Indicators for preserving soil quality

Vers un référentiel d’indicateurs

by Isabelle Cousin (editorial coordination), Maylis Desrousseaux (editorial coordination), Sophie Leenhardt (editorial coordination)
november 2025
145 x 210 format 200 pages
Presale: available from 20/11/2025.
35,00 €
200 pages
To be published on 20 november 2025
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Summary

Soils play an essential role in ecosystems, food security and health. In order to inform public policies concerning their proper functioning and preservation, a group of 19 experts from a variety of disciplines and public research organizations, coordinated by INRAE, analysed the scientific literature on soil quality and health. They gathered the main available resources and identified the key considerations for conducting an assessment based on the ecological functions performed by soils. Around 50 physical, chemical or biological indicators are thus associated with an interpretative framework that specifies the method of measurement or calculation and the reference values to which the result should be compared. 
The choice of indicators depends on the objectives of the assessment (development of an urban planning document, zoning of agricultural plots for land consolidation, etc.). The indicators need to be explained in order to select them, choose the interpretative framework and monitoring grid (spatial and temporal), and decide whether to aggregate some of them. 
This assessment promotes dialogue between users from different social and political backgrounds, encouraging them to reflect together on what soils are and what they are expected to be. 
This book is intended for non-experts with some knowledge on the subject: decision-makers, professional or associative actors, public services in charge of environmental and urban planning policies, etc. More broadly, it is aimed at anyone interested in the public debate on soil quality and health.

Table of contents

Foreword

1. Basis of the study

1.1. Context and treatment of the referral
1.2. Group of experts involved
1.3. Bibliographic corpus analyzed
1.4. Reading guide and terminology used for this summary

2. Frameworks for implementing soil quality assessment

2.1. Stakeholders and mechanisms for soil quality assessment
2.2. Diversity of perceptions of soils and their qualities
2.3. Co-production of soil quality information

3. Place of soil quality in governance frameworks

3.1. Private property and public intervention
3.2. Measurements and economic values of soil quality
3.3. Criteria mobilized in the field of law
3.4. Regulating the de-artificialization of soils and their ecological restoration
3.5. Territoriality of public intervention on soil quality

4. The dimensions of soil quality and health and the choice of functions

4.1. Changes in terminology and concepts
4.2. The distinction between soil quality and soil health is unstable
4.3. From soil quality to the ecological functions of soils
4.4. Approaches to assessing soil multifunctionality
4.5. Limitations of a function-based approach

5. Assessment approach

5.1. Purpose of the assessment
5.2. Choice of the indicandum and relevant indicators
5.3. Measurement of parameter and indicator values
5.4. Reference frame and interpretive framework
5.5. Scoring or normalization of indicators
5.6. Multi-criteria aggregation into a soil quality index
5.7. Monitoring soil quality in space and time

6. Generic list of soil function indicators and test on a given territory

6.1. Main categorizations of indicators
6.2. Selected generic indicators
6.3. Operationality of indicators
6.4. Assessing soil quality in a French territory

7. Lessons learned and avenues for research

7.1. Summary of key lessons learned
7.2. Avenues for research research

Appendices

Bibliographic sources cited

Acronyms and abbreviations

Working group

Press

More contents

Features

Language(s): French

Publisher: Éditions Quae

Published: 20 november 2025

Reference Book: 03021

Reference eBook: 03021NUM

EAN13 Book: 9782759241699

EAN13 eBook: 9782759241705

Interior: Colour

Format (in mm) Book: 145 x 210

Pages count Book: 200

Pages count eBook: 200

Weight (in grammes): 280

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