Dear All, A survey is being conducted to allow us to carry out a scientific assessment of the range of biological methods available for monitoring of soil biodiversity and associated ecosystem function. The Ecofinders project is a collaborative FP7 funded project with researchers from 23 institutes across 10 countries working to increase our knowledge of soil biodiversity and its role in ecosystem services across different soils, climate types and land uses. This is being done as a result of knowledge and data gaps highlighted by the European Commission in development of the recently proposed Soil Framework Directive. The aim of this questionnaire is to provide a semi-quantitative approach to indicator selection for monitoring of soil biodiversity. A thorough assessment has already been undertaken from literature within the Ecofinders project, but this does not allow for the user information, which is vital when trying to assess the applicability of biological methods for monitoring purposes. The questionnaire is split into four sections which allow us to assess the importance of each section on the overall score. There are 15 questions in total and should take no longer than 45 minutes to complete. ecofinders.org/global-biodiversity-questionaire.html Sections include: 1. Measurement 5 questions address the skills and equipment necessary for measurement of the biological indicator 2. Cost- 6 questions assess the start-up, field and laboratory costs associated with measurement of the biological indicator 3. Sensitivity 3 questions review the sensitivity of the indicator 4. Appropriate to Measure 1 question only The questionnaire is quite detailed to allow a robust scoring using the logical sieve approach designed by Ritz et al. (2009). You will be given a list of potential indicators but we ask you only to score on those indicators you feel you have a reasonable knowledge on. If you feel that you do not have a reasonable knowledge on a specific indicator please select ³No Knowledge². Many thanks in advance for completing this survey, I appreciate that everyone has very busy schedules and it is often difficult to find time to undertake such a questionnaire but this information will be extremely useful in informing science and policy in the future for soil biodiversity issues. Best wishes Rachel Dr Rachel Creamer Soil Quality Research Officer Teagasc Johnstown Castle Wexford Tel: 053 9171266 [email protected]
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 03:37:04 +0000
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