Developing a robust soil health indicator selection framework

Abstract

The EU Soil Health Monitoring Law proposes twelve main soil indicators for reporting soil health. There is a need to ensure that these indicators and other subsequent measures are robust for their purpose. Since there is no single indicator for soil health, a robust framework for selecting indicators using agreed-upon criteria is needed(1,2). A summary of the selection framework criteria is discussed below and summarized in Figure 1. This framework is based on synthesizing accepted and tested methods to assess current indicators and provide a basis for selecting new ones in the future. Selected indicators will be dependent on their ability to assess soil ecosystem functions and services(3).