A team of international researchers has conducted a pan-European study to investigate the links between soil health and plant productivity in woodlands, grasslands and croplands. The results show that soil health is a particularly important factor in agricultural land.
How does soil health influence plant growth across three major land-use types – woodland, grassland and cropland? To find out, experts from 13 European research institutes and one Chinese university analysed data from 588 sites in 27 European countries.
Grassland and cropland: link between soil health and plant productivity
Soil health was assessed using a composite index based on biological, chemical and physical features, including organic carbon, phosphorous, soil compaction and microbial biomass. The higher the index, the better the soil quality. Soil health in woodlands was found to be 31.4% higher than in grasslands and 76.1% higher than in croplands. Satellite data (remote sensing) was used to estimate productivity. In woodlands, climatic factors were the main drivers of primary production, while soil health had a far greater impact in agricultural land such as grasslands and croplands. This study investigated the importance of soil health alone. Other factors such as nutrient availability, which is clearly extremely important for yield, were not addressed.
Importance of specific groups of micro-organisms
The study also showed that higher microbial diversity, especially of Acidobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, is linked to higher primary production. In grasslands and croplands, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi promoted productivity while plant pathogens had a negative impact.
The results published in a recent scientific article indicate that the promotion of soil health and targeted microbial groups such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi can play an important role in boosting plant productivity – especially on farmland.
