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Impact of Soil Sealing on Soil Carbon Sequestration, Water Storage Potentials and Biomass Productivity in Functional Urban Areas of the European Union and the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Gergely Tóth

    (Institute of Advanced Studies, 9730 Kőszeg, Hungary
    Institute for Soil Sciences, Agricultural Research Centre, 1022 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Eva Ivits

    (European Environment Agency, 1050 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Gundula Prokop

    (Environment Agency Austria, 1090 Vienna, Austria)

  • Mirko Gregor

    (space4environment, 6947 Niederanven, Luxemburg)

  • Jaume Fons-Esteve

    (Departament de Geografia, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Roger Milego Agràs

    (Departament de Geografia, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Emanuele Mancosu

    (The European Topic Centre on Spatial Analysis and Synthesis (ETC-UMA), University of Malaga, 29016 Malaga, Spain)

Abstract

The negative impacts of soil sealing are numerous, from withdrawing fertile soil from biomass production to modifying the microclimate and decreasing biodiversity. Many of the processes are interrelated and propagate further undesirable consequences from local to global levels. Three issues are especially important from the viewpoint of multiscale ecological cycles and consequent environmental impacts. One is soil organic carbon (SOC), the other is soil water management and the third is biomass productivity. In this study, we assessed the lost carbon sequestration potential due to soil sealing in functional Urban Areas (FUAs) of Europe, the potential effect of soil sealing on the topsoil to hold water to its full capacity and the loss of biomass productivity potential. Findings revealed that one-fifth of the area of soil that became sealed between 2012 and 2018 was of high productivity potential, and almost two-thirds was of medium productivity potential. New soil sealing caused a loss of carbon sequestration potential estimated at 4 million tons of carbon of the FUAs and also caused an estimated potential loss of water-holding capacity of 668 million m 3 .

Suggested Citation

  • Gergely Tóth & Eva Ivits & Gundula Prokop & Mirko Gregor & Jaume Fons-Esteve & Roger Milego Agràs & Emanuele Mancosu, 2022. "Impact of Soil Sealing on Soil Carbon Sequestration, Water Storage Potentials and Biomass Productivity in Functional Urban Areas of the European Union and the United Kingdom," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:6:p:840-:d:831276
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fabio Recanatesi & Andrea Petroselli, 2020. "Land Cover Change and Flood Risk in a Peri-Urban Environment of the Metropolitan Area of Rome (Italy)," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 34(14), pages 4399-4413, November.
    2. Lewis Dijkstra & Hugo Poelman & Paolo Veneri, 2019. "The EU-OECD definition of a functional urban area," OECD Regional Development Working Papers 2019/11, OECD Publishing.
    3. Eric A. Davidson & Ivan A. Janssens, 2006. "Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 440(7081), pages 165-173, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    2. Angeliki Kourmouli & Feja Lesniewska, 2024. "Losing Ground: Targeting Agricultural Land Take by Enabling a Circular Economy in Construction," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 459-473, March.

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