Scientific objectives  
Describe the diversity of soil organisms (microorganisms and fauna).  
Decipher their interactions through trophic nets (subsequently called food webs).  
Determine the role played by soil organisms in soil functioning and the delivery of major ecosystem services: nutrient cycling, carbon storage, water retention, 
soil structure regulation, resistance to pests and diseases, and regulation of above-ground diversity.  
Assess the stability and resilience of ecosystem biodiversity against threats: soil erosion and physical degradation, decline in organic content, and 
soil contamination.  
Technological objectives  
Develop and standardise tools and procedures to measure microbial and faunal diversity.  
Establish high-throughput molecular assays for assessing microbial and faunal diversity.  
Customise functional tools and methods to determine the functional diversity of fauna.  
Design, develop and establish a database aimed at mapping the European soil biodiversity and threats.  
Economics and policy objectives  
Establish cost-effective bioindicators to assess microbial and faunal diversity, their associated functions and the resulting ecosystem services. 
 
Evaluate the economic added-value brought by these bioindicators in assessing the consequences of soil management policy for soil biodiversity and functioning. 
 
Implement dissemination strategies to transfer the project result to soil stakeholders; notably but not exclusively regional, national and European 
policy-makers, and inform the general public about the issues associated with the sustainability of soil biodiversity.