Permanent soil monitoring system as a basic tool for protection of soils and sustainable land use in Slovakia

The purpose of soil monitoring system in Slovakia is to better protect the soils with regard to sustainable land use. The main object is the observation of soil parameters indicative of change to the equilibrium of soil system as far as to the irreversible change with possible development of degradation processes in soil. The soil monitoring system in Slovakia has been running since 1993. Its importance consists of providing the information on changing spatial and temporal variations of soil parameters as well as the evolution of soil quality in topsoil and subsoil. The soil monitoring network in Slovakia is constructed using ecological principles, taking into account all main soil types and subtypes, soil organic matter, climatic regions, emission regions, polluted and non-polluted regions as well as various other land uses. The results of soil monitoring of 318 sites on agricultural land in Slovakia have been presented. Soil properties are evaluated according to the main threats to soil relating to European Commission recommendation for European soil monitoring performance as follows: soil erosion, soil compaction, decline in soil organic matter, soil salinization and sodification and soil contamination. The most significant change has been determined in physical properties of soils. The physical degradation was especially manifested in compacted and the eroded soils. On the basis of our results about 40%of agricultural land is potentially affected by soil erosion in Slovakia. In addition, decline in soil organic matter and available nutrients indicate seriousness of soil degradation processes observed during the last monitoring period in Slovakia. Measured data and required outputs are reported to Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra(Italy) and European Environmental Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen (Denmark). Finally, the soil monitoring system thus becomes a basic tool for protection of soils and sustainable land use as well as for the creation of legislation not only in Slovakia, but in EU, too.