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RESEARCH PRODUCT

THE FRENCH NATIONAL SOIL QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK (RMQS) AS A SUPPORT FOR MONITORING SOIL BIODIVERSITY: past, present and future programs

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Soil biodiversity would represent about 25% of the species on Earth. It is threatened, and although it is essential for human activities, it remains largely unknown. The French National Soil Quality Monitoring Network (RMQS) has a significant impact in removing the grey areas through its programs on soil microorganisms, soil meso and macrofauna, meadow flora, truffles and more recently enzymatic activities. The first distribution maps of bacterial phyla on a national scale and of soil fauna on a regional scale (in Brittany) have been developed. For the white truffle, three new areas of presence have been identified in France. The habitats of the bacteria were also described for the first time. The effect of land use was highlighted on soil biodiversity (particularly, on the presence of phyla, biomass and bacterial interaction networks, the abundance of soil fauna) and that of agricultural practices (management and fertilisation of agricultural plots on soil fauna and grazing and mowing on grassland flora). A synthetic bioindicator of the effect of agricultural practices on biodiversity has been constructed. Despite of these encouraging results, knowledge of soil biodiversity is still at an early stage. If the test phase of the RMQS-Biodiversity proves conclusive, the RMQS could fill this knowledge gap by becoming the basis for a long-term monitoring of soil biodiversity.