Soil indicators for sustainable development: A transdisciplinary approach for indicator development using expert stakeholders

A soil quality index for evaluation of degradation under land use and soil erosion categories in a small mountainous catchment, Iran

“…Farmers typically rely on a combination of observations and chemical analyses to assess the state of their soils (Wood and Litterick 2017) and the testing of SQIs using easily assembled soil observational scores can support their credibility. For SQIs to be most useful in supporting multi-objective decisionmaking, however, they need to incorporate properties or components recognised by multiple stakeholders as a means of fostering dialogue and consensus-based decisions which are deemed credible (Drobnik et al 2018;Jónsson et al 2016;Sébastien and Bauler 2013;Turnhout et al 2007;Yu et al 2018b). Uptake of SQIs is often hindered by their inherent complexity and the costs of data collection and interpretation (Herrick 2000).…”

“…Soil erosion leads to on-site soil degradation as result of the loss of soil organic matter and nutrients. Soil degradation can also manifest in other ways including, for example, compaction, sealing, salinization, acidification, alkalinization, chemical or heavy metal contamination, biodiversity decline and increased incidence of floods or landslides (Ayoubi et al 2014;Bindraban et al 2012;Emadi et al 2009;European Commission 2006;Jónsson et al 2016;Nabiollahi et al 2018a;Nabiollahi et al 2017;Nosrati 2013;Pham et al 2018;Yu et al 2018a). Such widespread issues are important in the context of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, Keesstra et al 2016), since sustainable soil management has direct relevance to at least half of them (Jónsson et al 2016).…”

“…Here, identification of indices has been called for as a means of assessing soil quality and progress towards improved sustainability (Easdale 2016). Such indices combine and integrate critical indicators and thereby simplify complex information by quantifying and communicating salient features of soil quality to multiple stakeholders for providing improved transparency on the basis for decision-making for soil management (Arshad and Martin 2002;Burger and Kelting 1999;Doran and Parkin 1994;Jesinghaus 1999;Jónsson et al 2016). Soil quality indices (SQIs) should be selected according to the soil functions of interest and the defined management goals including both on-farm and broader environmental outcomes (Drobnik et al 2018;Karlen et al 2006;Rapport et al 1998).…”

Soil organic carbon stock as an indicator for monitoring land and soil degradation in relation to United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

“…Achieving the SDGs, especially those with reference to food, health, water, climate, and land management, will depend on sustainable use and protection of the natural resources including the finite and fragile soil resources. The sustainable management of soils is directly relevant for half of the SDGs and supposedly also indirectly relevant for other SDGs (Jónsson et al, ). The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted targets with the goals to restore soils that have been degraded, aiming to achieve a land degradation‐neutral world and establish agricultural practices that improve soil quality and minimize soil contamination (UNGA, ).…”

“…The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted targets with the goals to restore soils that have been degraded, aiming to achieve a land degradation‐neutral world and establish agricultural practices that improve soil quality and minimize soil contamination (UNGA, ). Thus, indicators are needed to evaluate the sustainable management of soils towards achieving the SDGs (Jónsson et al, ).…”