Forest Focus - BioSoil project

Cambisol

Gleysoil

Histosol

Podzol

Background

Forest Focus Regulation (EC) N 2152/2003 was adopted by the European Commission to broaden the scope of the monitoring scheme from the protection of forests against atmospheric pollution and forest fires toward other environmental issues such as soils and forest biodiversity.

BioSoil is a demonstration project, part of the programme of the International Cooperative Programme on the Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests). This project will be a test for the development of operational soil monitoring at a large scale.

Background Information about BioSoil ^{(External PDF-254K)}
ICP manual on methods and criteria for harmonised sampling, assessment, monitoring and analysis of the effects of air pollution on forests soils ^{(External PDF-1560K)}

Project aims

The project is based on a strategy of describing and sampling soils on a 16x16 km grid network that fall onto forested land, and is the single largest soil monitoring exercise implemented so far at the EU scale.

Its primary aim is to establish an improved common European baseline of forest soils for environmental applications (e.g. acidification and/or eutrophication; carbon stock assessment, impacts of climatic changes, etc.) but it will also evaluate methodology before EU-wide monitoring programmes for other land use types are set up.

It includes a soil�component and a biodiversity component.

Soil component

Biodiversity component

Forest biodiversity assessments

BioSoil in the UK

Project timescales

The BioSoil project in the UK is lead by Forest Research.� Timing of the various actions are:

Preparation: July to December 2005
Establishing the 16�by 16 km network in the UK: January to April 2006
Soil survey: April to December 2006
Soil analysis: October 2006 to December 2007
Soil data management and report writing: December 2007 to December 2008.

Biosoil plots

Plot locations for the BioSoil survey in the UK
View�enlarged map ^(90K)

There are 167 BioSoil plots on 16 x 16 km grid in the UK, of which 125 on private woodland and 42 on Forestry Commission Woodland.

Plots were installed in 2006 by Forest Research Technical Services Unit.

The soil survey was carried out by two groups of professional soil surveyors, one based in England (Land Research Associates) and one in Scotland (Andrew Hipkin and Gordon Hudson).

All 167 plots have been surveyed and the field information and soil description are under processing. Soil samples are processed and are being analysed by our chemical analysis laboratory.

By the end of 2008, BioSoil information and data will be compiled and submitted into EU database.

Further information

Contact for soil component

Elena Vanguelova
Forest Research
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1420 22255
Fax: +44 (0)1420 23653
Email: elena.vanguelova@forestry.gsi.gov.uk�

Contact for biodiversity component

Andrea Kiewitt
Forest Research
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1420 22255
Fax: +44 (0)1420 23653
E-mail: andrea.kiewitt@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Useful websites

��

| | | |