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\"Terra preta, meaning \"black earth\" in Portuguese, is a very dark, fertile soil first made by the original inhabitants of the Amazon Basin at least 2,500 years ago. According to a growing community of international scientists, this ancient soil, sometimes referred to as biochar, could solve two of the greatest problems facing the world: climate change and the hunger crisis. This comprehensive book condenses everything we know about terra preta and provides instructions for how to make it. Both passionate and practical, the book offers indispensable advice for how to create a better world from the ground up.\"-- Provided by publisher.

The contribution of fungal necromass C to SOC increased with aggregate sizes. Bacterial necromass had a higher proportion to SOC in silt and clay. Cropland management increased microbial necromass in macro- and microaggregates. Greater fungal necromass increases were found in macroaggregates under manure input and no or reduced tillage. Cover crops increased bacterial necromass in small macroaggregates. The interactions of soil microorganisms and structure regulate the degradation and stabilization processes of soil organic carbon (SOC). Microbial necromass is a persistent component of SOC, and its magnitude of accumulation dependent on management and aggregate sizes. A meta-analysis of 121 paired measurements was conducted to evaluate the management effects on contributions of microbial necromass to SOC depending on aggregate fractions. Results showed that the contribution of fungal necromass to SOC increased with aggregate sizes, while bacterial necromass had a higher proportion in silt and clay. Cropland management increased total and fungal necromass in large macroaggregates (47.1% and 45.6%), small macroaggregates (44.0% and 44.2%), and microaggregates (38.9% and 37.6%). Cropland management increased bacterial necromass independent of aggregate fraction sizes. Greater fungal necromass was increased in macroaggregates in response to manure (26.6% to 28.5%) and no or reduced tillage (68.0% to 73.5%). Cover crops increased bacterial necromass by 25.1% in small macroaggregates. Stimulation of microbial necromass was proportional to the increases of SOC within soil aggregates, and the correlation was higher in macroaggregates. Increasing microbial necromass accumulation in macroaggregates can, therefore, be considered as a central component of management strategies that aim to accelerate C sequestration in agricultural soils.

Between the land and ocean, diverse coastal ecosystems transform, store, and transport material. Across these interfaces, the dynamic exchange of energy and matter is driven by hydrological and hydrodynamic processes such as river and groundwater discharge, tides, waves, and storms. These dynamics regulate ecosystem functions and Earth’s climate, yet global models lack representation of coastal processes and related feedbacks, impeding their predictions of coastal and global responses to change. Here, we assess existing coastal monitoring networks and regional models, existing challenges in these efforts, and recommend a path towards development of global models that more robustly reflect the coastal interface. Coastal systems are hotspots of ecological, geochemical and economic activity, yet their dynamics are not accurately represented in global models. In this Review, Ward and colleagues assess the current state of coastal science and recommend approaches for including the coastal interface in predictive models.

Rather than a human-centric, the basic strategy of achieving Sustainable Development Goals must be focused on restoring and sustaining planetary processes. The urgency of meeting the demands of the humanity must be reconciled with the necessity of enhancing the environment. Increasing and restoring soil organic matter content of the degraded and depleted soils is critical to strengthening planetary processes.

Due to the global increase in CO2 in the atmosphere, studies focusing on the carbon balance in forest ecosystems are currently particularly relevant. Abandoned agricultural lands could provide an important contribution to carbon sequestration in many parts of the world. In the broad-leaved forest zone of the Cis-Ural (Southern Ural region, Russia), the carbon sequestration dynamics in the biomass of woody and herbaceous plants, as well as in the litter and soil on abandoned arable lands repopulated with silver birch (Betula pendula), was studied. The data were collected on 35 round (with diameter of 30 m) sample plots located within communities representing the different stages of reforestation with tree stands aged 3 to 30 years. It was found that the carbon content of the stem wood and herbaceous understory did not depend on the succession stages, which largely corresponds to the literature data. The carbon content in root biomass and soil organic matter increased along with the growth of tree stands. While the forest stand grew, the carbon content in the grey forest soil increased from 2.5 to 4.4%, and in the more fertile dark grey forest soil it changed only slightly. The carbon deposition by the forest stands on the sample plots located on the dark grey forest soils was higher than on grey forest soils. The average rate of carbon sequestration in the tree stand was 2.7 t/ha/year. Most mature, 25–30-years-old silver birch tree stands provided the highest average annual increase in tree biomass and the rate of carbon sequestration evaluated was 9 t/ha/year. Also, the carbon pool in the 30 cm soil layer was 2.7 times greater than in the tree stand. It was concluded that abandoned agricultural lands overgrowing by forest in the Cis-Ural are promising for carbon sequestration.

Soil is one of the largest carbon reservoirs sequestering more carbon than vegetation and atmosphere. Due to the enormous potential of soil to sequester atmospheric CO2, it becomes a feasible option to alleviate the current and impending effects of changing climate. Soil is a vulnerable resource globally because it is highly susceptible to global environmental problems such as land degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Therefore, protecting and monitoring worldwide soil carbon pools is a complicated challenge. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a vital factor affecting soil health since it is a major component of SOM and contributes to food production. This review attempts to summarize the information on carbon sequestration, storage, and carbon pools in the major terrestrial ecosystems and underpin soil carbon responses under climate change and mitigation strategies. Topography, pedogenic, and climatic factors mainly affect carbon input and stabilization. Humid conditions and low temperature favor high soil organic carbon content. Whereas warmer and drier regions have low SOC stocks. Tropical peatlands and mangrove ecosystems have the highest SOC stock. The soil of drylands stores 95% of the global Soil Inorganic Carbon (SIC) stock. Grasslands include rangelands, shrublands, pasturelands, and croplands. They hold about 1/5th of the world’s total soil carbon stocks.

The soil C balance is determined by the difference between inputs (e.g., plant litter, organic amendments, depositional C) and outputs (e.g., soil respiration, dissolved organic C leaching, and eroded C). There is a need to improve our understanding of whether soil erosion is a sink or a source of atmospheric CO 2. The objective of this paper is to discover the long-term influence of soil erosion on the C cycle of managed watersheds near Coshocton, OH. We hypothesize that the amount of eroded C that is deposited in or out of a watershed compares in magnitude to the soil C changes induced via microbial respiration. We applied the erosion productivity impact calculator (EPIC) model to evaluate the role of erosion-deposition processes on the C balance of three small watersheds (approximately 1 ha). Experimental records from the USDA North Appalachian Experimental Watershed facility north of Coshocton, OH were used in the study. Soils are predominantly silt loam and have developed from loess-like deposits over residual bedrock. Management practices in the three watersheds have changed over time. Currently, watershed 118 (W118) is under a corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) no till rotation, W128 is under conventional till continuous corn, and W188 is under no till continuous corn. Simulations of a comprehensive set of ecosystem processes including plant growth, runoff, and water erosion were used to quantify sediment C yields. A simulated sediment C yield of 43 +/- 22 kg C ha -1 year -1 compared favorably against the observed 31 +/- 12 kg C ha -1 year -1 in W118. EPIC overestimated the soil C stock in the top 30-cm soil depth in W118 by 21% of the measured value (36.8 Mg C ha -1 ). Simulations of soil C stocks in the other two watersheds (42.3 Mg C ha -1 in W128 and 50.4 Mg C ha -1 in W188) were off by 1 Mg C ha -1 . Simulated eroded C re-deposited inside (30-212 kg C ha -1 year -1 ) or outside (73-179 kg C ha -1 year -1 ) watershed boundaries compared in magnitude to a simulated soil C sequestration rate of 225 kg C ha -1 year -1 and to literature values. An analysis of net ecosystem carbon balance revealed that the watershed currently under a plow till system (W128) was a source of C to the atmosphere while the watersheds currently under a no till system (W118 and W188) behaved as C sinks of atmospheric CO 2. Our results demonstrate a clear need for documenting and modeling the proportion of eroded soil C that is transported outside watershed boundaries and the proportion that evolves as CO 2 to the atmosphere. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

The soil carbon (C) stock, comprising soil organic C (SOC) and soil inorganic C (SIC) and being the largest reservoir of the terrestrial biosphere, is a critical part of the global C cycle. Soil has been a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the dawn of settled agriculture about 10 millenia ago. Soils of agricultural ecosystems are depleted of their SOC stocks and the magnitude of depletion is greater in those prone to accelerated erosion by water and wind and other degradation processes. Adoption of judicious land use and science-based management practices can lead to re-carbonization of depleted soils and make them a sink for atmospheric C. Soils in humid climates have potential to increase storage of SOC and those in arid and semiarid climates have potential to store both SOC and SIC. Payments to land managers for sequestration of C in soil, based on credible measurement of changes in soil C stocks at farm or landscape levels, are also important for promoting adoption of recommended land use and management practices. In conjunction with a rapid and aggressive reduction in GHG emissions across all sectors of the economy, sequestration of C in soil (and vegetation) can be an important negative emissions method for limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2°C This article is part of the theme issue 'The role of soils in delivering Nature's Contributions to People'.

Dauergrünlandböden sind in Österreich aufgrund ihrer hohen Humusvorräte und beträchtlichen Flächengröße wichtige Speicher von organischem Kohlenstoff (C). Im Dauergrünland werden ca. 90 % vom gesamten organischen Kohlenstoffvorrat im Boden gespeichert. In österreichischen Dauergrünlandböden beträgt der Vorrat an organischem Bodenkohlenstoff in 0–30 cm Bodentiefe im Durchschnitt 93 t C pro Hektar. Beträchtliche Mengen an organischem C (> 40 %) werden im Unterboden (10–50 cm) gespeichert. Unterböden haben ein großes Potenzial zur langfristigen Bodenkohlenstoffsequestrierung. Klima, Bodeneigenschaften und Bodenmerkmale (insbesondere Bodenwasserhaushalt, Bodengründigkeit), Vegetationstyp (Wurzelmasse) und Bewirtschaftungsintensität prägen den Humusvorrat von Dauergrünlandböden. Pflanzenwurzeln und kohlenstoffreiche organische Dünger (Mist, Stallmistkompost) haben für die Humusbildung eine zentrale Bedeutung. Im Dauergrünland ist die Bodenkohlenstoffspeicherung bei mittlerer Bewirtschaftungsintensität (Viehbesatz: 1,2-1,5 GVE pro ha, 2–4 Schnittnutzungen pro Jahr, jährliche entzugsorientierte Düngung mit Mist oder Stallmistkompost) am höchsten. Eine Humusanreicherung erfolgt in Dauergrünlandböden sehr langsam und ist nur bis zur Erreichung des höchstmöglichen lokalen Ertragspotenzials sinnvoll. Humuserhaltende Maßnahmen sowie Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Humusqualität und zur Beschleunigung des jährlichen Humusumsatzes im Boden sind wichtiger als jene zur Erhöhung des Humusvorrats im Boden. Bei der Umsetzung von humussteigernden Maßnahmen müssen Nebenwirkungen und Zusatznutzen berücksichtigt werden. Eine Bodenkohlenstoffsequestrierung kann im Dauergrünland Zielkonflikte zwischen Klima- und Naturschutz auslösen.

With the Paris Agreement's ambition of limiting climate change to well below 2 °C, negative emission technologies (NETs) have moved into the limelight of discussions in climate science and policy. Despite several assessments, the current knowledge on NETs is still diffuse and incomplete, but also growing fast. Here, we synthesize a comprehensive body of NETs literature, using scientometric tools and performing an in-depth assessment of the quantitative and qualitative evidence therein. We clarify the role of NETs in climate change mitigation scenarios, their ethical implications, as well as the challenges involved in bringing the various NETs to the market and scaling them up in time. There are six major findings arising from our assessment: first, keeping warming below 1.5 °C requires the large-scale deployment of NETs, but this dependency can still be kept to a minimum for the 2 °C warming limit. Second, accounting for economic and biophysical limits, we identify relevant potentials for all NETs except ocean fertilization. Third, any single NET is unlikely to sustainably achieve the large NETs deployment observed in many 1.5 °C and 2 °C mitigation scenarios. Yet, portfolios of multiple NETs, each deployed at modest scales, could be invaluable for reaching the climate goals. Fourth, a substantial gap exists between the upscaling and rapid diffusion of NETs implied in scenarios and progress in actual innovation and deployment. If NETs are required at the scales currently discussed, the resulting urgency of implementation is currently neither reflected in science nor policy. Fifth, NETs face severe barriers to implementation and are only weakly incentivized so far. Finally, we identify distinct ethical discourses relevant for NETs, but highlight the need to root them firmly in the available evidence in order to render such discussions relevant in practice.