GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Proposed activities should:

• Increase knowledge on the properties (e.g. soil structure) as well as chemical, physical and biological process dynamics and their relationships in subsoils, and how these contribute to overall soil health and the delivery of ecosystem services such as carbon storage and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, water retention, nutrient provision, crop productivity, and habitat for soil biodiversity. Amongst others, activities should explore the potential of modelling to help capturing the complexity of processes and dynamics in subsoils.
• Identify pressures on the subsoil that impair a range of soil functions and ecosystem services, as well as drivers for subsoil degradation.
• Identify indicators to assess subsoil driven changes in soil ecosystem functioning.
• Identify the potential of subsoils to store and maintain carbon, and to contribute to mitigating other GHG (e.g. N2O) emissions. Work should take into account potential barriers and the synergies and trade-offs between climate regulation and other ecosystem services, such as the support to biodiversity. Consideration should be given to existing and future land use options.
• Identify existing as well as develop and test sustainable management practices to improve the conditions and functions of subsoils (e.g. water retention, nutrient provision, habitat for soil biodiversity, carbon storage). Activities should be undertaken in close cooperation with land managers and allow for wide demonstration and dissemination of practices.
• Develop tools and methods for risk assessment as regards subsoil degradation, reflecting diverse soil uses. Demonstrate practical approaches for the use of these tools and methods by land managers and policy-decision makers.
• Establish robust methods to spatially assess and monitor the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of subsoils and to improve data collection and use. For this, sampling methods for subsoil should be harmonised in order to provide comparable and reliable data. The long-term storage and access to subsoil data should be done in close collaboration with the European Soil Observatory (EUSO).

Proposals should consider various soil types and land uses and climatic/biogeographical regions in the EU and Associated Countries. With regard to agriculture, work should draw on sustainable practices, applied across a range of farming systems and benefit both conventional and organic farming.