Download Extinction is for ever: what are we losing from the soil?

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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
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The European Commission’s
Research-Based Policy Support Organisation
Extinction is for ever:
what are we losing from the soil?
Ciro Gardi
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
Institute for Environment and Sustainability
[email protected]
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
What is Extinction?
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• Species extinction is a natural process
• The natural rate of extinction is approximately 12
species/year
• We are currently experiencing the 6th Mass Extinction,
losing 15,000-30,000 species every year
• Soil organisms are not excluded from this process
• This represents one of the main threats to the future of
the Earth
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Extinction and Endangerment?
The Monte Verde
golden toad:
Extinct
Edith’s Checkerspot
Butterfly: Moved
Grinnellia:
Extinct
Tectella patellaris:
locally extinct
Projection: 25% of world species will be extinct by 2050 (climate change + habitat
fragmentation)
Thomas et al. (2004), Nature 427:145-148. 3
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Biodiversity Losses
Amphibians
Mammals
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Birds
Soil biota
Habitat loss and degradation
Habitat loss and degradation
Over-exploitation
Over-exploitation
Over-exploitation
Over-exploitation
Invasive species
Invasive species
Invasive species
Invasive species
Human disturbance
Human disturbance
Human disturbance
Human disturbance
???
Pollution
Pollution
Pollution
Pollution
???
Natural disasters
Natural disasters
Natural disasters
Natural disasters
Change in native species
dynamics
Change in native species
dynamics
Change in native species
dynamics
Change in native species
dynamics
Incidental mortality
Incidental mortality
Incidental mortality
Incidental mortality
Disease
Disease
Disease
Disease
Persecution
Persecution
Persecution
Persecution
0
20
40
60
80
Habitat loss and degradation Habitat loss and degradation
100 0
20
40
60
80
100 0
20
40
60
80
100 0
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
20
40
60
80
Percentage of species affected
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100
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Why We Need to Protect Soil Biodiversity?
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• Economical/utilitarian reasons
• Ecological reasons
• Ethical reasons
“.. Everyday we use living organisms, and
without them we can’t live. And everyday we
take this great benefit for granted …..”
Saint Francis of Assisi, 1225
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
What We Have to Protect?
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• Taxonomic diversity
• Functional diversity
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
The Economic Value of Soil Biodiversity
World economic
benefits of biodiversity
(x US$109/year)
Waste recycling
760
Soil formation
25
Nitrogen transformations
90
Chemical detoxification
121
Biotechnology
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Wild food
180
Biocontrol of pests
257
Pollinators
200
Total
1,542
van der Putten et al., 2004, after Pimentel
Service
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
The Unknown Value of Soil Biodiversity
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Many scientist are looking at soil
biodiversity, especially in remote areas,
in an attempt to find the most promising
medicines for the future.
Crops are threatened by soil-borne disease which can
cause severe yield decreases and economic damage.
Soil biodiversity has the potential to limit the effects of
soil-borne diseases.
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
The Cataclysmic Implications of Fungi Extinction
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• Many species of trees cannot grow
without a symbiotic relationship with
certain soil-based fungi such as
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)
•Invasive plant species, such as
garlic mustard, is causing a decline
of AMF in many native hardwood
forests in North America
• Mass extinction of soil-fungi would
be the corollary to a mass extinction
of trees in both tropical and
temperate settings
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Decline in Soil Biodiversity: Some Evidence
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•Strict records of mushrooms species have been kept in
Europe since 1912
•Data show a sharp decline in mushroom diversity (e.g. a
65% decrease in mushroom species in The Netherlands
over a 20 year period)
•Swiss Federal Environment Office has published the firstever “Red List” of mushrooms detailing 937 known
species facing possible extinction in the country
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Functional Redundancy
High levels of
functional redundancy
exist. E.g. Breakdown
of non-recalcitrant
organic matter by
many species of soil
invertebrates, fungi
and bacteria
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No Functional redundancy
exists. Loss of this part of the
community means complete
loss of this function. E.g.
breakdown of some highly
recalcitrant or xenobiotic
compounds
Some levels of function
redundancy exists. E.g.
Nitrogen fixation by
Rhizobium,
Cyanobacteria,
actinomycetes
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
DPSIR Framework
•Increase of human population
•Change of life style
Energy consumption
Land use change
Land use intensity
Agricultural intensity
Dissipative use of
chemicals
GMO use, trade and
release
Globalization
Mobility
infrastructures
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• SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
•Environmental policy
•Soil protection
Responses
Driving
Forces
Impact
Pressures
Climate change
Land use change
Habitat disruption
Soil organic matter decline
Soil erosion
Soil compaction
Soil sealing
Soil pollution
Human intensive exploitation
GMO pollution
Invasive species
Habitat fragmentation
• CHANGE OF THE
ECOLOGICAL STRUCTURE
•Change of ecosystem
functions
•Loss of ecosystem goods
and services
State
SOIL BIODIVERSITY
DECLINE
• Loss of biological diversity
• Reduction of soil organisms
quantity
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Climate Change
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“On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the
Air upon the Temperature of the Ground”
(Publication by Arrehenius, 1896)
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Ciro
Gar
di
Alta Val Ridanna, 2006
Northern Italy
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Alpine vegetation
Climate Change
C
B
A
?
Temperature
C
B
A
C
B
A
C
B
A
C
B
A
?
C
B
A
Observed displacement:
1-4 m/10 years
Grabherr G. et al. (1994), Nature 369:448
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EU project GLORIA-Europe
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Marching Towards the Poles
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Parmesan C. et al. (1999), Nature 399:579-583
Extending northern boundary
1970-1997
Extending northern boundary +
rectracting southern boundary
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Ecosystem Disruption
1973
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1991
1999
Gilberto Câmara -Director for Earth Observation, National Institute for Space Research, Courtesy: INPE/OBT
•Land use change
and the
consequent habitat
and ecosystem
disruption, is
probably the main
threat to
biodiversity
•Among the soil
biota, the greatest
effects are be seen
most quickly on
soil macro and
mesofauna (Wall
et al. 2001)
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Ecosystem Disruption - Sealing
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1990 = 100
115
110
Built-up
area
Population
105
100
95
1990
1995
2000
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Susceptibility to Soil Erosion
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This map provides a complete
picture of the erosion risk for the
27 member states. It is derived
from the Pan European Soil
Erosion Risk Assessment
(PESERA) and the RUSLE
(Revised Universal Soil
Loss Equation) model for Finland
and Sweden
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Source: PESERA Project, JRC – Kirby et al., 2004
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
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Ciro
Gardi
Soil Compaction
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Potential Loss of Organic Carbon
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The potential of soil organic
carbon (SOC) loss refers to
the amount of SOC (in tC ha-1)
that can be lost by a given Soil
Typological Unit within a
bioclimatic region.
The potential of SOC loss is
calculated from the equation:
Potential of SOC loss = Mean
SOC - Min SOC
Source: SOCO Project, JRC
Stolbovoy et al., 2008
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Soil Contamination
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This map shows the trend to find
higher cadmium concentrations in
the UK, Ireland, North of
France, Belgium, The Netherlands,
central Germany, Slovakia, Czech
Republic and Hungary. However,
the estimated cadmium values are
below the most limiting threshold
value of 1 ppm for agricultural soils.
Source: European Soil Data Center,
JRC
L d t l 2007
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Occurrence of Threats
THREATS
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DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
FAST GROWING
COUNTRIES
+
++
++
++
++
++
+
+
++
-/+
++
++
Soil compaction
+
-
++
Soil organic matter decline
+
++
++
Soil sealing
+
+
++
Invasive species
+
++
++
GMO
-
++
++
Habitat disruption
(Land use change, land use intensity, Climate change)
Climate change
Habitat fragmentation
Soil erosion
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Conclusions
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• Soil biodiversity and the ecosystem services which it
provides are vital to global functioning
• To pay for these services to be performed would be very
expensive, where it is even possible
• Quantifying threats, both the dangers that they pose and
the probabilities of them occurring, is vital to allow
effective environmental policies
• Accurate quantification of threats requires an increased
understanding of soil biodiversity at all scales
• EU Soil Thematic Strategy
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Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting
Karl Ritz
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Marcin Pawinski
Steve Hopkin
Lewis J Deacon
Thank You for Your Attention !!
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