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Project title

Raising awareness for soil biodiversity and multiplying monitoring by mentor-based Citizen Science

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM)

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

Olaf Schmidt

Project Abstract

SoilRise aims to extent expertise and knowledge on soil biota in academic and public networks as a basis of utilisation of citizen science in monitoring duties below ground. Biodiversity monitoring is mostly limited by missing expertise, money and time. Belowground biota is even harder to describe, count, or characterize due to its cryptic mode of life. However, soil biota is crucial for the functioning of all terrestrial ecosystems including land use systems. Sustainable land use relies on ecosystem service provisioning of soil biota. Hence, monitoring is of great importance. SoilRise will create a mentor-based research network of Citizen Scientists to multiply knowledge and expertise among gardeners and farmers and the general public. Monitoring of soil biota will be enabled to a certain level of taxonomy, activity, or functional diversity. SoilRise will start and exemplify this for earthworm communities in farmland (arable or grassland) and urban gardens and greens. Finally addressing networks of urban gardeners and farmer associations, SoilRise will develop a multiplication of expertise by implementing earthworm monitoring practises into teaching at universities and even farm schools. Students than go as mentors to certain rural communities (farmer associations) or stage citizen science events in urban gardens related to gardener networks. In the long run, well educated layman can provide earthworm monitoring data of high value complementing biodiversity monitoring in the cultural landscape of Europe. SoilRise is combining a set of partners providing both expertise on earthworm ecology and Citizen Science. It can be taken as a follow up of the successful SoilMan Project, now expanding the view from soil management to larger areas and landscapes. In SoilRise earthworm communities of various land use settings will be compared. The size of the plots and there fragmentation will also be taken into account. More and more consistent data will be created to explain below ground diversity patterns. In Work package 1 the tutorial mentoring system will be organised and harmonized across the countries using approved protocols and settings from French OPVT, as the most developed project on earthworm data within citizen science. In Work package 2 analyses of earthworm diversity in relation to habitat will be carried out. Work package 3 will host the barcoding analysis and taxonomic discourse and harmonization. Work packages 4 will sum up the social-ecological survey using qualitative interviews of stakeholders and citizen scientists on awareness, knowledge and attitute in view of the SoilRise activities. Improved public awareness for the beneficial impact of earthworms on sustainable land use, increased data on earthworms and settings to create data are to be expected from SoilRise. The understanding of determining factors for soil biota diversity at a certain spot will be improved.

Grant Approved

�148,407.48

Research Hub

Natural Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

01/03/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

28/02/2027