Dear Colleagues, 
welcome to the April newsletter of the EGU Soil System Sciences Division! This month, we invite you to learn more about the webinar Farming the Fens: “Building resilient peatland systems”, read a Nature publication on Pesticides and Soil Biodiversity and a new SOIL paper, and learn more about the SSS Division through our Linkedin and Bluesky pages. Moreover, we also have some reminders to attend the 4th edition of the World Biodiversity Forum, the 1st International Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration, and discover the EGU General Assembly 2026 Meeting programme.

Heike Knicker, Division President

Beatrice Giannetta  ECS Rep
Diana Vieira, Fatima Meite

What recently happened on Soil System Sciences?

On 9 April 2026 held the webinar Farming the Fens: Building resilient peatland systems, a collaboration between Soil Association, Fenland SOIL and the Soil Mission Horizon project NBSOIL. This webinar explored new developments in sustainable farming systems on lowland peat soils, showing how practices and trials including paludiculture, raised‑water‑table trials or regenerative practices can be meaningful for yields and influence carbon emissions and dynamics. A recording of the webinar is available on YouTube at The Soil Association Videos.

Get Information Here

A new Nature publication, delves into the critical issue of how pesticides affect the delicate balance of soil ecosystems. This research is pivotal, as it highlights the urgent need for sustainable agricultural practices that protect and preserve soil health, which is essential for food security and environmental sustainability. The study has also been recognised with the honour of gracing the cover of the latest issue. 

Learn More Here

Discover: “In silico analysis of carbon and water dynamics in the rhizosphere under drought conditions”. By Mona Giraud, Ahmet Kürşad Sırcan, Thilo Streck, Daniel Leitner, Guillaume Lobet, Holger Pagel, and Andrea Schnepf. 

In this study, they implement and explore a rhizosphere-soil model within the CPlantBox framework, a functional-structural plant model that represents plant processes and plant-soil interactions, to simulate the effect of dry spells occurring at different plant development stages, and for different soil kinetic parameterisations of microbial dynamics in soil. 

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In addition, you can now read interesting updates of the Soil System Sciences Division and related topics on LinkedIn and Bluesky pages.

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Upcoming Events and Deadlines  

The 4th World Biodiversity Forum (WBF) will take place from 14 to 19 June in Davos (Switzerland). The WBF aims to create a platform where biodiversity science researchers, practitioners and societal actors jointly explore options and solutions to foster biodiversity. Under the theme of Leading Transformation Together, WBF2026 is organized in 79 different sessions ranging from fundamental biodiversity-ecosystem functioning aspects to policy, finance and law, with a wide range of workshops, courses, trainings and other formats. Late breaking poster submission is still open!

Read More Here

The 1st International Conference on Land Degradation and Restoration will take place from 20 to 26 July in Valencia (Spain). This event aligns with global initiatives including the SDG 15.3 (End Desertification and Restore Degraded Land) and supports the European Research and Innovation Strategy (Horizon Europe). This conference is organized in 3 days of conferences and 4 days of field excursions to analyze the current situation of forest fires and discuss future managements to achieve sustainability. Researchers and experts are invited to submit their abstracts by 31 May 2026.

Register Here

The programme of EGU26 with all sessions and abstracts is now available online! The programme is searchable by different parameters including keywords or session topics, and offers the possibility to generate a personal programme by selecting single contributions or complete sessions. EGU26 also proposes Union-wide sessions of interest including great debates, union symposia or short courses, and press conferences covering cutting edge research.

Read Programme Here