In school, we learn in biology class how carbon is released to the atmosphere and absorbed back by nature somehow, and we call it “the carbon cycle”. The process is considerably simple: carbon is released into the air in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), through different mechanisms such as respiration, organic residue decomposition and burning of fossil fuel; and nature stores it back in the oceans and in the form of soil organic carbon.
Plants are important actors in the carbon cycle by incorporating CO2, which provide them with energy to develop. However, plants don’t use all the absorbed carbon as an energy source. Part of the carbon goes back to the environment, and the other part is released into the soil as exudates to feed fungi and bacteria. These exudates help microbial communities grow and as a consequence, these organisms will increase nutrient cycling and availability in soil, benefiting plant development, thus improving the quality of the food we eat while mitigating climate change.
Therefore, soil is one of the most important natural carbon sinks in the environment, since it sequestrates carbon in the atmosphere and gives a new purpose to it, helping to maintain atmospheric carbon within levels considered safe for life on Earth.
What is meant by soil organic carbon?
Soil Organic Carbon can be composed of microbial biomass, bicrobial necromass, plant residue, decomposed animals, and substances synthesized by soil microbes. SOC is directly related to the amount of organic matter the soil holds and it’s often how this matter is measured in soils. That way, carbon sequestration is considered an important strategy to increase soil fertility and an effective way of storing carbon where it might not be able to escape easily.
The level of carbon in the soil is a result of many ecosystems interactions and processes, and the most natural ones are photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition. Through these processes, soil is able to absorb atmospheric carbon and store it for thousands of years, which helps halt the rising global temperatures.
Studies show that soil carbon sequestration can be enhanced in management systems which add high amounts of biomass to the soil, causes minimal soil disturbance, while preserving water, increasing soil structure and enhancing activity and diversity of species in soil. While some management systems help improve soil carbon sequestration, conventional agricultural practices – such as using fertilizers containing chloride or high salt index – can not only jeopardize carbon sequestration, but also cause soil to release more carbon back to the atmosphere.
What is soil organisms’ role in climate regulation?
Soil biodiversity comprises a vast number of species responsible for different ecosystem services. In fact, just a teaspoon of soil contains billions of living organisms. Microorganisms, microfauna, mesofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna are part of the complex ecosystem within soil, and they all contribute to improving and modifying soil organic carbon, directly or indirectly. Soil microbes, for example, process carbon and introduces new compounds to the soil, and this activity is called soil microbial carbon pump.
These organisms are extremely important to change our world by improving not only agricultural yield, but also the quality of our food. New studies have supported this idea by demonstrating that biodiverse soils, are more fertile, healthy, and resilient.
Healthy soils mean better crops, and consequently better food. However, the advance of climate change affects agricultural productivity due to changes in weather patterns, causing unbalance on water availability, element cycling and soil temperature regimes. This changes trigger stress in soil’s biotic and abiotic elements, affecting species composition and, as a result, harming soil ecosystem. These changes, although initially subtle, can have significant and even irreversible negative outcomes in the long-term. So, it seems only right that many scientists have now more than ever, turned their attention to the crucial role of soil and soil organisms when it comes to capturing carbon.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, by fixing carbon into the soil, soil biota improves soil fertility, resilience and environmental sustainability since they can improve agricultural productivity while reducing farmers’ dependence on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
In fact, some scients defend that just by improving soil carbon sequestration, it would possible to reverse the climate crisis in up to 15 years. Although we are not sure about how much carbon the soil can store, a study showed that biodiverse soils can sequestrate from 10 to 20 tons of carbon per hectare per year. By improving soil biodiversity on agricultural lands around the world, it would be possible to achieve the mark of 100 billion tons of sequestrated carbon per year.
In conclusion, promoting soil biodiversity should be a global movement, seeing that these hidden organisms are our climate allies.
Below, there are some other articles that you might be interested in:
- Soil: vital but fragile
- Soil bacteria: the building blocks of healthy soil
- Reversing climate change: how can we boost carbon removal?
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