Save the Date for the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from April 12-15 2026!

Check out the latest blog on Beneath Our Feet by Dr. George Brown (Brazil)

In GSBI’s latest blog, Dr. George Brown makes the case for saving and preserving worms used in research projects instead of tossing them to help advance science. The blog and paper associated with it recommends guidelines to scientists for preserving worms and where the specimens can be sent to be preserved.

GSBI Speaks: Biological Soil Crusts (Biocrusts)

December 12, 2024, 7:00 MST, 9:00 EST, 14:00 GMT, 15:00 CET

Check out the latest blog on Beneath Our Feet by Dr. César Marín (Chile)

In GSBI’s latest blog, Dr. César Marín discusses natural selection and the theory of Multilevel Selection and how these concepts can be applied to arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM). To explore these ideas, Dr. Marín recently ran a workshop on how natural selection operates across the biological hierarchy in AM systems. A video of the full workshop can be found in the blog.

Submit a bid to host the GSBI by March 1st, 2025

For the past 13 years, Colorado State University (CSU) has hosted and supported the GSBI. The GSBI leadership is tremendously grateful for the support CSU has provided, which has allowed the GSBI to be an independent initiative. As part of GSBI’s long-term plans, the GSBI will be leaving CSU in April 2026 with the goal of rotating the host institution or organization every 5 years. As such, the GSBI is looking for a new home institution/organization and secretariat. The GSBI leadership invites individuals, institutions, organizations to submit a bid to house the GSBI. 

Check out the latest blog on Beneath Our Feet by Dr. Tara Dirilgen (Ireland)

Check out GSBI's latest blog, where Dr. Tara Dirilgen (Maynooth University, Ireland) discusses the launch of Ireland's first local soil biodiversity network! The first meeting of the network was 26 June 2024 and had 15 attendees across 8 different Irish institutions. The blog also includes tips for starting your own local network. Ask the GSBI for tips or support on starting a local soil biodiversity network.

Check out the latest blog on Beneath Our Feet by Dr. Helen Phillips (Finland)

In GSBI’s latest blog, Dr. Helen Phillips (University of Helsinki, Finland) discusses their recent paper where they conducted a meta-analysis to measure Global Change (GC) impacts on soil fauna. They found that soil pollution had the strongest negative impacts on soil fauna, although climate change (drought and land use intensification) also had negative impacts on soil fauna.

 “GSBI Speaks”

October Webinar: Dr. Diana H. Wall Remembrance

Check out the latest blog on Beneath Our Feet by Dr. Julia Köninger (Spain)

In GSBI’s latest blog, Dr. Julia Köninger (Universidade de Vigo, Spain) discusses their recent paper where they sought to understand the diversity of soil organisms across 787 sites in Europe. Dr. Köninger’s team analyzed soil DNA to understand which variables drive soil life diversity across different types of ecosystems ranging from croplands to grasslands to woodlands. Surprisingly, they found croplands to host the highest diversity. However, species composition was also most homogeneous there compared to other ecosystems.

NETSOB Working Group 2 Survey

Working Group 2 of the UN FAO’s International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB) has created a survey to assess current work and research on soil management practices that improve or preserve soil biodiversity.

Are you involved in an applied soil management research project or study evaluating soil biodiversity? Your insights are invaluable to us. Please share your information by completing this survey:  https://forms.gle/LKYfmZrXuhA3iuau7

Do you know of anyone or any organization evaluating soil biodiversity's response to soil management practices?

Please share the link. https://forms.gle/LKYfmZrXuhA3iuau7

The Department of Terrestrial Ecology of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) is seeking a senior researcher

The senior researcher would conduct research focusing on interactions between plants, microbes, and (in)vertebrates in the soil and aboveground. The deadline for applications is 1 July 2024.

Announcing GSBI’s Interim Leadership

Dear GSBI community,

Since Diana Wall's untimely passing, GSBI has been without the leadership of the scientific chair. To fill this gap in leadership, I am pleased to announce that co-founders Wim van der Putten (Netherlands), Johan Six (Switzerland), and Richard Bardgett (United Kingdom) will step in as co-interim scientific chairs for a transitionary period. Together, the GSBI leadership will decide on next steps for GSBI after this interim period. Although GSBI lost both a founder and visionary, GSBI will continue on in her legacy.

Sincerely,

Dr. Leena Vilonen (Executive Director)

Save the Date!

Irish Soil Biodiversity Research Network (ISBRN) Meeting

26 June 2024 10:00-16:00 (TBC)

For all Principal Investigators across the island of Ireland who carry out or plan to carry out research on soil biodiversity, please save the date for the Irish Soil Biodiversity Research Network (ISBRN) Meeting being held at Maynooth University on 26 June 2024.

Check out the latest blog on Beneath Our Feet by Dr. Jake Robinson (Australia)

In GSBI’s latest blog, Dr. Jake Robinson (Flinders University, Australia) shares his most recent advances in ecoacoustics. In his research, he uses microphones to detect the sounds that soils make. These sounds are then used to make inferences about the abundance and diversity of soil communities. Dr. Robinson uses these sounds (ecoacoustics) to track the effectiveness of soil restoration interventions. Check out the blog to learn more about this innovative research.

Soil BON Earthworm Call for Collaboration

Published in Soil Organisms, the Soil BON Earthworm initiative aims at creating a global community of earthworm experts and aims to address key questions, such as the dynamic of earthworm communities over time and their response to environmental factors and anthropogenic influences; their impact on ecosystem functioning; and the redefinition of functional groups based on traits. The consortium invites researchers worldwide to contribute to this endeavor and encourages the resampling of study sites, to expand currently limited time series datasets.

Dr. Diana Wall’s Passing

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Diana Wall, GSBI founder and scientific chair, has passed. A staunch champion for soil biodiversity science, Diana founded GSBI as a grassroots organization in 2011 together with Wim van der Putten, Richard Bardgett, Johan Six, and Luca Montanarella to connect scientists and inform policy, education, and the public on soil biodiversity. As the leader of GSBI, Diana prioritized the inclusion of scientists from underrepresented groups, the global South, and early career researchers, and advocated for their access to resources. There are very few scientists who have reached out with the intensity and breadth across their field as she did. Diana Wall placed soil biodiversity on the map.

Diana was tireless in her efforts to build up the GSBI and bring soil biodiversity onto the international policy stage. By 2012 she had secured funding from Colorado State University (CSU), hired an Executive Director, organized an international workshop, was invited to speak at the RIO+20 Convention, and initiated work on the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas (published in 2016). Over the last decade, Diana encouraged the production of the first Global Soil Biodiversity Assessment (2020), secured GSBI participation in the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity-COP14 and international monitoring efforts such as the Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (SoilBON) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Soil Biodiversity Observatory (GLOSOB). She spearheaded the creation of the international Global Soil Biodiversity Conferences (Dijon, Nanjing, and Dublin), and during Covid produced ‘GSBI Speaks’ a series of online webinars to keep the global soil biodiversity community connected. 

GSBI Scientific Chair was only one of many scientific roles that Diana held across the field of ecology. We will share additional details about any tributes or celebrations of her life as they become available.

Save the Date for the 4th Global Soil Biodiversity Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from April 12-15 2026!

The XIX International Colloquium of Soil Zoology (ICSZ) and the XVI International Colloquium of Apterygota (ICA) has been announced for 26-29 August 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa

The Humboldt Foundation is searching for a postdoc from underrepresented regions of the globe

The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) is searching for a female scientist with expertise in soil microbial ecology and data analysis/synthesis. The scholarship has up to two years of funding. See here for more information on the project and how to apply.

GSBI will be featured in Colorado State University’s booth at COP28 in Dubai.

Check out booth 6 December 10th - 11th to see GSBI featured. To find more information on CSU led events at COP 28, see CSU’s website here. Attendees, let us know by email if there is any soil health or soil biodiversity presence at COP and we will update our website.

Check out Solid Science’s recent podcasts led by Carlos Guerra (iDiv) and Romy Zeiss (Leipzig University and iDiv)

Find the podcasts here to learn more about Antarctic soils, tidal systems, soil ecology in Africa, and more. See our podcasts tab for more soil related podcasts.

Catch up on previous webinars on the GSBI YouTube Channel

Mites: Grappling with a hyperdiverse taxon in soil with Valerie Behan-Pelletier.

Soil Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture with Gerlinde de Deyn, Stuart Grandy, and Sara Sanchez Moreno.

Soil Biodiversity and the Stabilisation of Carbon in the Soil with Gerrit Angst, Colin Averill, Kate Buckeridge, and Cynthia Kallenbach.

Major decision on Soil Biodiversity monitoring and protection adopted at COP-15 of Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, QC, December 2022

THE PLAN OF ACTION 2020-2030 FOR THE INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF SOIL BIODIVERSITY

Soil Biodiversity Science challenges and international policy are the highlight of a new paper in Science by Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative colleagues

Soil Biodiversity needs policy without borders

A new paper in the recent issue of Science by W. van der Putten, R. Bardgett, M. Farfan, L. Montanarella, J. Six, and D. Wall highlights the importance of soils and soil biodiversity science for soil health the challenges and promises of new regional and international policies for soil protection and sustainable management.

THE GLOBAL SOIL BIODIVERSITY INITIATIVE PARTNERS WITH SOIL BIODIVERSITY OBSERVATION NETWORK (SoilBON)

The first soil biodiversity assessment across the United States has begun in association with the global SoilBON.

GET INVOLVED WITH GSBI!