https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2020.1765
Improving soil and water conservation and ecosystem services by sustainable soil management practices: From a global to an Italian soil partnership
Published: 16 December 2020
Abstract Views: 3198
PDF: 918
HTML: 112
HTML: 112
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify the need to restore degraded soils in order to improve productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. The aim is to support food production, store and supply clean water, conserve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and improve soil resilience in a context of climate change. Within this framework, in order to achieve the SDGs and to correct land management in the long-term, soil management is considered mandatory. The reduction of land degradation should be based on various sustainable soil management practices that improve and maintain soil organic matter levels, increase water infiltration, and improve soil water management. This technical review - a policy paper - summarizes the sustainable and territorial impact of soil degradation, including soil water erosion, from the global level to the European and National levels. Furthermore, with the aim of sharing ongoing soil and water management actions, instruments, and initiatives, we provide information on soil and water conservation activities and prospects in Italy.
Highlights
- Sustainable soil management practices should be implemented to address soil degradation.
- Impact of erosion on crop production reduces global crop yields by 0.4% per year.
- Improving the physical and chemical characteristics of soils can contribute to store and supply water to plants.
- Soil protection is a very important topic in the European Commission’s proposal for the CAP 2021-2027.
Altobelli F, Del Giudice T, 2017. The economic, social and environmental aspects for healthy soils: Assessment for Sustainable Development. Italian Review of Agricultural Economics, 72(1), 5-6. https://doi.org/10.13128/REA-21960
Altobelli F, Cimino O, Natali F, Orlandini S, Gitz V, Meybeck A, Dalla Marta A, 2018. Irrigated farming systems: using the water footprint as an indicator of environmental, social and economic sustainability. The Journal of Agricultural Science 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002185961800062X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S002185961800062X
Barnard R O, Van der Merwe A J, Nell J P, De Villiers M C, Van der Merwe GME, Mulibana N E, 2002. Technical Country report/in-depth study on problem soils including degraded soils in South Africa: Extent, present use, management and rehabilitation (with emphasis on salt-affected soils). 4th Meeting of FAO Global Network Integrated Soil Management for Sustainable Use of Salt-Affected Soils. Spain, Valencia.
Bouma, J 2019. Soil security in sustainable development. Soil Systems, 3, 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems3010005
Burghardt W, 2006. Soil Sealing and Soil Properties Related to Sealing. Geological Society, London.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.266.01.09
Costantini E A, Lorenzetti R, 2013. Soil degradation processes in the Italian agricultural and forest ecosystems. Italian Journal of Agronomy, e28-e28.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2013.e28
Giuseppe Lo Papa, Vanessa Palermo, Carmelo Dazzi, 2013. The “genetic erosion†of the soil ecosystem. International Soil and Water Conservation Research, Volume 1, Issue 1, Pages 11-18, ISSN 2095-6339. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-6339(15)30045-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-6339(15)30045-9
Döll P, Müller Schmied H, Schuh C, Portmann F T, Eicker A, 2014. Global-scale assessment of groundwater depletion and related groundwater abstractions: Combining hydrological modelling with information from well observations and GRACE satellites, Water Resour. Res., 50, 5698–5720.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015595
European Commission, 2006a. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European economic and social committee and the committee of the regions. Thematic strategy for soil protection. (COM(2006)231 final). European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
European Commission, 2006b. Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection - Summary of the impact assessment.
European Commission, 2011. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European parliament, the European economic and social committee and the committee of the regions. Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe. 20.9.2011. COM (2011) 571 final. European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
FAO and ITPS, 2015. Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR) – Main Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, Rome, Italy.
FAO and ITPS, 2018. Global Soil Organic Carbon Map (GSOC map) Technical Report. Rome. 162 pp.
FAO, 1981. World Soil Charter.
FAO, 2015. Revised World Soil Charter. [WWW Document]. URL http:// www.fao.org/soils-portal/policies-governance/en/.
FAO, 2017a.Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management (available in Italian). Filiberto Altobelli, Anna Benedetti, Manuela De Pace, Maria Grazia Piazza. FAO – CREA.[WWW Document]. http://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/I6874IT
FAO, 2017b. Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, Italy.
FAO, 2019a. FAO Food Balance Sheets. FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2019. Available online: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS (accessed on 28 May 2020).
FAO, 2019b. Soil erosion: the greatest challenge to sustainable soil management. Rome. 100 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
FAO, 2019c. The International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers. Rome.
FAO, 2020. The Global Bioenergy Partnership (FAO) [WWW Document]. http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1274929/
Field CB, Barros VR, Dokken DJ, Mach KJ, Mastrandrea MD, Bilir TE, Chatterjee M, Ebi KL, Estrada YO, Genova RC, Girma B, Kissel ES, Levy AN, MacCracken S, Mastrandrea PR, White LL (eds), 2014. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Working Group II Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 229–269.
Garbach K, Milder J C, DeClerck F A J, Montenegro de Wit M, Driscoll L, Gemmill-Herren B, 2017. Examining multi-functionality for crop yield and ecosystem services in five systems of agroecological intensification, International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 15:1, 11-28, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2016.1174810. 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2016.1174810
Jimenez Cisneros BE, Oki T, Arnell NW, Benito G, Cogley JG, Döll P, Jiang T, Mwakalila SS, 2014. Freshwater resources. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Jovanovic N, Pereira L S, Paredes P, Pôças I, Cantore V,, Todorovic M, 2020. A review of strategies, methods and technologies to reduce non-beneficial consumptive water use on farms considering the FAO56 methods. Agricultural Water Management, 239, 106267.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106267
JRC (Joint Research Centre), 2011. The state of soil in Europe. Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, p 78.
Keesstra, S. D., Bouma, J., Wallinga, J., Tittonell, P., Smith, P., Cerdà , A., Montanarella, L., Quinton, J. N., Pachepsky, Y., van der Putten, W. H., Bardgett, R. D., Moolenaar, S., Mol, G., Jansen, B., and Fresco, L. O, 2016. The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, SOIL, 2, 111–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-111-2016.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-111-2016
Langella G, Basile A, Giannecchini S, Moccia FD, Mileti FA, Munafó M, Pinto F, Terribile F, 2020. Soil Monitor: an internet platform to challenge soil sealing in Italy. Land Degradation & Development.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3628
FAO, 2011. The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture (SOLAW) – Managing systems at risk. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome and Earthscan, London.
Montanarella L, 2007. Trends in Land Degradation in Europe. In: Sivakumar M.V.K., Ndiang’ui N. (eds) Climate and Land Degradation. Environmental Science and Engineering (Environmental Science). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Montanarella L, Badraoui M, Chude V, Baptista Costa I D S, Mamo T, Yemefack M, ... & Zhang G L, 2015. Status of the World’s Soil Resources Main report.
Monteleone A, Marandola D, 2018. Una nuova architettura verde post 2020, in Magazine RRN, n. 4 2018, Rete Rurale Nazionale, ISSN 2532-8115.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, M.E.A., 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being. Synthesis.
Munafò M (ed.), 2020. Consumo di suolo, dinamiche territoriali e servizi ecosistemici. Edizione 2020. Report SNPA 15/20.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), 2001. Environmental indicators for agriculture - vol. 3: Methods and results, glossary, OECD Publ., Paris, France, 2:410.
Oldeman R, 2002. Assessment of Methodologies for Drylands Land Degradation Assessment. First Meeting of Technical Advisory Group and Steering Committee of the Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands. FAO, Rome, January 22 25. The Netherlands, Wageningen.
Oweis T Y, Prinz D, Hachum A Y, 2012. Water Harvesting for Agriculture in the Dry Areas. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/b12351
Panagos P, Meusburger K, Van Liedekerke M, Alewell C, Hiederer R, Montanarella L, 2014. Assessing soil erosion in Europe based on data collected through a European network.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2013.835701
Panini T, Torri D, Pellegrini S, Pagliai M, Sanchis M P S, 1997. A theoretical approach to soil porosity and sealing development using simulated rainstorms. Catena, 31:199-218.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(97)00039-8
Ring, I., Hansjürgens, B., Elmqvist, T., Wittmer, H., Sukhdev, P. 2010. Challenges in framing the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity: the TEEB initiative. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2(1-2), 15-26.
Haines-Young, R., Potschin, M. 2011. Common international classification of ecosystem services (CICES): 2011 Update. Nottingham: Report to the European Environmental Agency.
Scalenghe R, Ajmone Marsan F, 2009. The anthropogenic sealing of soils in urban areas, Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 90, Issues 1, Pages 1-10, ISSN 0169-2046, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.10.011.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.10.011
Siebert S, Döll P, 2010. Quantifying blue and green virtual water contents in global crop production as well as potential production losses without irrigation, J. Hydrol., 384, 198–217.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.07.031
Siebert S, Kummu M, Porkka M, Döll P, Ramankutty N, & Scanlon B R, 2015. A global data set of the extent of irrigated land from 1900 to 2005, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 1521–1545, doi: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1521-2015.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1521-2015
Singer M J, Shainberg I, 2004. Mineral soil surface crusts and wind and water erosion. Earth Surf. Process. Landform, 29, pp. 1065-1075.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1102
Singer, 2006. Physical degradation of soils. Certini G., Scalenghe R. (Eds.), Soils. Basic Concepts and Future Challenges, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, EU, pp. 223-232.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511535802.017
Smith, P., Powlson, D. S. (2007). Sustainability of soil management practices-a global perspective. In Soil Biological Fertility (pp. 241-254). Springer, Dordrecht.
United Nations, 2017. World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100. https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html.
Yigini Y, Olmedo G F, Reiter S, Baritz R, Viatkin K, Vargas R (eds), 2018. Soil Organic Carbon Mapping Cookbook 2nd edition. Rome, FAO. 220 pp.
How to Cite
Altobelli, F., Vargas, R., Corti, G., Dazzi, C., Montanarella, L., Monteleone, A., Caon, L., Piazza, M. G., Calzolari, C., Munafò, M. ., & Benedetti, A. (2020). Improving soil and water conservation and ecosystem services by sustainable soil management practices: From a global to an Italian soil partnership. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 15(4), 293–298. https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2020.1765
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.