Managing soil to support soil biodiversity in protected areas agroecosystems: a comparison between arable lands, olive groves, and vineyards in the Conero Park (Italy).

Sustainable soil management is essential to conserve soil biodiversity and its provision of vital ecosystem services. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 highlights the key role of organic farming and land protection in halting biodiversity loss, including edaphic biodiversity. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed measures, a 1-year study was conducted in spring 2022 to determine the soil quality of three organically managed agroecosystems and four sites for each: arable lands, olive groves, and vineyards in the Conero Park, using the arthropod-based Biological Soil Quality Index (QBS-ar) and also considering soil chemical-physical characteristics.