Handbook of soil-related impact assessment / Paul, C., Helming, K.

Abstract

This handbook is designed to support researchers in conducting state of the art assessments for evaluating impacts of agricultural soil management. Furthermore, it is addressed to a wider audience to aid understanding and interpretation of published impact assessments results. The handbook has been produced in response to a growing awareness of the fundamental role of soils and of the importance of sustainable soil management for coping with societal challenges such as food security, climate change or biodiversity loss. The handbook is structured to follow the process of conducting impact assessments, starting with a short theoretical background, the setting of system boundaries and the definition of purpose and decision making level, and ending with methods to integrate findings for multiple impact areas into a single assessment. Readers are welcome to either follow this process and go through the handbook from start to finish, or to browse and look up individual chapters that are relevant for them. While the handbook provides a methodical guideline for structuring soil related impact assessments, it does not discuss the various indicators available to measure each impact area. This complex aspect will be addressed in detail in a separate publication. The information presented in the handbook is also available online through the BonaRes Assessment Platform (www.bonares.de/sustainability). This book is the first edition of a living document. Further editions will be published at irregular intervals to accommodate updates and new research generated within the BonaRes project.