An estimate of potential threats levels to soil biodiversity in EU

作者：Ciro Gardi, Simon Jeffery, Andrea Saltelli · 发表于：Global Change Biology · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.1111/gcb.12159 · 被引用次数：132 · 研究领域：Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Invertebrate Taxonomy and Ecology、Plant Ecology and Soil Science

Life within the soil is vital for maintaining life on Earth due to the numerous ecosystem services that it provides. However, there is evidence that pressures on the soil biota are increasing which may undermine some of these ecosystem services. Current levels of belowground biodiversity are relatively poorly known, and so no benchmark exists by which to measure possible future losses of biodiversity. Furthermore, the relative risk that each type of anthropogenic pressures places on the soil biota remains unclear. Potential threats to soil biodiversity were calculated through the use of a composite score produced from data collected from 20 international experts using the budget allocation methodology. This allowed relative weightings to be given to each of the identified pressures for which data were available in the European Soil Data Centre (ESDC). A total of seven different indicators were used for calculating the composite scores. These data were applied through a model using ArcGIS to produce a spatial analysis of composite pressures on soil biodiversity at the European scale. The model highlights the variation in the composite result of the potential threats to soil biodiversity. A sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the intensity of land exploitation, both in terms of agriculture and use intensity, as well as in terms of land-use dynamics, were the main factors applying pressure on soil biodiversity. It is important to note that the model should not be viewed as an...