Exploring Soil Health Across Spatial Scales: a Case of Frisian Peat Grasslands

Soil degradation is a widespread, global issue that strongly undermines soil functioning and as such, negatively affects planetary health. Adding it to the Planetary Boundaries framework would put soil degradation firmly on the agenda, motivating policymakers, spatial planners, and land managers alike to restore and protect soil health. Promoting soil health is not straightforward and includes decisions at different spatial scales that take into account both the natural capacity of a specific soil (type) to provide soil functions as well as trade-offs that exist between functions. To optimize soil functioning at a landscape level in the Frisian peat meadow area, we recommend fully restoring natural peat ecosystems on peat with no mineral cover to optimize climate regulation, water storage, and biodiversity. On peat with a mineral cover, we recommend improving climate regulation and water storage by raising the groundwater level but keeping primary productivity as the main function. Besides a landscape-scale vision, tailor-made management practices at a field scale are needed to put soil restoration into practice and ensure staying within a safe operating space for soil. The Soil Navigator Tool is an open-access decision support system that assesses soil functioning at a field level and recommends management practices to help achieve desired functioning. We found that the Soil Navigator Tool, designed in the context of mineral soils, does not perform well on peat grasslands. Our work lays the foundation for the development of a new version of the Tool for peat.