Soils secure the human food base, regulate the climate through their carbon storage, clean water, enable material cycles and provide habitat for various organisms. The functionality of soils is largely realized through the activity of soil organisms. Today, soils are changing due to intensive use, increasing sealing of surfaces, land use conversions, pollution, and climate change. As a result, their structural and chemical-physical quality is greatly threatened and therefore the functions of the soil as well.

The goal of a nationwide, standardized monitoring of soil organisms and functions is to document the state and changes of soil biodiversity and its dynamics. The data should provide the basis to:

• research the causes of changes
• derive measures to conserve biodiversity-related soil functions and services
• verify the success of conservation measures

The Expert Committee "Monitoring of soil biodiversity and its functions":

• Advises the Principal Expert Committee on the topic of soil biodiversity
• Develops a proposal for a basic concept for future nationwide soil biodiversity monitoring as part of the principal concept "Advancement of nationwide biodiversity monitoring"
• Establishes the foundations for a comprehensive conceptualization of soil biodiversity monitoring

• A position paper has been created with the following main themes:
  • The importance of soil, soil biodiversity, and the need for monitoring
  • Overview of existing nationwide programs
  • Definition of tasks for the expert committee
• A current analysis of monitoring activities related to soil biodiversity has been conducted.
• Specific goals for monitoring soil biodiversity and functions have been formulated as the foundation for a nationwide soil biodiversity monitoring concept.
• A project on the practicality of monitoring soil organisms has been implemented.
• Participation in the Biodiversa+ pilot project 'Soil biodiversity in protected, near-natural forests'"
• Recommendations for the baseline survey of the nationwide soil biodiversity monitoring have been developed.