Soil Carbon: a Critical Natural Resource – Wide-scale Goals, Urgent Actions - Soil Carbon: Science, Management and Policy for Multiple Benefits - page 10

2 Soil Carbon: a Critical Natural
Resource - Wide-scale Goals,
Urgent Actions

Generose Nziguheba*, Rodrigo Vargas, Andre Bationo,
Helaina Black, Daniel Buschiazzo, Delphine de Brogniez,
Hans Joosten, Jerry Melillo, Dan Richter and Mette Termansen

Abstract
Across the world, soil organic carbon (SOC) is decreasing due to changes in land use such as the conversion
of natural systems to food or bioenergy production systems. The losses of SOC have impacted crop
productivity and other ecosystem services adversely. One of the grand challenges for society is to manage
soil carbon stocks to optimize the mix of five essential services - provisioning of food, water and energy;
maintaining biodiversity; and regulating climate. Scientific research has helped develop an understanding
of the general SOC dynamics and characteristics; the influence of soil management on SOC; and
management practices that can restore SOC and reduce or stop carbon losses from terrestrial ecosystems.
As the uptake of these practices has been very limited, it is necessary to identify and overcome barriers to
the adoption of practices that enhance SOC. Actions should focus on multiple ecosystem services to
optimize efforts and the benefits of SOC. Given that depleting SOC degrades most soil services, we suggest
that in the coming decades increases in SOC will concurrently benefit all five of the essential services.
The aim of this chapter is to identify and evaluate wide-scale goals for maximizing the benefits of
SOC on the five essential services, and to define the short-term steps towards achieving these goals.
Stopping the losses of SOC in terrestrial ecosystems is identified as the overall priority. In moving
towards the realization of multiple SOC benefits, we need to understand better the relationships
between SOC and individual services. Interactions between services occur at multiple spatial scales,
from farm through landscape to subnational, national and global scales. Coordinated national and
international responses to SOC losses and degradation of the five essential services are needed to
empower SOC actions at local levels that have benefits on the larger scales. We propose the creation of
a global research programme to expand the scientific understanding of SOC and its contribution to the
five essential services. This should address the challenges and uncertainties associated with the
management of SOC for multiple benefits. This research programme must include a strong education
and outreach component to address concerns to different communities outside academia.

Introduction

Soil organic carbon (SOC), which makes up
half of the SOM by weight, plays a crucial role
in the regulation of the global carbon cycle
and its feedbacks within the Earth system

Soil organic matter (SOM) is an essential
component of Earth's life support system.