Soil indicators may be used for assessing both land
suitability for restoration and the effectiveness of restoration
strategies in restoring ecosystem functioning and services. In
this review paper, several soil indicators, which can be used
to assess the effectiveness of ecological restoration strategies
in dryland ecosystems at different spatial and temporal
scales, are discussed. The selected indicators represent the
different viewpoints of pedology, ecology, hydrology, and
land management. Two overall outcomes stem from the review.
(i) The success of restoration projects relies on a proper
understanding of their ecology, namely the relationships between
soil, plants, hydrology, climate, and land management
at different scales, which are particularly complex due to the
heterogeneous pattern of ecosystems functioning in drylands.
(ii) The selection of the most suitable soil indicators follows
a clear identification of the different and sometimes competing
ecosystem services that the project is aimed at restoring.
Autores y editores
Costantini, Edoardo
Branquinho, Cristina
Nunes, Alice
Schwilch, Gudrun
Stavi, Ilan
Valdecantos, Alejandro
Zucca, Claudio
EGU, the European Geosciences Union, is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. It was established in September 2002 as a merger of the European Geophysical Society (EGS) and the European Union of Geosciences (EUG), and has headquarters in Munich, Germany.
Proveedor de datos
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) was established in 1977. It is one of 15 such centers supported by the CGIAR. ICARDA’s founding mandate to promote agricultural development in the dry areas of developing countries remains highly relevant today.