As the largest terrestrial store of carbon, soils are a critical nature-based solution for combating climate change by sequestering carbon into our soils. However, the data required to support mitigation strategies and the infrastructure to enable cost-effective monitoring, reporting, and verification of our vital soil resources — a strategic national asset — are lacking.
A new report from Canada’s Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry highlights the need for more data to support such mitigation strategies and the infrastructure to enable cost-effective monitoring, reporting, and verification.
To meet this need, the Government of Canada committed $6.9-million over the next five years to a Dalhousie-led research program focused on modernizing Canada’s soil-data infrastructure. Provided through the Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative grant, support comes from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
“This historic grant — the largest ever awarded to Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture — will support a national team of researchers to oversee the delivery of the senate recommendations related to soil data, monitoring, and mapping,” explains Dr. Brandon Heung, an associate professor in the Faculty of Agriculture and lead researcher on the project.
Dr. Brandon Heung. (Nick Pearce photo)
Dr. Heung says the need for soil data is become increasingly relevant now as we are talking more about issues surrounding soil health and carbon sequestration.
“With soil carbon, we need a better grasp of where it is, and how much more of it we can store through improved land use and soil management,” he says.
“As Canada faces the dual challenges of climate change and sustainable resource management, this investment in modernizing our soil data infrastructure is crucial,” says Dr. Alice Aiken, Dalhousie’s vice president, research and innovation.
“Dalhousie’s leadership in this national initiative reflects our commitment to advancing scientific understanding and developing innovative solutions that will benefit both our environment and our economy. We are proud to champion this groundbreaking work that will provide critical data that will provide an important foundation for the formulation of policy and practice today and into the future.”
Towards cost-effective soil survey and analysis
The national initiative, announced in late August, will focus on overcoming the systemic barriers that inhibit widespread adoption of soil surveys and resource monitoring: issues such as data fragmentation, high costs of soil analysis, and a lack of baseline soil information.
“Given the size of Canada, the costs of carrying out national-scale surveys of our soil resources is economically unsustainable, so we must explore ways to make the most out of the data we have collected in the past — representing tens of millions of taxpayer’s dollars,” says Dr. Heung.
In other words, there is the need to maximize the value of our past investments in soil surveying. To address this, the work will include the development of a National Soil Data Inventory, which consolidates data from partners and beyond; the filling of data gaps by using machine learning; and the development of the Canadian Soil Spectral Library to reduce the cost of soil analysis by leveraging advances in soil sensing.
This resulting influx of new data will allow the team to develop high-resolution national maps of critical soil properties and to get a better handle on soil-based greenhouse gas sequestration and emissions.
To carry out this monumental task, researchers within Dalhousie’s Centre for Sustainable Soil Management — including Drs. Gordon Price, David Burton, and Derek Lynch — will work together with fellow soil scientists from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba and University of Guelph. This project will also bring together research expertise and capacity from multiple provincial and federal government agencies, while actively engaging with industry and producer groups nationally.
Left to right: Drs. David Burton, Derek Lynch, and Gordon Price. (Submitted photos)
The social-economic dimensions of soil data
Beyond soil science, Dalhousie researchers Dr. Jamie Baxter of the Schulich School of Law and Dr. Stanley Asah of the School for Resource and Environmental Studies will lead a team delving into the social aspects of soil data sharing and governance. They will seeking to understand behavioural and legal motivations or barriers to data sharing — especially when much of the soil data in Canada is held by private entities, from individual farmers to large corporations. The team will provide policy recommendations to government that facilitate data sharing.
Although a five-year project, Dr. Heung stresses that “we must ensure the legacy of this project and that there are financial resources available to maintain the infrastructure.” The team is working with a team of economists from the University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan, and Carleton University to carry out an economic valuation of soil data and to build an investment case for the long-term maintenance of the soil data infrastructure.
Without this program, Canadians will be unable to track their progress toward achieving a net-zero economy and soil monitoring costs will remain prohibitively high and economically unsustainable, says Dr. Heung.
Dr. Stanley Asah, left, and Dr. Jamie Baxter. (Submitted photos)
The Canadian digital soil data portal
This collection of outcomes will form the basis of the Canadian Soil Data Portal, an online platform that will allow users, including farmers, foresters, students, and policy makers, to access and visualize soil data, carry out analyses, and view national-scale soil maps. The development of this infrastructure continues to be a priority of soil scientists across the country — especially those within the Canadian Society of Soil Science’s Canadian Digital Soil Mapping Working Group, which is co-led by Dr. Heung.
“By employing a multidisciplinary, network approach, our stellar team aims to ensure a cost-effective and data-driven approach towards employing sustainable soil management practices and for ensuring food and soil security for Canadians,” says Dr. Heung. “The Portal will be a huge asset to us all and will provide the foundation for future innovations that are well beyond my imagination.”