Broad-Scale Soil Monitoring Schemes

Soil resources provide many important ecosystem goods and services. However, they are at risk from a variety of threats operating over a broad range of scales. Political awareness that soil is threatened by increasing pressures has been rising for several years (European Commission 2006). Indeed, the demand for soil information is increasing continuously (Richer de Forges and Arrouays 2010). Although rates of soil degradation are often slow and only detectable over long timescales, they are often irreversible. Therefore, monitoring soil quality and condition is essential in order to detect adverse changes in their status at an early stage.