Introduction
Soil represents the foundation of life on Earth, as it is crucial for plant growth, biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration, which directly impacts our food security and our ability to adapt to climate change. At the Department of Agricultural Ecology and Natural Resources, we focus on strengthening cooperation between research and professional institutions at home and abroad. Our goal is to provide direct support to agricultural producers, the economy, state administration, environmentalists, and the educational sector. Our work encompasses research and professional tasks in the fields of agricultural ecology, sustainable use of natural resources, and environmental protection, with the aim of supporting agricultural production, protecting the environment, and promoting the responsible and sustainable management of agricultural land and ecosystems.
Areas of work
soil as a natural resource and pedology as a science
preservation of fertility and the quality of agricultural land
soil and environmental geoinformatics
Ecology of Plant Protection Products
Integrated Management of Weed Vegetation
Assessment of the Suitability of Agricultural Technologies and Tillage Practices
Soil Mesofauna
soil analytics and the effectiveness of fertilizers and growth substrates
Infrastructure
Associates
Head of department
Researchers
Monika Gričnik
Holds a degree in Geography, specializing in environmental and physical geography as well as applied geoinformatics. She completed her undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. During her studies, she participated in a CEEPUS exchange at the University of Zagreb, gained practical experience in environmental protection, and completed a 10-month geoinformatics internship in the private sector. She has been working as a researcher at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia since 2022.
Scientific and professional focus:
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Management and development of WebGIS viewers for the eTLA soil information system
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Spatial analysis and modeling of soil, agricultural, and environmental data in GIS environments
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Digital soil mapping and spatial database management (ORACLE, PostgreSQL)
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Environmental vulnerability studies and assessment of agricultural spatial impacts
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Soil ecosystem services, soil permeability, and climate change impacts on soil
Vid Naglič
Holds a Master’s degree in Ecology and Biodiversity and is currently a PhD candidate. His research focuses on soil organisms, examining how different soil management practices impact the community structure and abundance of soil fauna. He develops and applies genetic methods in combination with morphological approaches to advance soil ecology research. He has been working as a researcher at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia since 2023.
🔗 SICRIS | ORCID
Professional and technical staff
Projects
AgroPolis – Promoting AGROecology through co-creating value chain innovations and improved multi-level POLIcieS in a beyond-growth Europe
LIFE4ADAPT – LIFE Prilagodimo se podnebnim spremembam
Razvoj trajnostnega načina desikacije krompirjeve cime (V4-2408)
Identifikacija in presoja antropogenih vplivov na habitate divjadi (V4-2412)
SOIL:OurInvisibleAlly – Spodbujanje izvajanja evropske zakonodaje o tleh v občinah na območju Alp in pridobivanje nadnacionalnega znanja, vzajemnega učenja in konkretnega medsektorskega izvajanja na lokalni ravni
Sinteza in prostorska opredelitev podatkov kmetijske in okoljske kakovosti tal za izvajanje resolucije »Naša hrana podeželje in naravni viri po 2021« in strateškega načrta (V4-2215)
Strokovna izhodišča za monitoring izbranih organizmov nadzemne in podzemne biote v kmetijski krajini za spremljanje učinkovitosti naravovarstvenih ukrepov Skupne kmetijske politike (V4-2221)
EIP POMOP: Pomoč opraševalcem v intenzivni kmetijski krajini za podporo biodiverziteti
DINALPCONNECT: Čezmejna ekološka povezljivost med Alpami in Dinaridi
EJP SOIL: Pot k pametnemu, trajnostnemu gospodarjenju s kmetijskimi tlemi
Publications
Erosion in Slovenia: Brief description and evaluation of significant soil degradation
