Participatory selection of soil quality indicators for monitoring the impacts of regenerative agriculture on ecosystem services
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Author
Cuéllar Padilla, María del Carmen
Luján Pérez, Raquel
Vente, Joris de
Publisher
ElsevierDate
2020Subject
Ecosystem servicesLand degradation
Restoration
Agroecology
Almond production
Southeast Spain
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Show full item recordAbstract
Improving the understanding and fostering large-scale adoption of regenerative agriculture (RA) requires soil
quality monitoring systems that integrate farmers’ and researchers’ knowledge. This is especially relevant for
participatory impact assessment in semiarid areas prone to land degradation that typically respond slowly to
management changes, often resulting in low RA adoption rates. We developed a framework for the identification
and selection of local and technical soil quality indicators and for the development of a visual soil assessment
tool, to participatory monitor the impacts of RA by farmers and researchers. We applied this framework in a
large-scale restoration project in southeast Spain together with almond farmers implementing RA. Local in-
dicators selected by farmers focused mostly on water regulation, erosion control, soil fertility, crop performance
and main supporting, regulating and provisioning ecosystem services. Technical indicators selected by re-
searchers focused mostly on soil properties including aggregate stability, soil nutrients, microbial biomass and
activity, and leaf nutrients, covering crucial supporting services. The combination of indicators provided com-
plementary information, improving the feasibility of RA impact assessment. This integrated soil quality mon-
itoring system offers a practical tool to enhance knowledge exchange and mutual learning to support the im-
plementation of RA and optimize the delivery of ecosystem services.