Carbon losses from all soils across England and Wales 1978–2003
Abstract
More than twice as much carbon is held in soils as in vegetation or the atmosphere, and changes in soil carbon content can have a large effect on the global carbon budget. The possibility that climate change is being reinforced by increased carbon dioxide emissions from soils owing to rising temperature is the subject of a continuing debate. But evidence for the suggested feedback mechanism has to date come solely from small-scale laboratory and field experiments and modelling studies. Here we use data from the National Soil Inventory of England and Wales obtained between 1978 and 2003 to show that carbon was lost from soils across England and Wales over the survey period at a mean rate of 0.6% yr(-1) (relative to the existing soil carbon content). We find that the relative rate of carbon loss increased with soil carbon content and was more than 2% yr(-1) in soils with carbon contents greater than 100 g kg(-1). The relationship between rate of carbon loss and carbon content is irrespective of land use, suggesting a link to climate change. Our findings indicate that losses of soil carbon in England and Wales--and by inference in other temperate regions-are likely to have been offsetting absorption of carbon by terrestrial sinks.
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UK-wide surveys recording trends in soil carbon over time at 0-15 cm depth have reported significant reductions (~6%) in soil carbon under managed fertile grasslands between 1998 and 2007.
“UK wide surveys recording trends in soil carbon over time (at the 0–15 cm depth) have also reported significant reductions (~6%) in soil carbon under managed fertile grasslands between 1998 and 2007 (Bellamy, Loveland, Bradley, Lark, & Kirk, 2005; Emmett et al., 2010).”
From Measured and modelled effect of land‐use change from temperate grassland to <i>Miscanthus</i> on soil carbon stocks after 12 years (2019) · cites this paper as Bellamy et al., 2005
The paper reports carbon losses from 0–15 cm soil samples across England and Wales and includes managed permanent grassland (p. 1). But those grassland sites were resampled in 1995/96 after an original 1978–83 survey, not between 1998 and 2007; the cited passages do not report a ~6% reduction specifically for managed fertile grasslands. The study also covers England and Wales, rather than the whole UK. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThere are indications of a positive feedback in which increases in global temperature lower the ability of present soils and other parts of the biosphere to absorb CO2.
“In addition, there are indications (Bellamy et al., 2005;Monson et al., 2006;Luo, 2007;Arnone et al., 2008;Bond-Lamberty and Thomson, 2010;Smith and Fang, 2010;Yvon-Durocher et al., 2010;Zhao and Running, 2010) of a positive feedback in which increases in global temperature lower the ability of present soils and other parts of the biosphere to absorb CO 2”
From Breeding crop plants with deep roots: their role in sustainable carbon, nutrient and water sequestration (2011) · cites this paper as Bellamy et al., 2005
The organic carbon content of soils varies at least 15-fold in the UK alone.
“The first thing to note is the huge variation in the organic (carbon) content of soils -at least 15-fold in the UK alone (Bellamy et al., 2005;Bradley et al., 2005;Ostle et al., 2009).”
From Breeding crop plants with deep roots: their role in sustainable carbon, nutrient and water sequestration (2011) · cites this paper as Bellamy et al., 2005
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“, 2004; Worrall & Burt, 2007), and thus evidence of ecosystem destabilization, contributing to terrestrial carbon losses (Bellamy et al., 2005).”
BackgroundCiais, P., Dolman, A. J., Bombelli, A., Duren, R., Peregon, A. M., Rayner, P. J., Miller, C. E., Gobron, N., Kindermann, G., Marland, G., et al. (2014) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-11-3547-2014 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
“The best soil carbon inventories sample countries with a typical grid of a few km and a revisit time of 10 years (Bellamy et al., 2005).”
The European carbon balance. Part 3: forests
Luyssaert, S., Ciais, P., Piao, S. L., Schulze, E., Jung, M., Zaehle, S., Schelhaas, M., Reichstein, M., Churkina, G., Papale, D., et al. (2009) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02056.x · Cited by 295 · see citing works
“Future climate, with more frequent and intense summer droughts (Beniston, 2004; Luterbacher et al., 2004), is expected to increase the fire risk of forests in the EU.”
BackgroundA geographically weighted regression kriging approach for mapping soil organic carbon stock
Kumar, S., Lal, R., & Liu, D. (2012) · Geoderma · doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.05.022 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Carbon and nitrogen dynamics during forest stand development: a global synthesis
Yang, Y., Luo, Y., & Finzi, A. C. (2011) · New Phytologist · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03645.x · Cited by 287 · see citing works
“It has been suggested that substantial C release from soil may even offset C sequestration in vegetation (Bellamy et al., 2005).”
BackgroundCritical evaluation of municipal solid waste composting and potential compost markets
Farrell, M., & Jones, D. L. (2009) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.04.029 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Lugato, E., Bampa, F., Panagos, P., Montanarella, L., & Jones, A. (2014) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.12551 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
“At European level, several long-term soil monitoring networks have reported soil organic carbon (SOC) decreases (Bellamy et al., 2005; Goidts & van Wesemael, 2007; Capriel, 2013; Heikkinen et al., 2013), even if contrasting trends are evident in the past decades (Chapman et al.”
BackgroundHermann, B. G., Debeer, L., Wilde, B. D., Blok, K., & Patel, M. K. (2011) · Polymer Degradation and Stability · doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.12.026 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
The carbon footprints of food crop production
Hillier, J., Hawes, C., Squire, G. R., Hilton, A., Wale, S., & Smith, P. (2009) · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · doi:10.3763/ijas.2009.0419 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
“Management of arable land through repeated disturbance has turned many arable soils into C sources (Lal, 2004b; Bellamy et al., 2005).”
BackgroundDecadal soil carbon accumulation across Tibetan permafrost regions
Ding, J., Chen, L., Ji, C., Hugelius, G., Li, Y., Liu, L., Qin, S., Zhang, B., Yang, G., Li, F., et al. (2017) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/ngeo2945 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
PHYTOREMEDIATION OF INORGANICS: REALISM AND SYNERGIES
DICKINSON, N. M., Baker, A. J. M., Doronila, A., Laidlaw, A. S., & Reeves, R. D. (2008) · International Journal of Phytoremediation · doi:10.1080/15226510802378368 · Cited by 278 · see citing works
“Various forms of organic matter amendments, including composts and sludges, form an important component of many site remediations of contaminated land, which often contain younger soils without deep buried layers of organic carbon (Bellamy et al., 2005).”
BackgroundFuture carbon sequestration in Europe—Effects of land use change
Schulp, C. J. E., Nabuurs, G. J., & Verburg, P. H. (2008) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2008.04.010 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
The importance of the relationship between scale and process in understanding long-term DOC dynamics
Clark, J. M., Bottrell, S. H., Evans, C., Monteith, D., Bartlett, R., Rose, R. J., Newton, R. J., & Chapman, P. J. (2010) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.02.046 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
“, 2007), and the further possibility that climate change is causing degradation of soil carbon stores (Freeman et al., 2001a; Bellamy et al., 2005).”
BackgroundWalkley–Black analysis of forest soil organic carbon: recovery, limitations and uncertainty
Vos, B. D., Lettens, S., Muys, B., & Deckers, J. A. (2007) · Soil Use and Management · doi:10.1111/j.1475-2743.2007.00084.x · Cited by 264 · see citing works
“In some cases these data sets have been recently reconsidered and the locations resampled to assess temporal changes in SOC contents and stocks in the context of greenhouse gas balance assessment (Ronse et al., 1988 and Lettens et al., 2005 in Belgium, Bellamy et al., 2005 in England, Wang et al., 2003 in China).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialUK land use and soil carbon sequestration
Ostle, N., Levy, P., Evans, C., & Smith, P. (2009) · Land Use Policy · doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.08.006 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Boreal forest soil carbon: distribution, function and modelling
DeLuca, T. H., & Boisvenue, C. (2012) · Forestry An International Journal of Forest Research · doi:10.1093/forestry/cps003 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
TOWARD A COMPLETE SOIL C AND N CYCLE: INCORPORATING THE SOIL FAUNA
Osler, G. H. R., & Sommerkorn, M. (2007) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/06-1357.1 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Effects of forest management on productivity and carbon sequestration: A review and hypothesis
Asko Noormets, A., Epron, D., Domec, J., McNulty, S. G., Fox, T. R., Sun, G., & King, J. S. (2015) · Forest Ecology and Management · doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.05.019 · Cited by 258 · see citing works
The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods
Smith, L. G., Kirk, G. J. D., Jones, P., & Williams, A. G. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12622-7 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Self-citationSoil monitoring in Europe: a review of existing systems and requirements for harmonisation
Morvan, X., Saby, N. P. A., Arrouays, D., Le Bas, C., Jones, R. J. A., Verheijen, F. G. A., Bellamy, P. H., Stephens, M., & Kibblewhite, M. G. (2008) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.10.046 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Self-citationSoil pores and their contributions to soil carbon processes
Kravchenko, A., & Guber, A. K. (2016) · Geoderma · doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.06.027 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Current status, uncertainty and future needs in soil organic carbon monitoring
Jandl, R., Rodeghiero, M., Martinez, C., Cotrufo, M. F., Bampa, F., van Wesemael, B., Harrison, R. B., Guerrini, I. A., Richter, D. D., Rustad, L. E., et al. (2013) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.026 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
“Evidence for rapidly changing SOC pools has been shown for different ecosystems and continued warming may lead to strong climate-induced SOC loss (Bellamy et al., 2005; Cox et al., 2000; Rumpel and Chabbi, 2010; Post and Kwon, 2000; West et al., 2004).”
BackgroundDon, A., Schumacher, J., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Scholten, T., & Schulze, E.-D. (2007) · Geoderma · doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.06.003 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
“Many studies in the past did not include bulk density measurements (Arrouays et al., 2006; Bellamy et al., 2005; Collins et al., 2000; Hassink, 1994; Jones et al., 2005).”
BackgroundImpacts of Climate Change on Indirect Human Exposure to Pathogens and Chemicals from Agriculture
Boxall, A. B. A., Hardy, A., Beulke, S., Boucard, T. K., Burgin, L. E., Falloon, P., Haygarth, P. M., Hutchinson, T. H., Kovats, S. R., Leonardi, G. S., et al. (2008) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.0800084 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
The European carbon balance. Part 2: croplands
Ciais, P., Wattenbach, M., Vuichard, N., Smith, P. L., Piao, S. L., Don, A., Luyssaert, S., Janssens, I. A., Bondeau, A., Dechow, R., et al. (2009) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02055.x · Cited by 239 · see citing works
“A detailed repeated gridded soil inventory over England and Wales at 5 km resolution (Bellamy et al., 2005) shows practically no change in cropland soil carbon concentrations during 1978–2003, in contrast with larger C losses from other land use types.”
BackgroundHaygarth, P. M., & Ritz, K. (2009) · Land Use Policy · doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.09.016 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Integrating Soil Ecological Knowledge into Restoration Management
Heneghan, L., Miller, S. P., Baer, S. G., Callaham, M. A., Montgomery, J. A., Pavao‐Zuckerman, M. A., Rhoades, C. C., & Richardson, S. (2008) · Restoration Ecology · doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2008.00477.x · Cited by 240 · see citing works
“This is evident, given the predicted changes to fundamental characteristics of and processes in soils under different climate change scenarios (Bellamy et al. 2005; Saxon et al. 2005).”
BackgroundDoes the Acid Hydrolysis–Incubation Method Measure Meaningful Soil Organic Carbon Pools?
Paul, E. A., Morris, S. J., Conant, R. T., & Plante, A. F. (2006) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2005.0103 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
“Reanalysis of a large number of soils between 1978 and 2003 across England and Wales (Bellamy et al., 2005) showed a very large loss during that period.”
BackgroundLong‐Term Soil Experiments: Keys to Managing Earth's Rapidly Changing Ecosystems
Richter, D. D., Hofmockel, M., Callaham, M. A., Powlson, D. S., & Smith, P. (2007) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2006.0181 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
“Below we discuss results from two notable RSSs that aim to quantify decadal soil change across England and Wales (Bellamy et al., 2005) and across Belgium as well (van Wesemael et al., 2004).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialForest soil carbon is threatened by intensive biomass harvesting
Achat, D. L., Fortin, M., Landmann, G., Ringeval, B., & Augusto, L. (2015) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep15991 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Do grasslands act as a perpetual sink for carbon?
Smith, P. (2014) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.12561 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Integrated assessment of promising measures to decrease nitrogen losses from agriculture in EU-27
Oenema, O., Witzke, P., Klimont, Z., Lesschen, J. P., & Velthof, G. L. (2009) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2009.04.025 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Macedo, M. O., de Resende, A. S., Garcia, P. C., Boddey, R. M., Jantalia, C. P., Urquiaga, S. S., Campello, E. F. C., & Franco, A. A. (2008) · Forest Ecology and Management · doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.11.007 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
van Straaten, O., Corre, M. D., Wolf, K., Tchienkoua, M., Bautista, J. E. C., Matthews, R., & Veldkamp, E. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1504628112 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Desmatamento na Amazônia: dinâmica, impactos e controle
Fearnside, P. M. (2006) · Acta Amazonica · doi:10.1590/s0044-59672006000300018 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Soil carbon stock and its changes in northern China's grasslands from 1980s to 2000s
Yang, Y., FANG, J., Ma, W., Smith, P., Mohammat, A., Wang, S., & Wang, W. (2010) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02123.x · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Declining trend of carbon in Finnish cropland soils in 1974–2009
Heikkinen, J., Ketoja, E., Nuutinen, V., & Regina, K. (2013) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.12137 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
De Deyn, G. B., Shiel, R. S., Ostle, N. J., McNamara, N. P., Oakley, S., Young, I., Freeman, C., Fenner, N., Quirk, H., & Bardgett, R. D. (2011) · Journal of Applied Ecology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01925.x · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Luo, C., XU, G., Chao, Z., Wang, S., Lin, X., Hu, Y., Zhang, Z., Duan, J., Chang, X., Su, A., et al. (2009) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02026.x · Cited by 217 · see citing works
“…received considerable attention (Giardina et al., 2000; Melillo et al., 2002; Fang et al., 2005; Davidson & Janssens, 2006) because of its importance in the global C cycle and potential feedbacks to climate change (Davidson et al., 2000; Mack et al., 2004; Bellamy et al., 2005; Knorr et al., 2005).”
BackgroundManaging for soil carbon sequestration: Let’s get realistic
Schlesinger, W. H., & Amundson, R. (2018) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.14478 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Tifafi, M., Guenet, B., & Christine, H. Y. (2017) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1002/2017gb005678 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
“…within the International Soil Carbon Network (ISCN) (International Soil Carbon Network (ISCN), 2012), the National Survey Inventory of England and Wales (NSI) (Bellamy et al., 2005), and the Réseau de Mesures de la Qualité des Sols of France (RMQS) (Arrouays et al., 2003; Jolivet et al., 2006) .”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialStorage and Turnover of Organic Matter in Soil
Torn, M. S., Swanston, C. W., Castanha, C., & Trumbore, S. E. (2009) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470494950.ch6 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
The sensitivity of annual grassland carbon cycling to the quantity and timing of rainfall
CHOU, W. W., Silver, W. L., Jackson, R. D., THOMPSON, A. W., & Allen‐Diaz, B. (2008) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01572.x · Cited by 207 · see citing works
“After biomass harvests, we trimmed the litter buildup in all plots to conform to standard grazing management practices for the region and minimize thatch accumulation (Heady, 1956; Bartolome, 1979 ).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialPrediction and digital mapping of soil carbon storage in the Lower Namoi Valley
Minasny, B., McBratney, A. B., Mendonça-Santos, M. D. L., Odeh, I., & Guyon, B. (2006) · Soil Research · doi:10.1071/sr05136 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
“…the soil is currently an important topic; carbon stored in the soil to a given depth has been estimated for the whole world (Batjes 1996), for the continent (Jones et al. 2005), countries (Bellamy et al. 2005; Bernoux et al. 2002; Mikhailova and Post 2006), and regionally (Knowles and Singh 2003).”
BackgroundInfluentialRegional assessment of soil organic carbon changes under agriculture in Southern Belgium (1955–2005)
Goidts, E., & van Wesemael, B. (2007) · Geoderma · doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.06.013 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Soil respiration under climate change: prolonged summer drought offsets soil warming effects
Schindlbacher, A., Wunderlich, S., Borken, W., Kitzler, B., Zechmeister‐Boltenstern, S., & Jandl, R. (2012) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02696.x · Cited by 203 · see citing works
“If increased soil CO2 efflux is not balanced by increased C uptake by plant biomass or soil, then warming could even turn whole biomes from current C sinks into C sources (Cox et al., 2000; Bellamy et al., 2005).”
BackgroundMuñoz‐Rojas, M., Jordán, A., Zavala, L. M., de la Rosa, D., Abd‐Elmabod, S. K., & Romero, M. A. (2012) · Land Degradation and Development · doi:10.1002/ldr.2194 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
“Moreover, Bellamy et al. (2005) used data from the National Soil Inventory of England and Wales to estimate SOC changes between 1978 and 2003, obtaining 0 31MgCha 1 y 1, consistent with our results.”
ResultBanwart, S. A. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/474151a · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Subbarao, G. V., Sahrawat, K. L., Nakahara, K., Ishikawa, T., Kishii, M., Rao, I. M., Hash, C. T., George, T., Rao, P. S., Nardi, P., et al. (2012) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-394275-3.00001-8 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Grazing Impacts on Soil Carbon and Microbial Communities in a Mixed‐Grass Ecosystem
Ingram, L. J., Stahl, P. D., Schuman, G. E., Buyer, J. S., Vance, G. F., Ganjegunte, G. K., Welker, J. M., & Derner, J. (2008) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2007.0038 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Abdalla, K., Chivenge, P. P., Ciais, P., & Chaplot, V. A. M. (2016) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-13-3619-2016 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
“While inventories can be made of the different carbon pools (Bellamy et al., 2005), carbon pool changes are small and difficult to detect; they require sampling programs with periodic revisits over many years.”
BackgroundThe potential role of compost in reducing greenhouse gases
Favoino, E., & Hogg, D. (2008) · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · doi:10.1177/0734242x08088584 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bellamy, P. H., Loveland, P. J., Bradley, R. I., Lark, R. M., & Kirk, G. J. D.
- Affiliations
- Cranfield University (GB)
- Rothamsted Research (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kirk, Guy J. D.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2005-09
- Volume
- 437
- Issue
- 7056
- Pages
- 245-248
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2013840199
- Cited by
- 1,131
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 61 · 2015: 52 · 2014: 71 · 2013: 54 · 2012: 64
- FWCI
- 110.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rothamsted Repository (Rothamsted Repository) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- CERES (Cranfield University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Soil Geostatistics and Mapping
- Keywords
- soil carbon loss, soil carbon feedback, climate change, global carbon budget, soil carbon content, terrestrial carbon sink, England and Wales
- MeSH terms
- Carbon, Carbon Dioxide, England, Poaceae, Soil, Soil Microbiology, Temperature, Wales, Water, Linear Models, Greenhouse Effect, Ecosystem, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century
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