Speaker
Description
Soil biodiversity is essential for healthy ecosystems, yet it remains largely overlooked in nature conservation efforts. Our research highlights major gaps: protected areas in Europe showed no general positive effect on soil biodiversity and functioning such as nutrient cycling and carbon storage. Soil organisms, like earthworms, springtails, and fungi, are threatened by climate change, land-use change, and global biodiversity loss. Despite their critical role in ecosystem services, we found over 80% of earthworm habitats located outside of protected areas and projected to shift under future climates. Through species distribution models, and spatial prioritization, we have been identifying areas of especially high importance for soil biodiversity conservation. Our results show an urgent need to directly include soils and soil organisms in nature conservation planning to secure ecosystem health for the future.
| Status Group | Doctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| Poster Presentation Option | Yes, I’m willing to present as a poster. |
