Horizon Project ProPollSoil
Project Information
Title: Understanding and managing soil health impacts to protect soil-dependent pollinators
Acronym: ProPollSoil
DOI: 10.3030/101219108
Start Date: 1 October 2025
End Date: 30 September 2029
Funded under: Horizon Europe — Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”
Total cost: € 7.719.160,32
Coordinated by Technische Universität München
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101219108
About ProPollSoil
ProPollSoil is a four-year Horizon Europe research project that studies the relationship between soil health and soil-dependent pollinators — the insects that spend part of their life cycle in or on the soil. It focuses on lesser-known groups such as ground-nesting bees, wasps, hoverflies, ants and beetles, whose reliance on the soil has been largely overlooked in pollinator research.
The consortium of 20 partners and 3 associated partners combines a pan-European field sampling campaign, laboratory studies, novel monitoring methods including environmental DNA and artificial intelligence, and spatial modelling, in order to show how soil management and contamination contribute to pollinator decline.
Context
Pollinator populations across Europe are in decline. While the role of flower availability and of pesticides is well documented, the role of the soil itself has received far less attention. Most pollinating insects nest, rest or overwinter underground, so soil compaction, intensive management and pollution affect them directly.
The evidence linking soil health to pollinator health remains fragmented, which limits both soil policy and pollinator conservation.
Our Objectives
- Compile existing knowledge on soil-dependent pollinators, combining expert data with citizen science.
- Collect new field and laboratory data through a pan-European sampling campaign.
- Develop novel monitoring methods, including environmental DNA and artificial intelligence.
- Assess intensive soil management, compaction and pollution as threats across land use types.
- Model the spatial distribution of soil-dependent pollinators and map substrate availability across the EU.
- Co-create and test sustainable soil and habitat management practices in nine Case Study Areas.
Our role
The University of Thessaly co-leads Work Package 5 together with University College Dublin, assessing the impacts of soil management practices on soil-dependent pollinators across different land use types.
The Lab also leads the Greek Case Study Area in the Nestos Delta, where the work focuses on improving pollinator habitats and orchard soil management in high-input perennial cropping systems, primarily kiwi production.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.