Basic Principles of Soil Carbon Management for Multiple Ecosystem Benefits - Soil Carbon: Science, Management and Policy for Multiple Benefits - page 271

Soil management for biodiversity
conservation

have strengthened a range of village level and
regional institutions that play a critical role
in the rural economy and the conservation of
biodiversity. Jackson et al . (2007) considered
that farmers might avoid intensification by
investing in the agrobiodiversity and conser-
vation of heterogeneous environments, as
shown for land races of maize that are main-
tained in Mexico (Flores-Delgadillo et al .,
2011). In contrast, in landscapes with less
environmental and cultural heterogeneity,
farmers usually disinvest in agrobiodiversity
as an asset due to the lack of incentives
offered by markets and other institutions at
both local and larger scales, especially when
synthetic inputs are available at low cost
(Pascual and Perrings, 2007). Strategies that
intend to reverse these trends must take into
account stakeholder and local knowledge to
define the benefits and management options
of increased diversity (Barrios and Trejo,
2003; Payraudeau and Vanderwerf, 2005). In
many countries, there are stakeholder organ-
izations that have explicit objectives of soil
conservation through collaboration with
research; for example, in Australia they
have actively promoted precision agriculture
(Jochinke et al ., 2007), whereas in Argentina
they have focused on no-till farming (Caride
et al ., 2012). Nevertheless, the importance of
economics in the implementation of sustain-
able land management (Osinski, 2003) im-
plies that policies for good agricultural prac-
tices have to be developed at a regional scale
(Piorr, 2003). Local land-use strategies may be
highly diverse and, depending on the socio-
economic and biophysical context, range
from subsistence farming to industrialized
cash crops (Mertz et al ., 2005). We will have
to solve these problems by integrating bio-
physical, socio-economical and cultural con-
straints (Spiertz, 2012) for optimal land man-
agement to achieve carbon sequestration and
other identified positive ecosystem services
that are driven by soil C.

Biodiversity is crucial for all soil functions (Al-
tieri, 1999), specifically those that are related to
SOC cycling, and the loss of diversity in mod-
ern agricultural monocultures implies a social
cost (Hietala-Koivu et al ., 2004). Yet, simply
adding more species to the cropped fields
might not result in enhanced soil-based eco-
system functions (Jackson et al ., 2007); instead,
well-conceived analogues to natural systems
must be envisioned (Kirschenmann, 2007); for
example, the traditional Mayan home gardens
(Flores-Delgadillo et al ., 2011). Land use, man-
agement intensity and fertilization have im-
portant effects on soil biota (Jangid et al ., 2008);
particularly, the presence of roots stimulates
soil biological activity and diversity (Kong
et al ., 2011). Reduced soil disturbance such as
with conservation tillage, residue retention
and the use of cover crops promote biological
activity and favour microbial biomass (Kus-
hwaha et al ., 2001; Dinesh, 2004; Helgason
et al ., 2010; Nielsen et al ., 2011).

Incentives and Actions Needed
for Implementing Sustainable
Management Practices

New incentives and policies for ensuring the
sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem
services will be crucial if we are to meet the
demands of improving food security without
compromising environmental integrity or
public health (Tilman et al ., 2002). There are
several successful examples of policies and
incentives that have promoted the conserva-
tion of environmental goods and services.
For instance, Bawa et al . (2007) report that, at
several sites in India's biodiversity hotspots,
interventions of a non-governmental organ-
ization (NGO) have improved the livelihoods
of several rural communities by providing in-
creased income from non-timber forest prod-
ucts (NTFPs), diversification of livelihoods
and enhanced agricultural production. These
interventions have improved the prospects
for sustainable land use in forest-agriculture
ecotones. Simultaneously, these interventions

Conclusions

Multiple ecosystem services can be pre-
served by soil management that favours SOC
stabilization and soil biological activity.