Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
monitoring programs are now run Europe-wide for agricultural soils under the
LUCAS monitoring programme
60
and for forest soils under the BIOSOIL
programme.
61
There is much scope for discussion as to how these stocks are
determined, but the approach lays the foundation for a quantifiable assessment
of soil stock and change, from which the impacts of management and
ecosystem service delivery can be determined. The following section focuses on
the Countryside Survey, examining soil stock and change for Great Britain.
d
n
1
r
2
n
g
|
1
3 National Soil Change, the Countryside Survey of
Great Britain
Determining drivers of soil change at national levels is key to understanding
sustainable soil ecosystem service delivery. Obtaining a national overview of all
habitats is also important for discriminating between change occurring due to
practices such as agriculture and change due to other natural or anthropogenic
drivers. Countryside Survey (CS) is a unique study or 'audit' of the natural
resources of the British countryside that aims to do this.
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The sampling
strategy for CS is based on a stratification of Great Britain (GB) into Institute
of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) Land Classes defined by the major environmental
gradients across the countryside.
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The sample is structured to give reliable
national statistics and to ensure that the range of different environments found
in GB is adequately represented. The sample consists of a set of 'sample
squares' measuring 1 km 6 1 km, selected randomly from the GB Ordnance
Survey grid within the various ITE Land Classes. The Survey has been carried
out at regular intervals since 1978 using consistent and rigorous scientific
methods. Monitoring of soil stocks (topsoil 0-15cm), and their change, has
been an important part of the program since 1978, and the number of soil
stocks monitored continues to grow to address policy questions of national
importance to the UK. Some of the key policy questions to be answered by the
latest survey in 2007 were:
N
al.
59
Can
the
loss
of
soil
C
(0-15cm)
as
reported
by
Bellamy
et
be
confirmed?
N
Has the recovery from acidification detected by CS in 1998 between 1978
and 1998 continued?
N
Can the trend of eutrophication of the countryside detected in the
vegetation also be detected in the soil using the mean total N concentration?
N
Can the trend of eutrophication of the countryside detected in the
vegetation also be detected in the soil using a more sensitive soil process
method for N?
N
Is the decline in atmospheric deposition of heavy metals as reported by the
Heavy Metals Monitoring Network reflected in soil metal concentrations
measured in the CS?
N
Does the CS provide any evidence to indicate that there has been a loss of
soil biodiversity as has been stated by the European Union?
