model f rom the RFRK approach. We benchmark all estimators across three agricultur al projects. Special attention is given to the uncertainty of the estimato rs across differing project sizes and sampling intensities.\n\nBoth DSM ap proaches are compliant with VT0014 and passed the model validation require ments with comparable validation metrics. RFRK consistently showed slightl y higher R² scores\, with empirical coverage probabilities closer to the nominal coverage. Throughout the benchmark\, RFRK was consistently more pr ecise than HTE\, reducing uncertainty of the SOC stock estimate substantia lly across all scenarios. In contrast\, QRF improved over HTE only in the largest-sample project\, while inflating the uncertainty in the other two. DSM uncertainty estimates showed diminishing returns as sample sizes incr eased\, and dropped sharply as project area increased. \n\nThese findings confirm that a DSM-based SOC stock estimate can be substantially more prec ise than a classical soil sampling approach: RFRK roughly halved the uncer tainty of the estimate\, translating to reduced uncertainty deductions. Ho wever\, a DSM-based estimate can also inflate uncertainties\, despite bein g validated with state-of-the-art performance metrics\, as demonstrated by the QRF-Wadoux approach. The exact choice of the DSM model appears to gov ern precision more than the model accuracy in terms of R² score. Therefor e\, project proponents should carefully select the most suitable modelling approach for their project. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:A comparison of DSM-based SOC stock estimators: Uncertainty reducti ons and practical insights - Erik Scharwächter\, Ahmad Awad URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/UZLZ3G/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-KMDZEF@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T144500 DESCRIPTION:The European Mission "A Soil Deal for Europe" promotes Living L abs as key instruments to accelerate the transition towards sustainable ag ricultural systems through stakeholder engagement\, co-creation and real-w orld experimentation. While numerous Living Labs are being established acr oss Europe\, practical experience remains limited regarding how to identif y\, support and evaluate diverse innovation initiatives at territorial sca le.\nThis contribution presents the approach developed within the French L iving Lab located in the Landes (South-West France)\, where twelve agricul tural experimentation projects involving 25 farms has been funded and supp orted to address soil health challenges under real farming conditions. The projects cover a diversity of production systems and innovation pathways\ , including practices aimed at improving soil organic matter\, biodiversit y\, water regulation\, resilience to climatic stresses and overall soil fu nctionality.\nThis work examines the Living Lab as an innovation ecosystem . We describe the process used to engage stakeholders\, identify local pri orities\, select original ideas\, allocate resources and establish a commo n framework for monitoring and knowledge exchange. Attention is given to t he challenge of creating coherence across heterogeneous experiments while preserving the flexibility required to respond to local pedoclimatic and s ocio-economic contexts.\nThe French Landes Living Lab provides an opportun ity to explore how a portfolio-based approach can generate learning beyond individual experiments. By connecting projects through shared objectives\ , common indicators and collective reflection processes\, the Living Lab a ims to transform innovations into transferable / replicable knowledge capa ble of supporting territorial-scale transitions.\nPreliminary observations highlight the value of farmer-driven experimentation\, multi-actor govern ance and continuous interaction between researchers\, advisors and practit ioners. The experience also reveals important challenges related to monito ring harmonization\, scaling-up successful practices and balancing scienti fic robustness with operational feasibility.\nThe contribution offers prac tical lessons for other European Living Labs seeking to move from isolated demonstration projects towards coordinated territorial innovation strateg ies that support the long-term objectives of soil health restoration and s ustainable land management. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:From Funding Individual Projects to Building a Territorial Innovati on Portfolio: Lessons from 25 Experimental Sites in the French Landes Livi ng Lab - Wafa Guiga URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/KMDZEF/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-WGPZP9@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T144500 DESCRIPTION:Climate change is projected to increase the intensity and frequ ency of extreme rainfall events\, amplifying the risk of surface runoff an d associated soil degradation. While relationships between soil organic ma tter (SOM)\, bulk density (BD)\, and soil hydraulic properties are well es tablished\, their translation into runoff thresholds under realistic storm structures remains insufficiently quantified.\nIn this study\, we combine national-scale soil observations from the UK Countryside Survey with proc ess-based simulations using HYDRUS-1D to quantify how changes in SOM and B D influence infiltration capacity and the onset of surface ponding and run off under contrasting storm regimes. Vertical water flow was simulated by solving the Richards equation with van Genuchten–Mualem hydraulic parame terisation across a range of soil textures\, BD values (1.15–2.00 g cm ⁻³)\, and storm scenarios representative of UK rainfall structure (25 –50 mm over 3–6 h\; cyclonic vs frontal).\nResults demonstrate non-lin ear threshold behaviour in runoff generation\, with small increases in BD leading to disproportionately large increases in runoff\, particularly in medium-textured soils. Across simulated conditions\, runoff initiation occ urred at lower BD values under short-duration\, high-intensity (cyclonic) storms compared to longer-duration events. Analysis of Countryside Survey data indicates a national-scale shift towards lower BD in cropland soils b etween 2007 and 2020\, consistent with modest increases in SOM (~0.003–0 .005 g g⁻¹)\, which correspond to substantial reductions in simulated r unoff under extreme rainfall scenarios.\nThese findings provide a quantita tive link between soil structural condition and hydrological response\, hi ghlighting critical BD and SOM ranges where management interventions are m ost effective. The results emphasise that storm structure\, in addition to total rainfall depth\, is a key control on runoff thresholds\, and should be explicitly considered in assessments of soil-based natural flood manag ement strategies. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Linking soil organic matter\, bulk density and runoff thresholds un der extreme rainfall: a modelling study using GB national soils data - Mau d van Soest URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/WGPZP9/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-YGXPRD@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T144500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T150000 DESCRIPTION:Irini Papageorgiou*\, Srimathie P. Indraratne\, Darshani Kumara gamage\, and Douglas M. Goltz \nThe University of Winnipeg\, Winnipeg\, MB \, Canada R3B 2E9\n\nMining and smelting activities have resulted in wides pread environmental contamination through the release of heavy metals and other pollutants into soils\, water bodies\, and the atmosphere of boreal forest soils with potentially toxic metals\, including cadmium (Cd) and zi nc (Zn). In Flin Flon\, Manitoba\, limestone has been commonly applied as a remediation amendment to reduce soil acidity and improve site conditions \; however\, its effectiveness for direct metal immobilization remains poo rly understood. Biochar has emerged as a promising alternative due to its high surface area\, alkalinity\, and metal sorption capacity. This study e valuates the effectiveness of limestone\, biochar\, and a 1:1 biochar–li mestone mixture for Cd and Zn immobilization under temperature conditions representative of boreal environments. Batch adsorption studies were condu cted at 22°C and 4°C to evaluate Cd and Zn sorption kinetics\, adsorptio n capacities\, and the influence of temperature on amendment performance. Preliminary results from Cd kinetic studies indicate that adsorption was g reater at 22°C than at 4°C for all amendments. Biochar exhibited the hig hest adsorption capacity and reached equilibrium rapidly\, while the bioch ar–limestone mixture showed intermediate performance. Limestone displaye d minimal Cd adsorption. These findings indicate that direct Cd retention is primarily associated with biochar rather than limestone. Ongoing work i ncludes adsorption isotherm modeling for Cd and Zn\, surface characterizat ion of amendment–metal complexes\, and incubation studies evaluating ame ndment performance in contaminated boreal (pH = 5) soils under contrasting temperature regimes. It is anticipated that the combined amendment will p rovide complementary benefits by coupling the metal adsorption properties of biochar with the pH-adjustment capacity of limestone. The results will improve understanding of amendment mechanisms and support the development of more effective remediation strategies for metal-contaminated boreal for est soils. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:Influence of Biochar\, Limestone\, and Their Combination on Cadmium and Zinc Immobilization in Metal-Contaminated Boreal Soils. - Irini Papag eorgiou URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/YGXPRD/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-KNM3AW@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T150000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T151500 DESCRIPTION:Assessment of Soil health is critical in evaluating the capacit y and potentials of soils to provide the required ecosystem functions and services that support environmental sustainability\, food security\, clima te regulation and human well-being. This study provides an up-to-date over view of the frameworks and key considerations involved in the selection of Soil Health Indicators (SHIs) for soil health assessment and evaluation. SHIs are physical\, chemical\, and biological parameters that describe soi l condition and its ability to support ecosystem services\, environmental quality\, and human health. They play essential roles in making informed p olicy decisions\, management practices and interventions Therefore\, the s election of these SHIs is critical as they should serve specific objective (s)\, notably\, targeted at reflecting the condition or performance of the soil’s capacity to provide specific functions or ecosystem services. Th ese issues further highlight the need for careful selection and potential aggregation of these indicators in guiding future policy decisions and imp roving sustainable environmental practices short and long term. Four disti nct frameworks for selecting and evaluating SHIs are identified and critic ally examined\, highlighting their role as standard benchmarks and value f rameworks for soil quality assessment. This study also addressed the impor tance of establishing reliable thresholds and assessment approaches to eva luate soil capacity in delivering essential ecosystem functions\, includin g nutrient cycling\, climate change mitigation\, and sustainable food prod uction. Because of the increasing importance of soils in achieving sustain able development goals\, robust\, transparent\, and efficient monitoring s ystems are necessary to assess changes in soil condition over time. Effect ive soil health assessment provides critical information for informing lan d management decisions and ensuring that soils continue to deliver the eco system services necessary for environmental and societal well-being. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Evaluation of New Metrics for the selection of soil health indicato rs - Vince Chukwu URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/KNM3AW/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-D7KKT3@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T151500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T153000 DESCRIPTION:Soil health is now being measured with increasing speed through sensors\, remote sensing\, artificial intelligence\, and digital monitori ng platforms. This is important progress. However\, one critical issue rem ains: many soil health indicators are still interpreted using fixed benchm arks and temperate-region assumptions. These assumptions may not work well in tropical agricultural landscapes\, where highly weathered soils\, acid ity\, aluminium toxicity\, rapid organic matter turnover\, intense rainfal l\, and unstable biological activity strongly affect soil function.\n\nThi s oral presentation argues that soil health should not be treated as a fix ed score\, but as a dynamic condition shaped by soil chemistry\, soil biol ogy\, water movement\, climate stress\, crop demand\, and management histo ry. For tropical and Global South systems\, soil health assessment must mo ve from simple monitoring toward soil intelligence.\n\nThe presentation in troduces the SHE™ Soil Intelligence Framework and the Soil Intelligence Pyramid as practical concepts for linking soil indicators with field decis ions\, regenerative agriculture\, ESG reporting\, and soil governance. It also presents a 5-Sensor Model for reading soil function through interacti ng physical\, chemical\, biological\, hydrological\, and management signal s.\n\nThe session will highlight why universal soil health metrics can bec ome misleading when they are applied without local calibration. Special at tention will be given to tropical acid soils\, biological resilience\, and the need for adaptive thresholds rather than static benchmarks.\n\nThe pr esentation concludes by showing how AI-enabled soil intelligence can suppo rt more credible soil monitoring\, geospatial MRV\, regenerative agricultu re verification\, and policy-linked soil health systems. The goal is to co ntribute a tropical and Global South perspective to the development of mor e practical\, inclusive\, and scientifically defensible soil health indica tors. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater II SUMMARY:From Soil Monitoring to Soil Intelligence: Building Governance-Read y AI Systems for Tropical Agricultural Landscapes - SUZIE HARYANTI HUSAIN URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/D7KKT3/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-YDNNYJ@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T161500 DESCRIPTION:Accurate\, scalable estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) and clay content from remote sensing data is crucial for monitoring soil heal th at large continental scales. Standard baseline methods such as PLSR\, S VR\, Random Forest\, Gradient Boosting etc. struggle to exploit the inhere nt relationship between spectral signatures and spatial neighborhoods of t he corresponding samples. In order to overcome this limitation\, we propos e MVHGCN\, a Multi-View Hypergraph Convolutional Network developed for joi nt SOC and clay content prediction from Sentinel-2 imagery.\n\nThe propose d architecture addresses three main drawbacks of standard approaches via t he following contributions. First\, hyperedges can capture higher-order re lationships between soil samples\, connecting pixels through both spectral or geographic similarity within a single cluster\, instead of decomposing those relationships into pairwise links. Second\, a multi-view formulatio n processes six spectral transforms of each sample (continuum-removal\, ab sorbance\, Savitzky-Golay derivatives\, SNV-normalized variants)\, encoded via a 1D-CNN\, as parallel views fused through a learned View-Based Atten tion Fusion module that adaptively weights each transform via an attention mechanism. Third\, the model operates on two parallel branches\, a global cosine-similarity branch and local multi-scale spatial branch (within-pix el and within-tile)\, which are fused at every block via a Cross-Talk blen ding unit\, so local geographic proximity and global spectral similarity c an be simultaneously exploited. Finally\, we introduce Adaptive Hypergraph Learning (AHL)\, an additional attention mechanism that refines incidence matrices during training\, and a multi-task head that predicts SOC and cl ay jointly under an uncertainty-weighted loss with learnable per-task vari ance. \n\nWe evaluate our approach on data from the LUCAS 2015 Topsoil sur vey matched to satellite-derived reflectance composites\, generated from m ulti-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery. The proposed model is compared against a series of 1) Standard machine learning methods (PLSR\, SVR\, Random Fores t\, Gradient Boosted Trees)\, a state-of-the-art 1D-CNN developed specific ally for estimation of soil-properties from remote sensing data\, and seve ral baseline graph and hypergraph networks. The results are reported on th e original target scale\, after inverting the log1p and z-score transforms . The proposed MVHGCN is consistently found to outperform all standard bas elines\, the respective graph and hypergraph base models\, as well as the state-of-the-art 1D-CNN model. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:A Multi-View Hypergraph Convolutional Network for Joint SOC and Cla y Prediction from Sentinel-2 Imagery - Konstantinos Karyotis\, Christos Ch adoulos URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/YDNNYJ/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-FLPJK7@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T161500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T163000 DESCRIPTION:SoilWise is a Horizon Europe Mission Soil project (2023–2027) building an open-access catalogue that brings together soil-related datas ets\, publications\, software\, and knowledge currently scattered across h undreds of European repositories\, project websites\, and aggregators. Rat her than hosting data itself\, SoilWise indexes metadata about resources h eld elsewhere and links back to the original sources\, providing a single discovery layer that respects the autonomy of existing data providers.\nTh is talk presents the platform by following the journey of a single soil me tadata record from publication to use. Tracing one record through the syst em\, we show how it is harvested from major European aggregators such as O penAIRE and CORDIS\; harmonised from its original format into a single com mon model\; validated for completeness and INSPIRE compliance\; augmented with standardised vocabulary concepts\, multilingual labels\, and link che cks\; and stored across a relational database\, a knowledge graph\, and a search index. The journey ends at the two user-facing tools: the SoilWise Finder\, a search-and-browse catalogue\, and the Soil Companion\, a soil-d omain chatbot that grounds its natural-language answers in catalogue recor ds and links back to its sources.\nThis single narrative gives the audienc e a clear mental model of how heterogeneous\, fragmented soil metadata is made coherently searchable across Europe — and where the FAIR principles work well in practice and where systemic gaps remain. The talk also looks ahead: the SoilWise Catalogue is designed to feed directly into the Europ ean Soil Observatory (EUSO) at the Joint Research Centre\, which is forese en to host and operate the platform beyond the project's lifetime\, keepin g the discovery layer growing as part of the European soil-observation eco system.\nThe talk is aimed at a broad audience\, researchers\, policy make rs\, Mission Soil participants\, and JRC/EUSO stakeholders\, interested in how European soil knowledge can be brought together and kept findable. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:SoilWise - Advancing a fair data and knowledge infrastructure for h ealthier soils in Europe - Radu Giurgiu\, Wannes De Man URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/FLPJK7/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-WYNQDN@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T163000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T164500 DESCRIPTION:Soil organic matter (SOM) underpins soil health and climate mit igation\, yet its internal dynamics remain difficult to assess at scale. I n particular\, partitioning soil organic carbon (SOC) into particulate (PO C) and mineral-associated (MAOC) fractions\, key to understanding carbon p ersistence\, is analytically demanding and rarely available in monitoring programmes. Here\, we propose a simple but powerful alternative: the fract ion of SOC in SOM (foc).\n\nWe synthesised 14 datasets comprising 9\,503 s oil observations across Europe and globally\, spanning mineral and organic soils\, croplands\, grasslands\, woodlands\, peatlands\, permafrost regio ns\, and seagrass habitats. Across this diverse gradient\, foc was remarka bly constrained (0.38–0.58)\, consistent with the carbon content of plan t inputs and processed organic matter\, and a consistent linear relationsh ip between SOC and SOM (mean slope ≈0.54).\n\nCrucially\, foc varied sys tematically with habitat and soil category\, forming a clear ecological an d biogeochemical gradient. Lowest values occurred in permafrost and marine sediments\, intermediate values in croplands and grasslands\, and highest values in semi-natural and woody systems. Organic soils showed higher foc values than mineral soils\, reflecting advanced decomposition and increas ed carbon density.\n\nLinking this indicator to soil functioning\, we demo nstrate that foc correlates with SOM fractions: higher foc values align wi th increased particulate organic carbon (POC)\, supporting its interpretat ion as a proxy for decomposition state and carbon stabilization pathways. This provides a practical route to infer POC and MAOC distributions withou t costly fractionation analyses.\n\nOur findings position foc as a scalabl e\, process-informed indicator of soil organic carbon dynamics that integr ates biological inputs\, decomposition\, and physical protection mechanism s. Because it can be derived from routine measurements of SOC and SOM\, fo c has immediate applicability for national soil monitoring\, land-use plan ning\, and evaluation of soil carbon policies. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:The fraction of carbon in soil organic matter as a national-scale s oil process indicator - Sabine Reinsch URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/WYNQDN/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-soil-health-now-2026-GSW97R@pretalx.earthmonitor.org DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T164500 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Athens:20261209T170000 DESCRIPTION:Soil pH indicates the level of acidity or alkalinity in the soi l environment\, influencing various biogeochemical and physical processes. Additionally\, soil pH levels are\ncrucial in determining the bioavailabi lity of elements such as iron\, aluminium\, and heavy metals which can be harmful. As such\, pH is an important soil health and\ndegradation indicat or. Although there is a well-established understanding of soil pH at local ized levels\, the spatial and temporal variations\, as well as significant \nthresholds at national and continental scales\, are not sufficiently doc umented. Here we analyse the European topsoil pH data (LUCAS) in combinati on with other soil\nproperties from the LUCAS survey\, to identify thresho lds and spatial patterns of soil pH across Europe in relation to soil heal th and degradation. At the European scale\nwe found: 1) the water balance\ , calculated as mean annual precipitation minus potential evapotranspirati on (MAP-PET)\, provides essential context to interpret soil\npH\; 2) the s hift from organic carbon-rich soils to those dominated by inorganic carbon is observed at a pH of about 7.2\, however\, soil moisture levels may be more\ncritical than pH for the accumulation of soil organic carbon\; 3) we identified three distinct clusters within the multivariate regression tre e: acidophiles (below pH\n5.2)\, neutrophiles (pH 5.2–6.9) and alkaliphi les (above pH 6.9)\, while optimum microbial diversity occurred between pH 6 and 7. Earthworm abundance\, as reported\nby the sWorm database\, is mo re nuanced and dependent on land use\; 4) risk of degradation by heavy met als cannot be captured by a single pH threshold. Finally\, we\nidentify so il pH thresholds that can aid policymakers in identifying regions that may require protection or intervention. DTSTAMP:20260825T144518Z LOCATION:Amphitheater I SUMMARY:Patterns and thresholds for soil pH across Europe in relation to so il health and degradation - Inma Lebron Robinson URL:https://pretalx.earthmonitor.org/soil-health-now-2026/talk/GSW97R/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR