Soil degradation has become a major environmental concern. Today, 62% of European soils are affected by at least one degradation process, largely driven by land sealing and unsustainable farming practices (Mason et al. 2023; EUSO 2024). Conservation Agriculture (CA) is often promoted as a promising alternative, combining sustainable production with improved soil quality (Chabert et Sarthou 2020; T ...[Read More]
Plant carbon allocation, soil nutrient availability and the mycorrhizal business
The soil market: plants spend some of their carbon on buying nutrients from mycorrhizae Similar to the way that we take up carbon (C) through the food we eat, plants absorb C in the form of CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and use it to build sugars (Fig. 1). After having a good snack, our body decides where to send the C it has just gained: should I use it to grow muscles (or fat), ...[Read More]
The present and future of soil conservation in Europe
European agricultural soils are degraded and facing several threats. The EU´s Common Agricultural Policy is a potentially powerful tool for soil conservation. Scientific community now calls on the EU to take advantage of it.
Soil is a fragile and finite natural resource that must be carefully managed and protected to ensure future food and fiber provision as well as delivery of many other ecosystem services such as water purification or flood regulation [1]. Soil health and preservation at global scales has been receiving increasing attention, for example, in discussions at the 2019 UN climate conference, COP25 in Mad ...[Read More]