Ongoing research is essential for deepening our understanding of the relationship between soil organisms and the delivery of various soil ecosystem functions and services across different scales. A key component of this research is soil sampling, and consistent sampling across our European experimental sites is critical for evaluating the impact of varying regions, climates, soil types, and stressors on soil health.
For this reason, WP 2 – Soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services across biogeographic areas and land uses has established standardised soil sampling procedures for each indicator, including microbiota, nematodes, mesofauna, macrofauna, soil structure, and physicochemical properties. Beyond soil sampling procedure, soil storage and shipment, different analysis types, were defined to ensure a cohesive approach for all of the experimental sites.