Nature is a complex and interconnected network of life that supports us, encompassing habitats from large-scale ecosystems like dense forests and vast oceans to microscopic environments such as soil aggregates. It provides the essential resources and conditions necessary for all living organisms to flourish, offering us at the same time beauty, inspiration, and vital resources. As humans, we care deeply about protecting the environment, being grateful for what the planet gives us, and understanding and valuing the importance of nature as being vital for ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

What is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, that interact with each other and with their non-living environment, comprising air, water, soil, and climate. Together, these components form a complex, interconnected system where energy flows and nutrients cycle, supporting the survival and growth of all the organisms within it. Examples of ecosystems include forests, oceans, grasslands, freshwater lakes, and urban green spaces.

Thus, a balanced ecosystem means a sustainable habitat, and ecosystem services are essential for sustaining life and supporting economic activities. However, as pressures mount on various ecosystems, understanding the intricate relationships between soil organisms and these services becomes increasingly vital.

What do we do for nature?

At BIOservicES, we recognize the critical role soil organisms play in maintaining healthy and resilient ecosystems. Our work focuses on bridging the knowledge gap surrounding the relationships between soil biodiversity and the delivery of essential ecosystem services. We are committed to advancing sustainable land management by developing innovative tools, indicators, and incentives that highlight the importance of keystone soil organisms. Through our multidisciplinary approach, we aim to:

• Identify and monitor key soil organisms that underpin vital ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, pest control, soil formation, water retention, and climate regulation;
• Develop a toolbox of biological indicators based on data collected from diverse land uses and regions, facilitating informed land planning and decision-making.
• Assess the impact of climate change on soil functionality, especially in systems with low biodiversity, to ensure resilience under changing environmental conditions.
• Quantify the economic value of ecosystem services provided by soil organisms, including both marketed and non-marketed benefits, to promote investment and policy support.
• Create collaborative platforms for stakeholders to co-design innovative solutions and foster landscape-scale conservation efforts.
• Implement SMART targets and AI-driven analysis to monitor soil health, resilience, and adaptation strategies across public and private sectors.
• Engage stakeholders through strategic communication to raise awareness, promote soil biodiversity conservation, and embed soil health considerations into land-use policies.

Furthermore, through our case studies in different land use systems, we examine five of Europe’s nine biogeographical regions to identify key soil health challenges, which we will discuss in more detail below. Based on these insights, our ultimate goal is to propose targeted solutions at the end of the project.

The Alpine Region. Navigating unique soil health pressures

The Alpine region presents a complex mosaic of soil characteristics shaped by its diverse topography and geological history:

• On mountain slopes, soils tend to be shallow, often limited in depth due to erosion and the thinness of the soil layer. These soils are typically influenced by weathering of underlying rocks such as Mesozoic limestone and marl, resulting in mineral-rich but less developed profiles.
• The valleys are characterized by deeper alluvial deposits derived from the weathering of mountain rocks and transported by rivers like the Rhine. These alluvial soils are rich in nutrients, fertile, and well-suited for agriculture, supporting intensive land use.

Factors influencing soil organism diversity include:

• The availability of carbon and energy sources derived from plant biomass. Increased biomass from favorable conditions tends to support active and diverse soil communities, albeit temporarily dominated by fast-growing species.
• Stressors, such as drought or reduced plant growth, diminish organic inputs, leading to declines in sensitive decomposers and overall biodiversity. Long-term, however, a rich and diverse soil biota can develop if conditions stabilize.

The high altitude (up to 2000 meters) exposes soils to harsh climatic conditions, including lower temperatures, higher snowfall, and frost, which hinder soil development and microbial activity. The valleys, however, experience more moderate conditions but have been heavily altered by human activity and river dynamics, which impact soil stability and fertility.

The Atlantic Region. Urbanization and agricultural practices are under threat

Soil characteristics in the region where we organized the soil sampling campaign, Galicia (NW Spain), are highly influenced by diverse land uses and recent land transformations:

• Texture and composition. Presence of regosols, leptosols, technosols, and gleysols, reflecting diverse parent materials and land uses;
• Chemical attributes. Varying levels of nutrients, contamination, and organic matter, influenced by land management and historical activity;
• Physical features. Soils are prone to compaction due to high rainfall and steep slopes, with some areas exhibiting significant degradation or contamination, which impacts soil structure and plant establishment.

Moreover, soil organism diversity in Galicia is shaped by multiple environmental and anthropogenic factors, such as:

• Land management. Organic and sustainable practices enhance biodiversity, while intensive chemical use reduces it.
• Soil type and structure. Well-drained, nutrient-rich soils support diverse communities; degraded or contaminated soils may restrict certain organisms.
• Climatic and physical conditions. High moisture, slope, and compaction affect soil habitat stability, influencing the presence and activity of organisms.
• Human disturbance. Urban debris, pollution, and land abandonment create heterogeneous environments that can either hinder or unexpectedly support particular soil species.

Looking ahead, climate change poses significant risks to soil health and biodiversity in the Atlantic region. Increased temperatures, altered moisture regimes, and extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, threaten to disrupt soil structure and biological communities. Long-term experiments are essential for comprehensively understanding these impacts.

The Boreal Region. A struggle against nutrient Imbalances

The boreal zone in Latvia presents a unique landscape shaped primarily by post-Ice Age geological processes, with soils no older than 15,000 years. 

• The soils in this region are relatively young and primarily characterized by plains with low elevation, no more than 25 meters above sea level.
• The dominant soil types include peat, gley, and podzol soils, often associated with inland dune relief. Peat soils, classified as hydromorphic, develop under prolonged surface water influence, featuring peat layers thicker than 30 cm in natural conditions.
• Different land uses influence soil composition: wetland areas contain histosols, which are composed of muck and mucky peat, while forest, semi-natural, and agricultural lands often have peat rich in decomposed plant material, such as sedge, sphagnum, and wood. Human activities, particularly drainage and fertilization, significantly alter soil properties, and natural soil erosion processes often result in soil acidification and nutrient imbalances, and natural compaction of undisturbed peat occur.

Factors affecting the diversity of soil organisms:

• Soil organic matter is a crucial factor promoting biodiversity; higher organic content typically correlates with increased diversity of soil fauna, including earthworms and mesofauna.

• Hydrological conditions, particularly groundwater levels, have a significant impact on biological diversity. Elevated groundwater levels, common in histosols, tend to suppress soil organism diversity due to increased anaerobic conditions and reduced mineralization.
• Climate factors, such as short vegetation seasons and fluctuating soil moisture levels, also influence the populations of soil organisms. For example, soil biological diversity peaks in late summer and early autumn when humidity and temperatures are optimal; however, extreme weather events, such as storms, can temporarily disrupt these patterns.
• Human management practices, including forest harvesting and groundwater regulation, have a significant impact on soil health and biodiversity. Researchers should consider these effects when interpreting sampling results, as they can alter the natural relationships between soil conditions and biological diversity.

These findings highlight how soil conditions can evolve rapidly in response to environmental and management influences. In semi-natural areas, management practices such as groundwater regulation and forest harvesting have a significant impact on soil health; therefore, researchers should broaden the current assessment parameters to capture actual soil conditions accurately.

The Continental Region. Urban expansion and its consequences

The soils in the northern Eifel are predominantly influenced by the underlying parent rocks, with widespread clay-slate and greywacke formations.

• On slopes above limestone areas, rendzinas are typical – shallow, often stony soils that tend to dry out quickly due to their permeability;
• Typical soils at sampling sites include Cambisols, which exhibit weak soil horizon differentiation and occur across agricultural, semi-natural, and forested land uses, as well as Technosols, which are artificially constructed soils resulting from human activities such as urbanization and mining.
• The texture of soils varies from loamy to sandy-loamy, reflecting the influence of local parent material and land use, affecting water retention and aeration.

Factors influencing soil organism diversity, both positive and negative:

• Reducing management intensity, such as minimizing soil tillage and chemical inputs, promotes higher diversity of soil organisms by maintaining more natural soil conditions.
• The presence of diverse plant and animal communities provides a variety of organic matter sources and habitats for soil microbes, fungi, and invertebrates.
• Intensive land use, including the use of heavy machinery, frequent fertilization, industrialisation and urbanization, tends to homogenize soils, reduce habitat complexity, and decrease organism diversity.
• Soil compaction and pollution from traffic, industry, and agriculture limit the suitability of habitats for many soil organisms, leading to a decline in biodiversity.

Urban expansion and land use change pose ongoing challenges; however, careful planning, adaptability, and a comprehensive understanding of regional conditions can facilitate practical assessments of ecosystem services and sustainable land management strategies.

The Mediterranean Region. Balancing development and conservation

In the Mediterranean region, soils have distinct characteristics shaped by the region’s climatic and geographical conditions:

• Soils exhibit inherently low moisture levels, limiting vegetation growth;
• Typically characterized by low soil organic matter, resulting in weak soil structure;
• Highly sensitive to soil erosion due to their fragile nature.
• The arid and semi-arid climate contributes to these distinctive features, posing challenges for conservation and land use.

Key factors that can enhance soil organism diversity:

• Higher levels of soil organic matter can promote greater diversity among soil organisms.
• Increased plant diversity provides additional habitat and food sources, supporting a richer soil biota.
• Conversely, factors such as soil compaction, low moisture, and low organic matter decrease soil organism diversity;
• Urbanization and land use intensity can further reduce the variety and abundance of soil macrofauna.
• The harsh climatic conditions, notably decreasing precipitation and rising temperatures, also negatively impact the populations of soil organisms.

Recognizing these influences can guide strategies aimed at restoring and maintaining healthy soil ecosystems.

Instead of a conclusion, we can say that ecosystems are vital, intricate networks that sustain life by providing essential resources and services, from nutrient cycling to climate regulation. We did our best to highlight the critical importance of soil biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem health across diverse regions, each facing unique challenges such as climate change, urbanization, nutrient imbalances, and land management practices.

Through targeted research and innovative tools, the BIOservicES project aims to deepen our understanding of soil organisms and their contributions, promoting sustainable land use and conservation efforts. Protecting and enhancing soil biodiversity is fundamental for ensuring resilient, productive ecosystems that can support future generations. Recognizing the priceless value of nature’s services underscores the urgent need for responsible administration and informed policies to preserve our planet’s ecological integrity.