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1 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Joint Research Centre (JRC) 1 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] 1 2 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting What is Extinction? 2 • 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 2 3 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 3 4 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Biodiversity Losses Amphibians Mammals 4 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 4 100 5 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Why We Need to Protect Soil Biodiversity? 5 • 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 5 6 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting What We Have to Protect? 6 • Taxonomic diversity • Functional diversity 6 7 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 6 Wild food 180 Biocontrol of pests 257 Pollinators 200 Total 1,542 van der Putten et al., 2004, after Pimentel Service 7 7 8 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting The Unknown Value of Soil Biodiversity 8 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. 8 9 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting The Cataclysmic Implications of Fungi Extinction 9 • 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 9 10 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Decline in Soil Biodiversity: Some Evidence 10 •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 10 11 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 11 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 11 12 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 12 • 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 12 13 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Climate Change 13 “On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground” (Publication by Arrehenius, 1896) 13 Ciro Gar di Alta Val Ridanna, 2006 Northern Italy 14 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 14 EU project GLORIA-Europe 14 15 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Marching Towards the Poles 15 Parmesan C. et al. (1999), Nature 399:579-583 Extending northern boundary 1970-1997 Extending northern boundary + rectracting southern boundary 15 16 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Ecosystem Disruption 1973 16 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) 16 17 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Ecosystem Disruption - Sealing 17 1990 = 100 115 110 Built-up area Population 105 100 95 1990 1995 2000 17 18 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Susceptibility to Soil Erosion 18 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 18 Source: PESERA Project, JRC – Kirby et al., 2004 19 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting 19 Ciro Gardi Soil Compaction 19 20 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Potential Loss of Organic Carbon 20 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 20 21 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Soil Contamination 21 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 21 22 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Occurrence of Threats THREATS 22 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 22 23 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Conclusions 23 • 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 23 24 Chicago, 12-16 February 2009 – AAAS Annual Meeting Karl Ritz 24 Marcin Pawinski Steve Hopkin Lewis J Deacon Thank You for Your Attention !! 24