Climate-smart soils

• Published in: Nature (London) 2016-04, Vol.532 (7597), p.49-57
• Main Authors: Paustian, Keith, Lehmann, Johannes, Ogle, Stephen, Reay, David, Robertson, G. Philip, Smith, Pete
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/158/47; 704/172; Agricultural production; Agriculture; Agriculture - economics; Agriculture - methods; Agriculture - trends; Air pollution; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Carbon Sequestration; Climate change; Climatic changes; Decomposition; Ecosystems; Emissions; Environmental aspects; Greenhouse Effect - prevention & control; Greenhouse gases; Humanities and Social Sciences; Information technology; Internationality; Land use; Methane - metabolism; Mitigation; multidisciplinary; Nitrogen; Nitrous Oxide - metabolism; perspective; R&D; Research & development; Research - trends; Science; Soil - chemistry; Soil gases; Soils; Terrestrial ecosystems; Uncertainty
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/nature17174

Soils are integral to the function of all terrestrial ecosystems and to food and fibre production. An overlooked aspect of soils is their potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Although proven practices exist, the implementation of soil-based greenhouse gas mitigation activities are at an early stage and accurately quantifying emissions and reductions remains a substantial challenge. Emerging research and information technology developments provide the potential for a broader inclusion of soils in greenhouse gas policies. Here we highlight ‘state of the art’ soil greenhouse gas research, summarize mitigation practices and potentials, identify gaps in data and understanding and suggest ways to close such gaps through new research, technology and collaboration. The potential of soils to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions has not been exploited; here we discuss and recommend research and technology developments to implement mitigation practices. Climate mitigation through soil management Soils, and agricultural soils in particular, could be useful in climate mitigation — offsetting human emissions of greenhouse gases. Changes in management practice have been shown to increase carbon sequestration and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, and the global potential is on the order of several petagrams of CO 2 equivalent per year. Accurately monitoring the effectiveness of soil management techniques, though, remains difficult. A larger challenge is rolling out the required practices at the scale required. Keith Paustian et al . discuss the many challenges in soils-based mitigation, and suggest ways forward in monitoring and implementation.