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In times of climate change and increasing societal needs, the pressure on land is unprecedented. Sustainable soil and land use management is only achievable if stakeholders from sectors concerned work together. The aim of the project INSPIRATION (Integrated spatial planning, land use, and soil management esearch action) was the integration of science and interdisciplinary research fields to develop a strategic research agenda (SRA) for sustainable land use and soil management in Europe. This article presents the Austrian perspective and contribution to the SRA, highlights the findings of the project, and identifies the most urgent research needs addressing key societal challenges. The project followed a bottom-up, multi-stakeholder approach to enable an evidence-based collation process of interdisciplinary research needs. Through expert interviews, reviews of state-of-the-art documents, and public involvement, six key research topics of the most pressing research needs in Austria were identified. This Austrian contribution to the SRA is characterized by the need for a communication frame and knowledge transfer among research, policy, and society. A compatible knowledge transfer is pivotal to establish an understanding of shared responsibilities among all stakeholders.

Mid-term (MTEs, 5-20 years) and long-term (LTEs, 20+ years) field experiments are key sources of information to design future climate-smart agriculture. Within the European Joint Program SOIL (EJP SOIL), we built the EJP SOIL-MTE/LTE metadataset that contains metadata from 240 MTEs/LTEs across Europe. Metadata collected included precise descriptions of the treatments (combination of factors such as tillage, crop type/rotation, amendments/fertilizers, grazing and pest/weed management), soil and crop measurements and pedo-climatic information. Using different figures and dashboards, an overview of those MTEs/LTEs is presented and specific research themes (tillage systems, residue management, amendment type and cover crops) are further analysed within their pedo-climatic context. An interactive web portal developed in collaboration with the BonaRes project (https://lte.bonares.de), enables users to explore the metadataset and find relevant MTEs/LTEs for specific combinations of practices (e.g. all MTEs/LTEs that investigate cover crops on a Cambisol in no-tillage system). Finally, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the metadataset was carried out to highlight the potential contribution of MTEs/LTEs to a harmonized European soil observation and monitoring approach. We propose that the metadataset could be elaborated with metadata from other existing MTEs/LTEs in Europe or even worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change is projected to continue and result in prolonged and more intense droughts, which can increase soil water repellency (SWR). To be able to estimate the consequences of SWR on vadose zone hydrology, it is important to determine soil hydraulic properties (SHP). Sequential modeling using HYDRUS (2D/3D) was performed on an experimental field site with artificially imposed drought scenarios (moderately M and severely S stressed) and a control plot. First, inverse modeling was performed for SHP estimation based on water and ethanol infiltration experimental data, followed by model validation on one selected irrigation event. Finally, hillslope modeling was performed to assess water balance for 2014. Results suggest that prolonged dry periods can increase soil water repellency. Inverse modeling was successfully performed for infiltrating liquids, water and ethanol, with R2 and model efficiency (E) values both > 0.9. SHP derived from the ethanol measurements showed large differences in van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) parameters for the M and S plots compared to water infiltration experiments. SWR resulted in large saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) decrease on the M and S scenarios. After validation of SHP on water content measurements during a selected irrigation event, one year simulations (2014) showed that water repellency increases surface runoff in non-structured soils at hillslopes.

Cover cropping is a key agro-environmental measure in Europe. Cover crops may reduce N2O emissions by reducing soil nitrate content, while easily decomposable residues can enhance greenhouse gas losses. In a field study, emissions from the cover cropped fields compared to the fallow at two climatically different sites (semi-arid vs. humid) in Austria were measured with closed chambers and different driving factors were studied. The height of post-cover crop emissions was compared to gaseous losses during the management operations in the subsequent main crop maize. N2O and CO2 emissions following the cover crops were low even at high emission moments compared to the losses induced by the main crop management operations. Highest risk of N2O losses was from mustards due to low C/N ratio and possibly as a consequence of glucosinolate decomposition. CO2 emissions in the cover cropped plots were generally higher compared to the fallow, indicating an enhanced soil microbiological activity. Dissolved organic carbon was found as a sensitive indicator related to the greenhouse gas emissions. We concluded that the environmental benefits from cover cropping are not achieved at the cost of an enhanced greenhouse gas emission and that pure stands of late sown brassica cover crops should be avoided to prevent any risk of increased N2O losses.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a vital role in the global carbon cycle and is a potential sink for carbon dioxide. Agricultural management practices can support carbon sequestration and, therefore, offer potential removal strategies whilst also improving overall soil quality. Meta-analysis allows one to summarize results from primary articles by calculating an overall effect size and to reveal the source of variation across studies. The number of meta-analyses published in the field of agriculture is continuously rising. At the same time, more and more articles refer to their synthesis work as a meta-analysis, despite applying less than rigorous methodologies. As a result, poor-quality meta-analyses are published and may lead to questionable conclusions and recommendations to scientists, policymakers, and farmers. This study aims at quantitatively analyzing 31 meta-analyses, published between the years of 2005 and 2020, studying the effects of different management practices on SOC. We compiled a set of quality criteria suitable for soil and agricultural sciences by adapting existing meta-analytical guidelines from other disciplines. The set is supported by a scoring scheme that allows for a quantitative analysis. The retrieved meta-analyses were structured according to 11 management categories, such as tillage, cover crops, crop residue management, and biochar application, which allowed us to assess the state of knowledge on these categories. Major deficiencies were found in the use of standard metrics for effect size calculation, independence of effect sizes, standard deviation extraction for each study, and study weighting by the inverse of variance. Only 1 out of 31 SOC meta-analyses, which studied the effects of no tillage/reduced tillage compared with conventional tillage, was found to be of high quality. Therefore, improved meta-analyses on the effects of organic agriculture, biochar, fertilization, or crop diversification on SOC are urgently needed. We conclude that, despite efforts over the last 15 years, the quality of meta-analyses on SOC research is still low. Thus, in order for the scientific community to provide high-quality synthesis work and to make advancements in the sustainable management of agricultural soils, we need to adapt rigorous methodologies of meta-analysis as quickly as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]