Carbon Sequestration In Agricultural Ecosystems

A comprehensive book on basic processes of soil C dynamics and the underlying factors and causes which determine the technical and economic potential of soil C sequestration. The book provides information on the dynamics of both inorganic (lithogenic and pedogenic carbonates) and organic C (labile, intermediate and passive). It describes different types of agroecosystems, and lists questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate thinking and promote academic dialogue. Each chapter has a bibliography containing up-to-date references on the current research, and provides the state-of-the-knowledge while also identifying the knowledge gaps for future research. The critical need for restoring C stocks in world soils is discussed in terms of provisioning of essential ecosystem services (food security, carbon sequestration, water quality and renewability, and biodiversity). It is of interest to students, scientists, and policy makers.

A comprehensive book on basic processes of soil C dynamics and the underlying factors and causes which determine the technical and economic potential of soil C sequestration. The book provides information on the dynamics of both inorganic (lithogenic and pedogenic carbonates) and organic C (labile, intermediate and passive). It describes different types of agroecosystems, and lists questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate thinking and promote academic dialogue. Each chapter has a bibliography containing up-to-date references on the current research, and provides the state-of-the-knowledge while also identifying the knowledge gaps for future research. The critical need for restoring C stocks in world soils is discussed in terms of provisioning of essential ecosystem services (food security, carbon sequestration, water quality and renewability, and biodiversity). It is of interest to students, scientists, and policy makers.

Ecological functions and human wellbeing depend on ecosystem services. Among the ecosystem services are provisional (food, feed, fuel, fiber), regulating (carbon sequestration, waste recycling, water cleansing), cultural (aesthetic, recreational, spiritual), and supporting services (soil formation, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling). Many relationships of various degree exist among ecosystem services. Thus, land use and soil management to enhance biospheric carbon sinks for carbon sequestration requires a comprehensive understanding on the effects on ecosystem services. Payments for ecosystem services including carbon pricing must address the relationship between carbon sequestration and ecosystem services to minimize risks of overshoot, and promote sustainable use of land-based carbon sinks for human wellbeing.

This book is divided in two sections. Several chapters in the first section provide a state-of-the-art review of various carbon sinks for CO2 sequestration such as soil and oceans. Other chapters discuss the carbon sequestration achieved by storage in kerogen nanopores, CO2 miscible flooding and generation of energy efficient solvents for postcombustion CO2 capture. The chapters in the second section focus on monitoring and tracking of CO2 migration in various types of storage sites, as well as important physical parameters relevant to sequestration. Both researchers and students should find the material useful in their work.

This book addresses the importance of soil processes in the global carbon cycle.Agricultural activities considered responsible for an increase in CO2 levels in our atmosphere include: deforestation, biomass burning, tillage and intensive cultivation, and drainage of wetlands.However, agriculture can also be a solution to the problem in which carbon can be removed from the atmosphere and permanently sequestered into the soil. Management of Carbon Sequestration in Soil highlights the importance of world soils as a sink for atmospheric carbon and discusses the impact of tillage, conservation reserve programs (CRP), management of grasslands and woodlands, and other soil and crop management and land use practices that lead to carbon sequestration.

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.

The potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change is one factor driving agricultural policy development of programs that might pay farmers for practices with a high potential to sequester carbon. With chapters by economists, policy makers, farmers, land managers, energy company representatives, and soil scientists, Agricu

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.