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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Soil Carbon Pool as an Environmental Indicator
Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
The Ohio State University Columbus, OH 43210 USA
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
“Hello there folks. Do you know who or what I am? I am the geomembrane of the Earth. I am your protective filter, your buffer, your mediator of energy, water, and biogeochemical compounds. I am your sustainer of productive life, your ultimate sources of elements, and the habitat for most biota. I am the foundation that supports you, the cradle of your myths, and the dust from which you will return. I am a soil”.
Richard Arnold (2005) Senior Soil Scientist
SOIL: THE ESSENCE OF LIFE
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Soil is a 4-dimensional complex mixture of organic and mineral substances, with a hierarchy of pores containing dilute solution and gases at a wide range of energy potentials, comprising of diverse micro to macro organisms, and a medium for complex biochemical transformations which support plant growth and numerous ecosystem services.
Lal (2015)
SOIL
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
"Dirt has no currency in western society, and has little impact on politicians. It comes under the journalist "MEGO" category… My Eyes Glaze Over. Bar a few impressive dust storms, we care little of our soil. We do not relate what we eat in our home, buy in out supermarkets, or drink from our Starbucks to the soil. And yet, without soil, we become thirsty, hungry, and we die. Without soil, we become Mars, with no water, no atmosphere, and only relics of life, with at best distant stargazers trying to figure out the life that could have been."
Young and Crawford (2015)
THE DIRT
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
"So, before we examine what we need in terms of new seeds, new chemicals to add to the soil, and new technology platforms that need development, we need to urgently look at legal frameworks that protect our soil asset. So, our first challenge with any discipline, any agricultural framework, or any plant species, is to call on governments to implement legal strategies to secure and build our fertile soil reserves."
Young and Crawford (2015)
SCIENCE POLICY INTERPHASE
Especially so during the IYS-2015
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Mamani-Pati et al., 2014
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Physical Chemical
Biological
Interaction
• The aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences
• Surroundings • Milieu • Context • The style of a place
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Latin verb “indicare” means to:
• Disclose • Point out • Announce • Estimate • Put a prince on • communicate
INDICATOR
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• It is a sign, signal or a message about the surroundings. • It is an acceptable and simple yard stick about any parameter as a
measure of the present state and of the future trends.
• It is a proxy regarding state of the things, resources, activities, etc.
INDICATOR
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• It is a measure, quantitative or qualitative, of changes occurring in the environment, including trends overtime
• It is a quantifiable measure of the sate of the environment, and its impact on ecosystems.
ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATOR
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATOR
Ecosystem Economy
Human Well-being
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• Relevant • Simple • Reliable • Repeatable • Accessible • Quantifiable • Credible • Scalable: local to national and global
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD INDICATOR
• User-driven • Policy-relevant • Highly aggregated
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• Assess trends • Compare scenarios • Monitor progress • Evaluate performance • Provide early warning • Assist in decision making • Identify knowledge gaps • Define researchable issues • Establish criteria for resource allocation • Measure impact
APPLICATION OF INDICATORS
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
GROUPING OF INDICATORS
Types of Environmental Indicators
Sustainability Indicators
State of the Environment
Indicators
Environment Performance
Indicators
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Environment � Gaseous emissions � Sea level rise � Biodiversity � Water quality � Air quality � Soil quality
Human Well being � Average age � Education � Diet quality � Affluence � Status of women and minority
Sustainability � Per capita CO2 emission � Renewable vs. total energy consumed � Recycling of urban/ industrial/ ethnic/ gender equity � Resilience
Performance � Trend in emissions � Renewable resources vs. total resources � Intensity of use
INTERACTIVE INDICATORS
Types of Indicators
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS
Sustainability
Environment Ec
onom
y Social
Well-being
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
HOLISTIC INDICATORS
Environment
Society
Performance Management
Technology
Economy
Sustainability
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• Productivity • Erosion, degradation • Biodiversity • Water quality • Gaseous emission and air quality • Pollutant denaturing • Food and nutritional security • Plant, animal and human health • Ecosystem resilience • Sustainability
SOIL CARBON AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATOR BECAUSE IT DETERMINES:
• Extractive Farming/Subsistence
• Depletion of SOC and Nutrients • Decline in Soil Structure
• Loss of Soil Resilience
• Decline in Ecosystem Functions and Services
• Loss of Soil biodiversity • Disruption of Key Processes
• Hunger • Malnutrition • Political Unrest • Civil Strife • War and insecurity
Severe Degradation
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Soil is an organic-carbon mediated realm in which solid, liquid, gas and biology all interact from a scale of nanometer to landscape.
THE LIVING SOIL
The weight of live organisms in arable land is 5 t/ha
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
SOILS AND MEN (1938)
“SOM is one of our most important natural resources: its unwise exploitation has been devastating, and it must be given its proper place in any conservation policy as one of the major factors affecting crop production in the future.”
“A declining soil fertility, due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, is responsible for poor crops and in turn for poor people.”
“Health of our nation may be impossible to restore without first restoring the health of our soils.”
Albrecht, President SSSA (1938)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
AL-IKSEER (THE RECIPE)
“Soil organic matter has over the centuries been considered by many as an elixir of life. Ever since the dawn of history, some eight thousand and more years ago, man has appreciated the fact that dark soils, commonly found in river valleys and broad level plains, are usually productive soils. He also realized at a very early stage that color and productivity are commonly associated with organic matter derived chiefly from decaying plant materials”. ... Allison, 1973
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Crop Residues SOC Biochemical Transformations
+ (N, P, S etc.)
Elemental Ratio Cereal Residues SOC
Elemental Ratio Cereal Residues Humus C:N 100 12 C:P 200 50 C:S 500 70
C:N 100 12 C:P 200 50 C:S 500 70
Straw photo: http://shannahatfield.com/2013/09/24/hay-vs-straw/ Humus photo: http://www.davecullen.com/forum/index.php?topic=26820.3285
NUTRIENTS REQUIRED TO CONVERT BIOMASS INTO SOC
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
TRADING NUTRIENTS FOR CARBON
Sequestration of 10,000 kg of biomass C as SOC requires additional nutrients:
• 833 kg N
• 200 kg P
• 143 kg S
These ingredients will produce + 17,241 kg of humus
28,000 kg of C in residues 62,000 kg of residues (oven dry)
Recalculated from Himes, 1998.
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
MRT OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON
• MRT varies from a few seconds to a few millennia. • It is only the SOC with a long MRT of decades to
millennia that can mitigate the climate. • It is the environmental and biological controls, rather
than molecular structural properties (recalcitrance), which impact the MRT.
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
MECHANISMS OF SOC PROTECTION
Protection Mechanism Component Chemical Silt + Clay Physical Micro-aggregates Biochemical Non-hydrolyzable C Unprotected POM in sand fraction
Six et al. (2002)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
WATERRESOURCES-Quality
-Quan+ty
- Aboveground-Belowground
BIODIVERSITY
- Mi+ga+on- Adapta+on- Stabiliza+on
CLIMATECHANGE
FOODSECURITY
-Quan+ty-Quality
SOILQUALITY(SOC)
THE ENGINE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Accelerated erosion
Innovative Technology II
Innovative Technology I Subsistence
farming, none or low off-farm input soil degradation
New equilibrium
Adoption of RMPs
Time (Yrs) Lal, 2004
80
100
20
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
40
60
20
Rel
ativ
e So
il C
Poo
l
0
Maximum Potential
Rate ΔY
ΔX
Attainable Potential
C Sink C
apacity
Δt
• Conservation Agriculture • Biochar • Agroforestry • Desert. Control • Afforestation • Pasture Mgmt • H2O harv., DSI • Farming Systems
MRT = Pool Flux
SOIL C SEQUESTRATION
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
• Animal Power • Rotations
• Sustainable intensification (SI)
• Rhizospheric processes
• Disease- suppressive soils
• Soil-less agriculture
• The nexus approach
• Phytobiome management
• Recarbon-
ization of the biosphere
• Nutrition-sensitive agriculture
• SI/ Restorative Agriculture
• Soil-less agriculture
• Phytobiome management
• Urban
agriculture
• Space farming
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
• Hand Tools GR
EEN
REV
OLU
TIO
N
� M
achi
ne p
ower
�
Ferti
lizer
s �
Ger
mpl
asm
YEAR
REL
ATIV
E FO
OD
PR
OD
UC
TIO
N (M
g/ha
)
WORLD POPULATION (BILLIONS)
12
8
6
4
1
0.8
15 20
1750 1850 1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 2015
0.8 1 3 4 6 8 9.6 7.6
� C
onse
rvat
ion
agric
ultu
re �
Mic
ro-ir
rigat
ion
�
Pre
cisi
on fa
rmin
g �
Per
enni
al c
ultu
re
� C
ompl
ex ro
tatio
ns �
GM
Os
� Improved cultivars
� Biotech- nology
� No-till farming
� INM
� IPM
� Carbon sequestration
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
N, P, K, Zn, H2O
TOWARDS C-NEUTRAL AGRICULTURE
Chatting with plants
through molecular-
based signals No-till Farming
INM
Soil biota and ecosystems services
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Resilience of Soil-Ecological Systems
It has multiple regimes (stable states) which are separated by thresholds
Thresholds
Critical Threshold
The current state of the system
Possible states in which the system can still have the same function Irreversible
Degradation
Resilience
Regime Shift
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
THRESHOLD/CRITICAL LEVEL Threshold/Critical Level/Tipping Point: Soil processes and properties have threshold levels (~2.0% SOC concentration). Beyond threshold level, there is a drastic regime change.
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
CRITICAL LEVEL OF SOC FOR WHEAT YIELD
4000
3000
2000
1000
0 0 20 80 60 40
Soil Organic C (Mg ha-1)
Yiel
d (k
g ha
-1)
(Diaz-Zorita et al., 2002)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Crop Yield Increase (Kg/Ha/Mg C) Maize 100 - 300 Soybeans 20 - 50 Wheat 20 - 70 Rice 10 - 50 Sorghum 80 - 140 Millet 30 - 70 Beans 30 - 60
30-50 million tons/yr in developing countries
CROP YIELD INCREASE WITH INCREASE IN SOC BY 1 Mg C/Ha
(LAL, 2005)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT
• Replace what is removed, • Respond wisely to what is changed, and • Predict what will happen from anthropogenic and natural perturbations
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
SOIL C AS AN INDICATOR OF ENVIRONMENT
1. It is a familiar property,
2. It involves direct measurement,
3. It can be measured in 4 dimensions (length, width, depth, time),
4. It lends itself to repeated measurements over the same site,
There are numerous advantages:
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
5. It is linked to ecosystem performance and services, 6. It is a key driver of soil formation, 7. It is important to soil fertility, 8. It has memory, 9. It has well defined properties,
SOIL C AS AN INDICATOR OF ENVIRONMENT (CONTINUED)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
10. It can be used in synergism with other indicators, 11. Its uncertainty can be quantified, 12. Its pathways across the landscape can be followed, 13. It is an important archive of paleo-environmental conditions.
SOIL C AS AN INDICATOR OF ENVIRONMENT (CONTINUED)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
SOILS AND MEN (1938)
“SOM is one of our most important natural resources: its unwise exploitation has been devastating, and it must be given its proper place in any conservation policy as one of the major factors affecting crop production in the future.”
“A declining soil fertility, due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, is responsible for poor crops and in turn for poor people.”
“Health of our nation may be impossible to restore without first restoring the health of our soils.”
Albrecht, President SSSA (1938)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
AL-IKSEER (THE RECIPE)
“Soil organic matter has over the centuries been considered by many as an elixir of life. Ever since the dawn of history, some eight thousand and more years ago, man has appreciated the fact that dark soils, commonly found in river valleys and broad level plains, are usually productive soils. He also realized at a very early stage that color and productivity are commonly associated with organic matter derived chiefly from decaying plant materials”. ... Allison, 1973
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
GLOBAL SOIL ORGANIC CARBON POOL 0-30cm DEPTH
Total Pool = 684-724 (704) Pg .... Batjes (1996)
0.4% Increase/yr = 2.8 Pg C/yr
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
GLOBAL POTENTIAL OF TERRESTRIAL C SEQUESTRATION (Lal, 2010)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
12.5 x 10-12 Pg C/ha/y
v
NPP
5 x
10-9
Pg
C/h
a pe
r yr
+ 2
ppm
CO
2/y
NBP≅3PgC/yr
THE NPP OF A CORN FIELD IS 400 TIMES THE ANNUAL INCREASE IN ATMOSPHERIC C POOL
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Land Fossil Fuel Ocean
THE TERRESTRIAL AND OCEANIC PROCESSES IMPACTING ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
Atmosphere 800 Pg
(400 ppmv) + 4.3 Pg/yr (2.2 ppm/yr)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Atmosphere Fossil Fuel Ocean
Terrestrial Biosphere
• Soil • Biota
POTENTIAL MITIGATION STRATEGIES INVOLVING THE TERRESTRIAL BIOSPHERE
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
Biosphere • Live Biomass • Detritus
Material • Marine Biota • Green Roofs • Afforestation
Pedosphere • Land application of
biomass-C (mulch, compost, manure, biochar)
• Erosion control • Waste management • Producing technosols • Soil restoration
Anthroposphere Byproducts of
Biomass • Houses, furniture,
timber • Carbonization • Landfills • Artificial trees
Lithosphere • Geologic
sequestration (CCS)
• Carbonation processes
• Weathering of alumino-silicates
Storing Biogenic Carbon
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
TECHNICAL POTENTIAL OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE TERRESTRIAL
Activity
Technical Potential (Pg C/yr)
A. Soil • Cropland management 0.4-1.2 • Restoration of Salt-Affected Soils 0.3-0.7 • Desertification Control 0.2-0.7
Sub-total 0.9-2.6
B. Vegetation • Afforestation, Forest Succession,
Agroforestry, Peatland Restoration 1.2-1.4
• Forest Plantations 0.2-0.5 • Savanna and Grassland Ecosystems 0.3-0.5
Sub-total 1.7-2.4
Grand Total 2.6-5.0 (3.8)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
4 FOR 1000 : A NEW PROGRAM FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN AGRICULTURE
With soil C pool of 2400 Pg, 4/1000
= 9.6 Pg C
= 4.5 ppm CO2 Drawdown
• Reducing emissions in 2050 to half of 1990 levels in Europe implies offsetting a total if 20 Pg CO2 (5.5 Pg C)
• Thus, 4 per 1000 initiative can be an important strategy to achieve this goal.
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
1- Global Soil C Pool
2 - Food Security 2 - Food
Security
SOIL CARBON AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Lal (2012)
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Carbon Management and Sequestration Center
en.wikipedia.org www.worldwildlife.org
www.seeturtles.org HANDOUT / Reuters
Water Carbon
Nitrogen Phosphorous
Sulfur
SOIL: THE GLOBAL ICON
Lal (2014)