Citation:
Saby,N.P.A.; Bellamy,P.H.; Morvan,X.; Arrouays,D.; Jones,R.J.A.;
Verheijen,F.G.A.; Kibblewhite,M.G.; Verdoodt,A.; Üveges,J.B.; Freudenschuß,A.;
Simota,C.; Will European soil monitoring networks be able to detect changes in
topsoil? Global Change Biology, Volume 14, Issue 10, Date: October 2008, Pages:
2432-24
Abstract:
Within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, articles 3.3
and 3.4 stipulate that some voluntary activities leading to an additional carbon
(C) sequestration in soils could be accounted as C sinks in national greenhouse
gas inventories. These additional C stocks should be verifiable. In this work,
we assess the feasibility of verifying the effects of changes in land use or
management practice on soil organic carbon (SOC), by comparing minimum
detectable changes in SOC concentration for existing European networks suitable
for soil monitoring. Among the tested scenarios, the minimum detectable changes
differed considerably among the soil-monitoring networks (SMNs). Considerable
effort would be necessary for some member states to reach acceptable levels of
minimum detectable change for C sequestration accounting. For SOC, a time
interval of about 10 years would enable the detection of some simulated large
changes in most European countries. In almost all cases, the minimum detectable
change in SOC stocks remains greater than annual greenhouse gases emissions.
Therefore, it is unlikely that SMNs could be used for annual national C
accounting. However, the importance of organic C in soil functions, and as an
indicator of soil condition and trends, underlines the importance of
establishing effective national SMNs.
