Affiliation:
1. Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture,University of São Paulo
2. Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
3. The Ohio State University
Abstract
Abstract
Soil represents Earth's largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon (C) and is an important sink of C from the atmosphere. It remains unclear to which extent the inclusion of best management practices (BMPs) can contribute to increasing soil C sequestration in large-scale agrosystems. Solving the lack of soil C references can also allow the implementation of the C market, envisioned by the Paris Agreement. This study brings an overview of thousands of research articles and reveals that upscaling BMPs over 30% of the agricultural area (334 Mha) of the Americas would promote a soil C sequestration of 13.3 (± 7.30) Pg CO2eq in 20 years, offsetting ~ 39% of agricultural emissions in the same period. These results suggest that BMPs have great potential for C removal from the atmosphere and represent a positive impact in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation, combatting land degradation, and promoting food security.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC
Reference76 articles.
1. Brantley, S. L., Goldhaber, M. B. & Ragnarsdottir, K. V. Crossing Disciplines and Scales to Understand the Critical Zone. Elements 3, 307–314 (2007).
2. Soil ecosystem services, sustainability, valuation and management;Pereira P;Curr. Opin. Environ. Sci. Health,2018
3. Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change;Lal R;Geoderma,2004
4. The long-term carbon cycle, fossil fuels and atmospheric composition;Berner RA;Nature,2003
5. Forest soils and carbon sequestration;Lal R;For. Ecol. Manag.,2005