Articles
A citizen science program to evaluate soil biological quality in urban areas
Article number
1374_18
Pages
141 – 148
Language
English
Abstract
Urban soil can offer a large variety of functions linked to plant growth, carbon storage and water infiltration.
Such functions are key components to consider in order to develop resilient and enjoyable cities.
The urban soil quality is directly linked with their biological activity because soil living organisms contribute to soil functioning via decomposition, nutrient cycling, physical fertility, etc.
Many threats can impair soil biodiversity in urban areas such as fragmentation, compaction and/or pollution.
However, there is a gap of knowledge limiting our ability to predict soil biodiversity patterns across urban green spaces and to identify the management type and practices promoting soil biodiversity.
Therefore, there is a need at a densification of biodiversity data in order to develop indicators of soil biological quality at large scale and long-term.
The citizen science represents a promising approach to gather such data but also to promote public awareness about the importance of soil biodiversity.
Here, we present the participatory monitoring of soil biological quality program, entitled QUBS that allows various observers to choose from a selected number of protocols to investigate the living fauna in their soil.
The program has been launched in autumn 2022 and we present here its feature as well some preliminary results about the participation.
Such functions are key components to consider in order to develop resilient and enjoyable cities.
The urban soil quality is directly linked with their biological activity because soil living organisms contribute to soil functioning via decomposition, nutrient cycling, physical fertility, etc.
Many threats can impair soil biodiversity in urban areas such as fragmentation, compaction and/or pollution.
However, there is a gap of knowledge limiting our ability to predict soil biodiversity patterns across urban green spaces and to identify the management type and practices promoting soil biodiversity.
Therefore, there is a need at a densification of biodiversity data in order to develop indicators of soil biological quality at large scale and long-term.
The citizen science represents a promising approach to gather such data but also to promote public awareness about the importance of soil biodiversity.
Here, we present the participatory monitoring of soil biological quality program, entitled QUBS that allows various observers to choose from a selected number of protocols to investigate the living fauna in their soil.
The program has been launched in autumn 2022 and we present here its feature as well some preliminary results about the participation.
Authors
R. Dagois, S. Barantal, A. Auclerc, A. Dozières, R. Julliard, L. Turcati, A. Vergnes
Keywords
soil biological quality, diversity, urban soils, citizen science, urban ecology
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