IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i6p840-d831276.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/840/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/840/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    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. 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.
    3. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Henning Hermes & Philipp Lergetporer & Fabian Mierisch & Frauke Peter & Simon Wiederhold, 2023. "Discrimination on the Child Care Market: A Nationwide Field Experiment," Working Papers 225, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    2. Md. Zonayet & Alok Kumar Paul & Md. Faisal-E-Alam & Khalid Syfullah & Rui Alexandre Castanho & Daniel Meyer, 2023. "Impact of Biochar as a Soil Conditioner to Improve the Soil Properties of Saline Soil and Productivity of Tomato," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Hoekman, Jarno & Rake, Bastian, 2024. "Geography of authorship: How geography shapes authorship attribution in big team science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    4. Vivien Lefebvre, 2021. "Business group affiliation in rural contexts: Do small firms grow faster through working capital management?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 2453-2476, December.
    5. S . K. Oni & F. Mieres & M. N. Futter & H. Laudon, 2017. "Soil temperature responses to climate change along a gradient of upland–riparian transect in boreal forest," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 27-41, July.
    6. Elena A. Mikhailova & Garth R. Groshans & Christopher J. Post & Mark A. Schlautman & Gregory C. Post, 2019. "Valuation of Soil Organic Carbon Stocks in the Contiguous United States Based on the Avoided Social Cost of Carbon Emissions," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Luis Bauluz & Sebastien Breau & Pawel Bukowski & Mark Fransham & Annie Seong Lee & Neil Lee & Margarita Lopez Forero & Clement Malgouyres & Filip Novokmet & Moritz Schularick & Gregory Verdugo, 2023. "Spatial wage inequality in North America and Western Europe: changes between and within local labour markets 1975-2019," CEP Discussion Papers dp1941, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Shangzhi Li & Xuxiang Li & Meng Zhang, 2022. "Spatial-Temporal Pattern Evolution of Xi’an Metropolitan Area Using DMSP/OLS and NPP/VIIRS Nighttime Light Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Zhenghu Zhou & Chengjie Ren & Chuankuan Wang & Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo & Yiqi Luo & Zhongkui Luo & Zhenggang Du & Biao Zhu & Yuanhe Yang & Shuo Jiao & Fazhu Zhao & Andong Cai & Gaihe Yang & Gehong We, 2024. "Global turnover of soil mineral-associated and particulate organic carbon," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Vanda Almeida & Claire Hoffmann & Sebastian Königs & Ana Moreno Monroy & Mauricio Salazar-Lozada & Javier Terrero-Dávila, 2024. "Geographic inequalities in accessibility of essential services," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 307, OECD Publishing.
    11. Zeyang Zhao & Peng Dong & Bo Fu & Dan Wu & Zhizhong Zhao, 2024. "Labile Fraction of Organic Carbon in Soils from Natural and Plantation Forests of Tropical China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-12, September.
    12. Li Gao & Mingjing Huang & Wuping Zhang & Lei Qiao & Guofang Wang & Xumeng Zhang, 2021. "Comparative Study on Spatial Digital Mapping Methods of Soil Nutrients Based on Different Geospatial Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    13. Raitis Normunds Meļņiks & Arta Bārdule & Aldis Butlers & Jordane Champion & Santa Kalēja & Ilona Skranda & Guna Petaja & Andis Lazdiņš, 2023. "Carbon Losses from Topsoil in Abandoned Peat Extraction Sites Due to Ground Subsidence and Erosion," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, December.
    14. Xiangwen Wu & Shuying Zang & Dalong Ma & Jianhua Ren & Qiang Chen & Xingfeng Dong, 2019. "Emissions of CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O Fluxes from Forest Soil in Permafrost Region of Daxing’an Mountains, Northeast China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-14, August.
    15. Husnain Husnain & I. Wigena & Ai Dariah & Setiari Marwanto & Prihasto Setyanto & Fahmuddin Agus, 2014. "CO 2 emissions from tropical drained peat in Sumatra, Indonesia," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 845-862, August.
    16. Nikolay Gorbach & Viktor Startsev & Anton Mazur & Evgeniy Milanovskiy & Anatoly Prokushkin & Alexey Dymov, 2022. "Simulation of Smoldering Combustion of Organic Horizons at Pine and Spruce Boreal Forests with Lab-Heating Experiments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    17. Dijkstra, Lewis & Florczyk, Aneta J. & Freire, Sergio & Kemper, Thomas & Melchiorri, Michele & Pesaresi, Martino & Schiavina, Marcello, 2021. "Applying the Degree of Urbanisation to the globe: A new harmonised definition reveals a different picture of global urbanisation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Yuanbo Cao & Huijie Xiao & Baitian Wang & Yunlong Zhang & Honghui Wu & Xijing Wang & Yadong Yang & Tingting Wei, 2021. "Soil Respiration May Overestimate or Underestimate in Forest Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, March.
    19. Asik Dutta & Ranjan Bhattacharyya & Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta & Abir Dey & Namita Das Saha & Sarvendra Kumar & Chaitanya Prasad Nath & Ved Prakash & Surendra Singh Jatav & Abhik Patra, 2023. "Conventional and Zero Tillage with Residue Management in Rice–Wheat System in the Indo-Gangetic Plains: Impact on Thermal Sensitivity of Soil Organic Carbon Respiration and Enzyme Activity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, January.
    20. Hermes, Henning & Lergetporer, Philipp & Mierisch, Fabian & Peter, Frauke & Wiederhold, Simon, 2023. "Discrimination in Universal Social Programs? A Nationwide Field Experiment on Access to Child Care," CEPR Discussion Papers 18113, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:6:p:840-:d:831276. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.