Thanks to the success of the BioSoil Demonstration Project, JRC scientists have concluded that large scale monitoring of soil conditions and biodiversity in forests is achievable. This goes part way towards fulfilling the main aims of the project: to provide harmonised soil and biodiversity data EU-wide, to evaluate the methodology of European soil and forest biodiversity monitoring programmes, and to provide a baseline to assess future trends in the soil condition and biodiversity of forests in the EU.
Soil characterisation data are essential to discover how an ecosystem works. Within the Forest Focus Biosoil project, participant countries have increased the range of forest monitoring activities (on atmospheric pollution and forest fires) by intensifying surveys on soil characteristics and forest biodiversity indicators.