Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 15 June 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 June 2016. It was answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 June 2016 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Soil: Research

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current health and status of earthworm populations in English arable soils, and based on research and surveys carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ commissioned research and research of other organisations, what trends they have identified in the last two decades.

Answer

Defra is working closely with the research councils and is funding research to improve our understanding of the role of soil biodiversity in contributing to soil condition. This research includes a Defra-funded review of the current available UK-affiliated evidence base. The Report of the review was published in March and has been placed in the House Library.

We are looking closely at its findings, including whether there is a need to carry out analysis of trends in biodiversity in order to understand better how the functions it supports, such as soil structure, water movement, nutrient dynamics and plant growth, contribute to soil condition across a range of ecosystem services and management practices.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL723
Session
2016-17
Related items
Deposited Paper DEP2016-0711
Wednesday, 29 June 2016
Deposited papers
House of Lords
Subjects
Research Soil Earthworms
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk