The dataset illustrates the potential of soils to serve as a soil biodiversity pool. The potential is expressed as an indexed value from 1 (lowest potential) to 10 (highest potential). The potentials of soil biodiversity throughout Europe have been assessed and mapped by using critical thresholds of the selected variables (e.g. soil PH, texture, land cover among others) that potentially affect the conditions of soils for biodiversity and thus soil biodiversity levels. The dataset has been validated with existing data on soil biodiversity of different projects throughout Europe.

The total nitrogen input to agricultural soils for the year 2010 is represented in kgN/ha/yr at a 1 km resolution. Nitrogen input includes organic manure application, inorganic fertilizer input, atmospheric deposition and biological fixation. The data comes from the EEA nutrient accounts, developed by EEA and ETC-ULS, and is based on spatial reference data on crop and livestock distribution, yield and livestock statistics, and official conversion factors (see lineage for details). The geographic coverage is EU 27 (2007).