Teagasc and research partners UCD, University of Limerick and Sligo IT completed a Research Stimulus project “SQUARE” in 2018 funded by my Department.
In the SQUARE project, a baseline survey of soil health status was taken for a range of grassland and arable soils across Ireland (total: 108 field sites). This research identified key soil indicators related to the five soil functions; (1) primary production, (2) Nutrient cycling, (3) Water regulation and purification, (4) Climate regulation and carbon sequestration and (5) habitat for biodiversity. These key soil indicators can be used to assess and monitor different aspects of soil health over time. This research also investigated the interactions between soil type, climatic region and management and their effect on these key indicators of soil health.
Overall, while the SQUARE project results indicate that the soil health status of Irish soils is relatively good, it identified that one of the main threats to soil health in Ireland was the risk of soil compaction.