Help put soil animals on the map!

The Cost Action EUdaphobase – European Soil-Biology Data Warehouse for Soil Protection, where CESAM researcher Susana Loureiro acts as one of the Management Committee Members representing Portugal, has announced a call for collaboration to create the European Atlas of Soil Fauna. The goal of EUdaphobase is to establish a pan- European soil-biological data and knowledge warehouse, which can be used for understanding, protecting, and sustainably managing soils, their biodiversity, and functions.

The European Atlas of Soil Fauna

Soil biodiversity, and particularly soil fauna, drives essential soil functions leading to crucial ecosystem services. Many research activities have produced data, which are widely dispersed and not easily available. Their re-usability is limited. Thus, this Atlas aims to collate a maximum of available data on soil fauna (micro-, meso- and macrofauna) from the European territory to co-create the first comprehensive European Atlas of Soil Fauna.

Follow these steps to become a co-creator of the Atlas initiative

STEP 01 – COMPLETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The Atlas questionnaire gathers information on potential data providers.

STEP 02 – USE THE DATA TEMPLATE

Upon agreeing to provide data for the Atlas, you will receive via e-mail a data template and instructions. You have to fill out the template and send it back within 2 months.

STEP 03 – YOUR DATA

Your data will be reviewed and used for analysis and the creation of the Atlas maps. Upon consent, your data can also be uploaded to the Edaphobase data warehouse.

STEP 04 – SOIL FAUNA MAPS

The data set collection will allow the presentation of the current state of soil fauna distribution and its relationship to land use, soil characteristics and climate.

Deadline is 31 December 2023.

More information HERE.