GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Proposed activities should:

• Develop and employ advanced nitrogen monitoring and analytical techniques to generate high temporal resolution data on nitrogen fluxes and their drivers in various climatic conditions with particular focus on underrepresented pedo-climatic conditions.
• Implement a coordinated, holistic approach to develop and evaluate robust, practical management strategies that effectively minimise total nitrogen losses from soils while addressing potential trade-offs with other environmental concerns, such as water quality and soil carbon preservation.
• Utilise advanced modelling approaches to analyse the collected data, identify patterns and relationships between soil biogeochemical processes and nitrogen fluxes, and improve predictive tools that can be used to inform management strategies on a regional to continental scale.
• Implement and monitor pilot projects that test the effectiveness of the developed management strategies in diverse pedo-climatic zones, accounting for local environmental conditions, agricultural practices both in conventional and organic farming systems, and socio-economic factors that may influence adoption and outcomes.
• Synthesise the findings from field studies, modelling efforts, and pilot projects into a comprehensive estimation of the full nitrogen budget at the European continental scale contributing to the EU Soil Observatory through the provision of high-quality datasets for monitoring, reporting and verification.
• Development of scenarios on how climate change and land use change will affect nitrogen cycling through the soil-plant-atmosphere system.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge and outputs through close collaboration with the Joint Research Centre’s EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) and the project Soil-WISE. In particular, to ensure inter-operability between existing databases and models and their integration in the EUSO.

Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to build on the work of other projects working on quantification of nitrogen fluxes in Europe that are being funded by other entities, including philanthropic organisations, particularly where there is geographical or thematic complementarity.