Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions provides a state of the art overview of recent findings and future research challenges regarding physical, chemical and biological processes controlling soil carbon, nitrogen dynamic and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. This book is for students and academics in soil science and environmental science, land managers, public administrators and legislators, and will increase understanding of organic matter preservation in soil and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Given the central role soil plays on the global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, there is an urgent need to increase our common understanding about sources, mechanisms and processes that regulate organic matter mineralization and stabilization, and to identify those management practices and processes which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, helping increase organic matter stabilization with suitable supplies of available N. - Provides the latest findings about soil organic matter stabilization and greenhouse gas emissions - Covers the effect of practices and management on soil organic matter stabilization - Includes information for readers to select the most suitable management practices to increase soil organic matter stabilization

Soil carbon sequestration and preservation of present stocks reduces net global greenhouse gas emission and can contribute significantly to both Nordic and international goals of limiting serious climate change. In order to achieve this, sustainable use of soil resources, better soil and water management practices, and restoration of degraded soils is needed. Protection and restoration of soil organic carbon are also key solutions to many of the most pressing global challenges facing mankind today. Highlighting the importance of the soil and the multiple benefits of soil organic carbon sequestration has never been more needed than now.

Loss of organic matter (OM) from soil through degradation can lead to decline in soil structure, depletion of plant nutrients, enhancing mineralization of organic compounds and contribute to climate change through the release of greenhouse gas emissions. To address this, it is important to identify and expand our current understanding of the management practices that ensure that the functions and services of soils in agricultural lands are maintained for the long-term. Sustainable agriculture aims to meet society's needs for food, feed, and fiber, while protecting natural resources and is primarily guided by the quality of and aims to maintain or improve health of soils. A management practice that directly benefits soil quality, through the enhancement of soil organic matter (SOM), is the use of organic matter amendments (OMA). OMAs are a group of organic materials that are rich in nutrients that can be recycled back to the soil and can have positive effects for improving soil conditions and properties, and are proposed as a climate change mitigation strategy. Through extensive field, laboratory studies, and advanced analytical techniques, I show the potential benefits of recycling organic matter amendments into agricultural soils in California. Three projects were established and make up the three chapters of my dissertation: the first project focused on how the application of two different types of composts in almond orchards influenced soil fertility and nutrient cycling. Main findings from this chapter show that the applications of these OMA were heavily influenced by soil texture. After two years of OMA application there was an improvement in soil fertility. The second chapter focused on how long-term application of biosolids in agricultural soils influences carbon content, specifically focusing on the importance of accounting for deep soil carbon in order to determine a soils climate change mitigation potential in three sites in northern California. Main findings show that application rate of biosolids is not a determining factor when it comes to carbon accounting, but management practices play a bigger role. Additionally, not accounting for deep soil carbon leads to an underestimation of carbon sequestration in biosolid amended soils. Chapter 3 builds off Chapter 2, and investigates the stability of this C and N by determining what pools in the soil they are in. These different pools will provide insight on how vulnerable these reservoirs are to management induced changes which can contribute to C and N losses. Overall findings show that long-term amended soils contribute increase carbon content associated to unprotected pools in surface soils where it is easier for microbes to mineralize. Carbon content in deeper soils show that the carbon is associated to physically protected and mineral associated pools, indicating this carbon to be more persistent. Overall, these findings show that site conditions, measurement methodology, and management practices influence the potential of OMA to be beneficial to soil fertility and climate beneficial.

This report assesses the potential of U.S. cropland to sequester carbon, concluding that properly applied soil restorative processes and best management practices can help mitigate the greenhouse effect by decreasing the emissions of greenhouse gases from U.S. agricultural activities and by making U.S. cropland a major sink for carbon sequestration. Topics include: Describe the greenhouse processes and global tends in emissions as well as the three principal components of anthropogenic global warming potential Present data on U.S. emissions and agriculture's related role Examines the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in soils of the U.S. and its loss due to cultivation Provides a reference for the magnitude of carbon sequestration potential Analyzes the primary processes governing greenhouse gas emission from the pedosphere Establishes a link between SOC content and soil quality Outlines strategies for mitigating emissions from U.S. cropland Discusses soil erosion management Assesses the potential of using cropland to create biomass for direct fuel to produce power Details the potential for sequestering carbon by intensifying prime agricultural land The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect provides an exceptional framework for the adoption of science-based management methods on U.S. cropland, encouraging appropriate agricultural practices for the sustainable use of our natural resources and the improvement of our nation's environment.

Soil carbon sequestration can play a strategic role in controlling the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere and thereby help mitigate climatic change. There are scientific opportunities to increase the capacity of soils to store carbon and remove it from circulation for longer periods of time. The vast areas of degraded and desertified lands throughout the world offer great potential for the sequestration of very large quantities of carbon. If credits are to be bought and sold for carbon storage, quick and inexpensive instruments and methods will be needed to monitor and verify that carbon is actually being added and maintained in soils. Large-scale soil carbon sequestration projects pose economic and social problems that need to be explored. This book focuses on scientific and implementation issues that need to be addressed in order to advance the discipline of carbon sequestration from theory to reality. The main issues discussed in the book are broad and cover aspects of basic science, monitoring, and implementation. The opportunity to restore productivity of degraded lands through carbon sequestration is examined in detail. This book will be of special interest to professionals in agronomy, soil science, and climatology.

The role of soils and soil organic carbon in climate change adaptation and mitigation has been recognized and validated both experimentally and through modelling. The outcomes of this symposium led by FAO will contribute to building scientific evidence.