Climate-smart soils

In the paper

“While soils contribute a major share (37%; mainly as N 2 O and CH 4 ) of agricultural emissions 3 , improved soil management can substantially reduce these emissions and sequester some of the CO 2 removed from the atmosphere by plants, as carbon (C) in soil organic matter”

In the paper

“hence, C stocks can be increased by increasing organic matter inputs or by reducing decomposition rates (e.g., by reducing soil disturbance), or both, leading to net removal of C from the atmosphere 11”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [11] Batjes, N. H. Total carbon and nitrogen in the soils of the world. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 47, 151–163 (1996) source

In the paper

“Conversely, restoration of marginal or degraded lands to perennial forest or grassland increases soil C storage (Fig. 1), although usually at a slower rate than the original conversion losses 15,16”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] Ogle, S. M., Breidt, F. J. & Paustian, K. Agricultural management impacts on soil organic carbon storage under moist and dry climatic conditions of temperate and tropical regions. Biogeochemistry 72, 87–121 (2005) source
• Not checked yetcites [16] Conant, R. T., Paustian, K. & Elliott, E. T. Grassland management and conversion into grassland: effects on soil carbon. Ecol. Appl. 11, 343–355 (2001) source

In the paper

“Soil C sequestration is one of a few strategies that could be applied at large scales 8 and potentially at low cost”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [8] Kahiluoto, H., Smith, P., Moran, D. & Olesen, J. E. Enabling food security by verifying agricultural carbon sequestration. Nature Clim. Change 4, 309–311 (2014) source

In the paper

“wise soil management that increases organic matter and tightens the soil nitrogen (N) cycle can yield powerful synergies, such as enhanced fertility and productivity, increased soil biodiversity, reduced erosion, runoff and water pollution, and can help buffer crop and pasture systems against the impacts of climate change 4”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [4] Smith, P. Soils and climate change. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sust. 4, 539–544 (2012) source

In the paper

“However, implementing effective soil-based GHG mitigation strategies at scale will require capacity to measure and monitor GHG reductions with acceptable accuracy, quantifiable uncertainty and at relatively low cost.”

In the paper

“However, soil C accrual rates decrease over time as stocks approach a new equilibrium.Thus net CO 2 removals are of limited duration, often attenuating after 2-3 decades 12”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [12] Paustian, K. et al. Agricultural soil as a C sink to offset CO2 emissions. Soil Use Manage. 13, 230–244 (1997) source

In the paper

“In general, soil C sequestration rates on land maintained in agricultural use are less than for land restoration/conversion, and vary on the order of 0.1 to 1 Mg C ha -1 yr -1 , as a function of land use history, soil/climate conditions, and the combination of management practices applied 2,14”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [2] Smith, P. et al. Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU). In Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (eds Edenhofer, O. et al.) 813–922 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014)
• Not checked yetcites [14] Davidson, E. A. & Ackerman, I. L. Changes in soil carbon inventories following cultivation of previously untilled soils. Biogeochemistry 20, 161–193 (1993) source

In the paper

“Land use conversions may, however, conflict with agricultural production and food security objectives, entailing the need for a broad-based accounting of net GHG implications 20”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [20] Knox, S. H. et al. Agricultural peatland restoration: effects of land-use change on greenhouse gas (CO2 and CH4) fluxes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Glob. Change Biol. 21, 750–765 (2015) source

In the paper

“Restoring wetlands that have been drained for agricultural use reduces ongoing decomposition losses, which can be as high as 5-20 Mg C ha -1 yr -1 [17], and can also restore C sequestration (Fig. 1), though methane emissions may increase 18,19”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [17] Guo, L. B. & Gifford, R. M. Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta analysis. Glob. Change Biol. 8, 345–360 (2002) source
• Not checked yetcites [18] IPCC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (eds Eggleston, S., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. & Tanabe, K. ) Vol. 4, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.html (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2006)
• Not checked yetcites [19] Smith, P. et al. Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 363, 789–813 (2008).A comprehensive analysis of agricultural GHG emissions and mitigation potentials including estimated C price impacts on mitigation activities. source

In the paper

“Arable soils emit more N 2 O to the atmosphere than any other anthropogenic source 2,18 ; some 4.2 Tg of a global anthropogenic flux of 8.1 Tg N 2 O-N yr -1”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [2] Smith, P. et al. Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU). In Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (eds Edenhofer, O. et al.) 813–922 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014)
• Not checked yetcites [18] IPCC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (eds Eggleston, S., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. & Tanabe, K. ) Vol. 4, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.html (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2006)

In the paper

“Better N management to reduce emissions would also ameliorate other environmental problems such as nitrate pollution of ground and surface waters caused by excess reactive N in agroecosystems (Fig. 1).”

In the paper

“For example, nitrification can be inhibited with commercial additives such as nitrapyrin and dicyandiamide, which slow ammonium oxidation, and field experiments suggest that inhibitors can reduce N 2 O fluxes up to 40% in some soils, although other soils show little reduction and more research is needed to understand variable site-level responses 50”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [50] Robertson, G. P. & Vitousek, P. M. Nitrogen in agriculture: balancing the cost of an essential resource. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 34, 97–125 (2009) source

In the paper

“Although additional nutrient and water inputs to boost yields may increase non-CO 2 emissions 27 , the emissions intensity of the system (GHG emissions per unit yield) may decline, providing a global benefit if the yield increase avoids land conversion for agriculture elsewhere 20,22”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [27] Lemke, R. L., VandenBygaart, A. J., Campbell, C. A., Lafond, G. P. & Grant, B. Crop residue removal and fertilizer N: effects on soil organic carbon in a long-term crop rotation experiment on a Udic Boroll. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 135, 42–51 (2010) source
• Not checked yetcites [20] Knox, S. H. et al. Agricultural peatland restoration: effects of land-use change on greenhouse gas (CO2 and CH4) fluxes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Glob. Change Biol. 21, 750–765 (2015) source
• Not checked yetcites [22] Kell, D. Large-scale sequestration of atmospheric carbon via plant roots in natural and agricultural ecosystems: why and how. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 367, 1589–1597 (2012) source

In the paper

“Increased plant growth in amended soils and the resultant feedbacks to soil C can make up a large proportion of the soil-based GHG balance 40,47 and these feedbacks may be especially important for more persistent amendments, because of the longer duration of any effects.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [40] Grandy, A. S. & Neff, J. C. Molecular C dynamics downstream: the biochemical decomposition sequence and its impact on soil organic matter structure and function. Sci. Total Environ. 404, 297–307 (2008) source
• Not checked yetcites [47] Whitman, T., Zhu, Z. & Lehmann, J. Carbon mineralizability determines interactive effects on mineralization of pyrogenic organic matter and soil organic carbon. Environ. Sci. Technol. 48, 13727–13734 (2014) source

In the paper

“On average, about 1% of the N applied to cropland is directly emitted as N 2 O 48 , which is the basis for estimating emissions using default IPCC methods 17”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [48] Whitman, T., Nicholson, C. F., Torres, D. & Lehmann, J. Climate change impact of biochar cook stoves in Western Kenyan farm households: system dynamics model analysis. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45, 3687–3694 (2011) source
• Not checked yetcites [17] Guo, L. B. & Gifford, R. M. Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta analysis. Glob. Change Biol. 8, 345–360 (2002) source

In the paper

“Other practices to increase C inputs include irrigation in water-limited systems 18 and additional fertilizer input to increase productivity in low-yielding, nutrient deficient systems (Fig. 1) 26”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [18] IPCC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (eds Eggleston, S., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. & Tanabe, K. ) Vol. 4, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.html (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2006)
• Not checked yetcites [26] Tonitto, C., David, M. B. & Drinkwater, L. E. Replacing bare fallows with cover crops in fertilizer-intensive cropping systems: a meta-analysis of crop yield and N dynamics. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 112, 58–72 (2006) source

In the paper

“Practices that increase C inputs include (i) improved varieties or species with greater root mass to deposit C in deeper layers where turnover is slower 21 , (ii) adopting crop rotations that provide greater C inputs 22 , (iii) more residue retention 23 , and (iv) cover crops during fallow periods to provide year-round C inputs (Fig. 1).22,24”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [21] Foley, J. et al. Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature 478, 337–342 (2011) source
• Not checked yetcites [22] Kell, D. Large-scale sequestration of atmospheric carbon via plant roots in natural and agricultural ecosystems: why and how. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 367, 1589–1597 (2012) source
• Not checked yetcites [23] Burney, J. A. et al. Greenhouse gas mitigation by agricultural intensification. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 12052–12057 (2010) source

In the paper

“Reducing this flux represents a significant mitigation opportunity, particularly since N 2 O is often the major source of radiative forcing in intensively managed cropland.”

In the paper

“Key knowledge gaps that affect our understanding of soil C sequestration processes and management options to implement them include questions about the differential temperature sensitivity of C turnover among SOM fractions 33 , interactions among organic matter chemistry, mineral surface interactions and C saturation [34][35][36] , and subsoil (> 30 cm) SOM accretion, turnover and stabilization 37”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [33] Scholes, M. J. & Scholes, R. J. Dust unto dust. Science 342, 565–566 (2013) source
• Not checked yetcites [34] Conant, R. T. et al. Temperature and soil organic matter decomposition rates—synthesis of current knowledge and a way forward. Glob. Change Biol. 17, 3392–3404 (2011) source
• Not checked yetcites [35] Cotrufo, M. F., Wallenstein, M., Boot, C. M., Denef, K. & Paul, E. A. The Microbial Efficiency-Matrix Stabilization (MEMS) framework integrates plant litter decomposition with soil organic matter stabilization: do labile plant inputs form stable soil organic matter? Glob. Change Biol. 19, 988–995 (2013) source
• Not checked yetcites [36] Schmidt, M. W. I. et al. Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property. Nature 478, 49–56 (2011) source
• Not checked yetcites [37] Stewart, C. E., Plant, A. F., Paustian, K., Conant, R. & Six, J. Soil carbon saturation: linking concept and measurable carbon pools. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72, 379–392 (2008) source

In the paper

“Mineralization of existing soil C in response to amendments (often referred to as 'priming' 44 ) has often been observed immediately following biochar addition, but priming usually declines, sometimes becoming negative (i.e., inhibiting in situ soil C decomposition), over time 45,46”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [44] DeLonge, M. S., Ryals, R. & Silver, W. L. A lifecycle model to evaluate carbon sequestration potential and greenhouse gas dynamics of managed grasslands. Ecosystems 16, 962–979 (2013) source
• Not checked yetcites [45] Kuzyakov, Y. Priming effects: interactions between living and dead organic matter. Soil Biol. Biochem. 42, 1363–1371 (2010) source
• Not checked yetcites [46] Zimmerman, A., Gao, B. & Ahn, M. Y. Positive and negative mineralization priming effects among a variety of biochar-amended soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 43, 1169–1179 (2011) source

In the paper

“Both compost and biochar are more slowly decomposed compared to fresh plant residues, with composts typically having mean residence times several-fold greater than un-composted organic matter 40 , and biochar mineralizes 10-100 times slower than uncharred biomass 41”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [40] Grandy, A. S. & Neff, J. C. Molecular C dynamics downstream: the biochemical decomposition sequence and its impact on soil organic matter structure and function. Sci. Total Environ. 404, 297–307 (2008) source
• Not checked yetcites [41] Ryals, R., Hartman, M. D., Parton, W. J., DeLonge, M. & Silver, W. L. Long-term climate change mitigation potential with organic matter management on grasslands. Ecol. Appl. 25, 531–545 (2015).Field experiments and modelling were used to show reductions in net GHG emissions from grazed annual grasslands using composted green waste applications. source

In the paper

“Addition of plant-derived C from external (i.e., offsite) sources such as composts or biochar can increase soil C stocks, and may result in net CO 2 removals from the atmosphere (Fig. 1).”

In the paper

“A change from annual to perennial crops typically increases belowground C inputs (and soil disturbance is reduced), leading to C sequestration 15”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] Ogle, S. M., Breidt, F. J. & Paustian, K. Agricultural management impacts on soil organic carbon storage under moist and dry climatic conditions of temperate and tropical regions. Biogeochemistry 72, 87–121 (2005) source

In the paper

“However, recent evidence suggests that this value is too high for crops that are under-fertilized and too low for crops that are fertilized liberally 27”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [27] Lemke, R. L., VandenBygaart, A. J., Campbell, C. A., Lafond, G. P. & Grant, B. Crop residue removal and fertilizer N: effects on soil organic carbon in a long-term crop rotation experiment on a Udic Boroll. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 135, 42–51 (2010) source

In the paper

“In contrast to projects involving major land cover changes, where remote sensing can provide much of the activity monitoring (e.g., retention of forested land over time), such options are poorly-suited for monitoring crop type, fertilizer, residue and water management, and organic matter amendments 73 ; for such practices the best source of information are the land managers themselves (Fig. 3).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [73] Swallow, B. M. & Goddard, T. W. Value chains for bio-carbon sequestration services: lessons from contrasting cases in Canada, Kenya and Mozambique. Land Use Policy 31, 81–89 (2013) source

In the paper

“With global rice production projected to expand by ~40% between 2000-2023 [62], the potential for further GHG mitigation via soil management appears large, although the global distribution and diverse nature of rice production systems -including irrigated, rain-fed and deepwaterpresent challenges to developing effective mitigation strategies.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [62] Liu, Y. et al. Carbon dioxide flux from rice paddy soils in central China: effects of intermittent flooding and draining cycles. PLoS ONE 8, e56562 (2013) source

In the paper

“A key strength is that a variety of practices can often be implemented on the same land area, to leverage synergies, while avoiding offsetting effects for different gases (Fig. 1).”

In the paper

“While MRV systems place different levels of importance on uncertainty depending on program type (see Box 1) 78 , discounting payments based on the level of uncertainty is likely to be part of programs with financial incentives, such as cap-and-trade.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [78] Smith, P. et al. Towards an integrated global framework to assess the impacts of land use and management change on soil carbon: current capability and future vision. Glob. Change Biol. 18, 2089–2101 (2012) source

In the paper

“The restoration of soil CH 4 uptake following agricultural conversion, for example, appears related to methanotroph community diversity 64 , about which we know too little.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [64] van Groenigen, K. J., van Kessel, C. & Hungate, B. A. Increased greenhouse-gas intensity of rice production under future atmospheric conditions. Nature Clim. Change 3, 288–291 (2012) source

In the paper

“Rates on an individual land parcel are often low, but vast areas of land are devoted to agriculture globally, and the implementers of mitigation practices -the people using the land -number in the billions.”

In the paper

“In flooded rice, alterations in drainage regimes and organic residue incorporation could reduce emissions by ~ 25% or 7.6 Tg CH 4 yr -1 globally 18 , although cycles of wetting and drying of soils may also enhance N 2 O production 60 and soil C mineralisation 61 , thereby reducing the net mitigation effect.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [18] IPCC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (eds Eggleston, S., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. & Tanabe, K. ) Vol. 4, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.html (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2006)
• Not checked yetcites [60] Suwanwaree, P. & Robertson, G. P. Methane oxidation in forest, successional, and no-till agricultural ecosystems: effects of nitrogen and soil disturbance. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69, 1722–1729 (2005) source
• Not checked yetcites [61] Linquist, B. A. et al. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and grain arsenic levels in rice systems. Glob. Change Biol. 21, 407–417 (2015) source

In the paper

“For longer-term (>20 year) projections, climate change and land-atmosphere interactions become increasingly important, with changes in N inputs, temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO 2 concentration all likely to affect net CH 4 fluxes from soils 63”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [63] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)–Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Agricultural Outlook 2015–2024. http://stats.oecd.org (worldwide rice production for 2000 to 2024 period, accessed March 2016)

In the paper

“In contrast, well-aerated soils act as sinks for CH 4 (estimated at ~ 30 Tg yr -1 ) from the atmosphere via CH 4 oxidation, the bulk of this net sink being in unmanaged upland and forest soils 57”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [57] Conrad, R. The global methane cycle: recent advances in understanding the microbial processes involved. Environ. Microbiol. Rep. 1, 285–292 (2009) source

In the paper

“Examples of this approach are the Cool Farm Tool 71 , being used by farmers participating in low C supply chain management, and the COMET-Farm tool, which allows farmers to compute full farm-scale GHG budgets, for support of government-sponsored conservation initiatives and participation in mitigation projects 74 .Both tools provide web-based interfaces designed for non-specialists to enter land”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [71] Paustian, K., Ogle, S. M. & Conant, R. T. In Handbook of Climate Change and Agroecosystems: Impact, Adaptation and Mitigation (eds Hillel, D. & Rosenzweig, C. ) 307–341 (Imperial College Press, 2011.) source
• Not checked yetcites [74] National Academy of Sciences. Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Methods to Support International Climate Agreements http://www.nap.edu/download.php?record_id=12883 (eds Pacala, S. et al.) 1–110 (National Academies Press, 2010)

In the paper

“Likewise the abatement of CH 4 generation in rice rhizospheres is related to C compounds exuded by roots, such that CH 4 mitigation might be achieved through further rice breeding and genetics 65”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [65] Levine, U. et al. Agriculture’s impact on microbial diversity and associated fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane. ISME J. 5, 1683–1691 (2011) source

In the paper

“There are relatively fewer projects targeting GHG mitigation on existing agricultural lands, involving a broader suite of soil management practices, and early pilot-phase N 2 O and CH 4 reduction projects are only now being developed 5,52”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [5] Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) http://www.v-c-s.org/ (accessed May 2015)
• Not checked yetcites [52] Aguilera, E., Lassaletta, L., Sanz Cobeña, A., Garnier, J. & Vallejo Garcia, A. The potential of organic fertilizers and water management to reduce N2O emissions in Mediterranean climate cropping systems. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 164, 32–52 (2013) source

In the paper

“Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems are a key element in a climate smart agricultural program.”

In the paper

“Key determinants of soil CH 4 fluxes include aeration, substrate availability, temperature and N inputs 58 ; therefore, soil management can radically alter CH 4 fluxes.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [58] Le Mer, J. & Roger, P. Production, oxidation, emission and consumption of methane by soils. Eur. J. Soil Biol. 37, 25–50 (2001) source

In the paper

“How much is achievable will depend heavily on the effectiveness of implementation strategies and socioeconomic and policy constraints.”

In the paper

“Direct measurement of fluxes requires specialized personnel and equipment, normally limited to research environments, and hence not feasible for most mitigation projects.”

In the paper

“Other market-linked strategies, such as 'green labeling' systems for agricultural products, will also require rigorous yet easy to use GHG quantification tools, enabling agricultural producers to meet standards set by product distributors and accepted by consumers 6,71”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [6] American Carbon Registry (ACR) http://americancarbonregistry.org/ (accessed May 2015)
• Not checked yetcites [71] Paustian, K., Ogle, S. M. & Conant, R. T. In Handbook of Climate Change and Agroecosystems: Impact, Adaptation and Mitigation (eds Hillel, D. & Rosenzweig, C. ) 307–341 (Imperial College Press, 2011.) source

In the paper

“Limited availability of field-scale CH 4 flux data means a greater reliance on regionally-averaged emission factors and extrapolation from mesocosm and laboratory incubations 17 , and thus less site and condition specificity in modelling fluxes.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [17] Guo, L. B. & Gifford, R. M. Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta analysis. Glob. Change Biol. 8, 345–360 (2002) source

In the paper

“Those requiring the most rigorous methods involve offset projects participating in cap-and-trade markets, in which land managers are directly compensated for achieving emission reductions.”

In the paper

“Estimates for biochar application from Woolf et al. 66 represent a technical potential only, but based on a full life cycle analysis applicable over a 100 year time span.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [66] Su, J. et al. Expression of barley SUSIBA2 transcription factor yields high-starch low-methane rice. Nature 523, 602–606 (2015) source

In the paper

“Both compliance and voluntary markets can function as C&T systems 100 .”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [100] Decision No 529/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on accounting rules on greenhouse gas emissions and removals resulting from activities relating to land use, land-use change and forestry and on information concerning actions relating to those activities. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2013_165_R_0080_01 (EUR-Lex, Access to European Union Law, accessed May 2015)

In the paper

“Reducing and managing uncertainties are key to both improved predictive models and decisionsupport tools and the design of effective policies that promote soil-based GHG mitigation.”

In the paper

“However, low cost options in one region may be a higher cost/less feasible option in another region.”

In the paper

“Aggregation of many farms into larger projects will reduce uncertainties, which could be a viable approach for managing uncertainty and reducing discounting of incentive payments.”

In the paper

“igh resolution soil maps exist in most developed countries (and increasingly in developing countries 93 )”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [93] Dhawale, N. M. et al. Proximal soil sensing of soil texture and organic matter with a prototype portable mid-infrared spectrometer. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 66, 661–669 (2015) source

In the paper

“Targeted basic research on soil processes (a few examples of priority areas shown here), expanding measurement/monitoring networks and further developing global geospatial soils data can improve predictive models and reduce uncertainties.”

In the paper

“Although independent data may be less favored in terms of costs relative to alternatives, such as expert judgement 78 , soil monitoring networks deployed at national or regional scales could produce independent data for evaluating model-based assessments of soil C stock changes and GHG emissions 79 and for model bias adjustment, using empirically-based methods 80”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [79] Bellassen, V. et al. Monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions in the climate economy. Nature Clim. Change 5, 319–328 (2015) source
• Not checked yetcites [80] van Wesemael, B. et al. How can soil monitoring networks be used to improve predictions of organic carbon pool dynamics and CO2 fluxes in agricultural soils? Plant Soil 338, 247–259 (2011) source

In the paper

“High quality data generated from consistent measurement protocols is critical for evaluating and improving models.”

In the paper

“While atmospheric observations and satellite imagery may become a standard for verifying regional inventories in the future, the methods need further testing in the near term before deploying operational systems.”

In the paper

“Large geospatial databases of soil biophysical properties and climate variables are critical to accurately quantify soil processes across the landscape (Fig. 3).”