Considering soils in ecosystem service evaluation Demands, examples and challenges Links4Soils – Considering soils in Ecosysetm Service evaluation Imprint What this is about? This report provides an overview about existing research and approaches to link soils with ecosystem services with a special focus on the Alps. Project and funding Links4Soils (ASP399); EU Interreg Alpine Space WP, Task and Deliverable WPT1 AT1.3 (D.T1.3.1) Lead University of Innsbruck, Institute of Geography, Innrain 52f, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria Authors Elisabeth Schaber1, Michele D’amico2, Michele Freppaz2, Csilla Hudek2, Dorothea Palenberg3 Emanuele Pintaldi2, Silvia Stanchi2, Clemens Geitner1 1 University of Innsbruck, 2 University of Turin, 3 blue! advancing european projects GbR How to cite Schaber, E., D’Amico, M., Freppaz, M., Hudek, C., Palenberg, D., Pintaldi, E., Stanchi, S. and Geitner, C. (2019). Considering soils in ecosystem service evaluation – demands, examples and challenges. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Borut Vrščaj (Agricultural Institute of Slovenia), Andreja Nève Repe (Slovenian Forest Service) and Ludwig Pertl (Municipality of Kaufering) for reviewing the report. Date October 2019 Summary for policymakers How can I make my institution or community climate-resilient and fit for the future? Your aim is good because it will help to improve the environmental performance of your institution, e.g. a municipal/regional authority or community. Furthermore, the integration of environmental aspects will also help you create a robust and future-oriented economic framework for your further actions. A simple way to integrate environmental aspects into your decision-making is called the “ecosystem service approach”. This is based on the fact that the environment offers many services that are strongly needed but not valued economically. Since the mid-1990s, the “ecosystem service approach“ has driven a new way of measuring the value of these services (e.g. water purification) and integrating the values into a new method of cost-benefit analysis. Why is soil so important for performing a sound ecosystem service analysis? Compared to other ecosystem parts, the role of soils is generally less visible and overlooked, but extremely relevant. The ecosystem services provided by soils ensure that we can rely on crucial conditions for the production of food and materials, the regulation of the local and global climate, and the water and nutrient cycles. Soils are cross-cutting and influence the provision of almost all ecosystem services. And we should not forget that soils steer the biodiversity of our lands. In a nutshell, the ecosystem services provided and supported by soils should be taken into account even if you make decisions that are not directly related to soil. Why is this especially relevant in Alpine areas? In addition to processes by which soils are threatened in non-mountainous regions, the Alpine environment puts additional strains on soils due to the much slower soil development, steep slopes, promoted erosion, harsh environmental conditions, and the disproportionate development of infrastructure and housing in flat areas in valleys. How can I eliminate my knowledge gap regarding soil quickly, in an up-to-date manner, and with information that takes into account my practical challenges? Soils are extremely diverse, develop over time, and are therefore very complex. Scientists and experts are doing their best to grasp and categorize the many soil ecosystem services and to develop a method for assessing them in such a way that the results can be used quickly and are ready for implementation. Due to the fact that soils are still widely underrepresented in environmental policy, it is recommended to use networks that try to bridge the gap between scientific findings and practical policy implementation in all sectors. Have a look at the expert platform of the Alpine Soil Partnership (www.alpinesoils.eu), which has been created to transform emerging knowledge into usable methods. What are the main barriers for science that need to be resolved in the future? The difficult soil information situation remains the biggest challenge. Although only a handful of soil parameters would enable an evaluation of the contribution of soils to the Caring for Soils – Where Our Roots Grow 1 Links4Soils – Considering soils in Ecosysetm Service evaluation delivery of ecosystem services, even those are often not available or are only at a scale or quality that is not suitable to the evaluation purpose. Information on the underlying “Links4Soils“ project In Links4Soils we use the concept of soil ecosystem services to communicate the important role of soils in the Alps in general. Through case studies and tailored approaches, we show how important the consideration of soil is by quantifying soil-based ecosystem services. Furthermore, we have established a database of soil metadata in order to promote the inclusion of soil data in ecosystem service evaluations by other experts and stakeholders to promote better soil protection and sustainable soil management in different sectors. 2 Caring for Soils – Where Our Roots Grow Abstract Ecosystem service (ES) concepts have been developed over the past two decades and are today common in both research and decision-making processes. Although the substantial role of soils was discussed already in one of the first publications on this topic, soils are generally underrepresented in ES research, evaluation frameworks, and case studies. This review provides an overview of the existing ES approaches and classification systems and describes in detail to what extent soils are taken into consideration. Special focus is devoted to Alpine regions. We have also elaborated an overview of the available and required soil data in order to properly implement soils into the ES approach. Therefore, we analysed the indicators used in existing studies. The review of the relevant literature clearly revealed that soils are underrepresented within ES assessments. Furthermore, hardly any ES studies including soil information were found in the Alps and only a few from other mountainous areas. We also identified a lack of soil data and metadata specifically for the Alpine regions. A brief overview is presented regarding how those gaps can be closed and what contribution we can make within the remit of the Alpine Space project “Links4Soils”. Caring for Soils – Where Our Roots Grow 3 Links4Soils – Considering soils in Ecosysetm Service evaluation Content Imprint____________________________________________________________________ 0 Summary for policymakers ___________________________________________________ 1 Abstract ___________________________________________________________________ 3 1 Soils in the Alps __________________________________________________________ 5 2 The ecosystem service concept _____________________________________________ 7 3 Soils and ecosystem services – concept development and approaches _____________ 13 3.1 Existing approaches and examples from mountain areas _______________________ 13 3.2 Development and recent approaches (worldwide) ____________________________ 13 3.3 Existing approaches and examples from the Alps _____________________________ 20 4 Required and desired data ________________________________________________ 23 5 Knowledge gaps on soil-based ecosystem services _____________________________ 27 6 Contribution of the Links4Soils project ______________________________________ 29 References________________________________________________________________ 31 List of tables ______________________________________________________________ 40 List of figures ______________________________________________________________ 40 About the Links4Soils project _________________________________________________ 41 4 Caring for Soils – Where Our Roots Grow 1 Soils in the Alps On a global scale, mountain soils sustain food production and support the life of ca. 900 million people (da Silva 2015: v). About 70 million people, living in the Alpine space area (defined by the EU; it covers the Alps and close-by regions) and thus, receiving water and other resources directly from the mountain range, depend on Alpine environments and its soils (Price et al 2011; Heimsath 2014). Under ‘Alpine soils’ we understand the entire range of soils from the valleys to the summits that are found in the Alpine space area. These soils provide many and variegated soil functions, as they support agricultural and forest production and biodiversity, retain and purify water, provide nutrients for vegetation, serve as carbon storage, contribute to local cooling and function as natural or cultural archives (Alpine Convention 1998). However, mountain soils are also intrinsically fragile and easily degraded by erosion, loss of organic matter, nutrients and fertility, and acidification. Soil degradation is enhanced by climate change, deforestation, or excessive agriculture including overgrazing (Geitner et al. 2017). This degradation has a deep impact on mountain ecosystems, as soil is a limited resource, which develops very slowly because of cold climate confining both the speed of weathering and biological activity, and morphodynamic processes at slopes (Alewell et al. 2015). Soil can only persist at a given location if erosion is not removing it faster than it is being produced (Heimsath 2014; Alewell et al. 2015). Soils in the Alps are strongly differentiated according to the parent material’s lithology microclimate, topography, surface age, vegetation