Soils4Anthropocene (S4A), a new strategic project at iDiv since October 2024, aims to link together regional- and EU-scale projects and collaborators in soil ecological, biodiversity, and ecosystem function (BEF) research across iDiv and its associated institutions, including UFZ, UL and FU Berlin.
With support from iDiv and in collaboration with the European Soil Data Centre from the European Commission’s Joint Research Center, several sampling campaigns were launched to assess European soil functions, as well as other collaborations with other global initiatives, such as Global Crop Microbiome, Biodesert, iSBio, among others.
The Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (Soil BON) is a major sub-project within S4A that is starting its second-sampling campaign this spring. It is led by Nico Eisenhauer (iDiv, UL) and the Soil BON coordination team, Lise Thouvenot and myself (both iDiv and UL). Hundreds of sampling kits are currently being shipped to volunteer soil provider partners to sample soils on almost every continent on Earth. By sampling and comparing multiple biotic and abiotic parameters of soils in protected and unprotected ecosystems on Earth, Soil BON aims to provide researchers and policymakers with evidence of the efficacy of current biodiversity conservation practices and frameworks in protecting soils and soil biodiversity.
Sounds interesting? The iDiv Soil Ecology Taproot 2.0 is a renewed effort to bring together iDiv researchers interested in S4A projects, collaborations, and data interpretation for BEF science, science policy development, and biodiversity conservation. The Taproot’s first meeting is online on 11 March 2025 from 13:00-14:30. Join the Taproot to receive a link for the upcoming meeting.
Contact: monica.farfan@idiv.de