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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:20260825T194003Z
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/
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