Building houses and managing lawns could limit yard soil carbon for centuries

Element interactions limit soil carbon storage.

Rising levels of atmospheric CO2 are thought to increase C sinks in terrestrial ecosystems. The potential of these sinks to mitigate CO2 emissions, however, may be constrained by nutrients. By using metaanalysis, we found that elevated CO2 only causes accumulation of soil C when N is added at rates well above typical atmospheric N inputs. Similarly, elevated CO2 only enhances N2 fixation, the m...

Comment on "Managing soil carbon" (II).

Lal et al. have recently argued (1, 2) that restoring soil carbon levels worldwide is important for a number of purposes, including reducing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. We agree, but we question how much eroded soil C is ultimately delivered to the atmosphere. Previous estimates of the proportion of eroded soil carbon oxidized range from 0% to near 100% (3, 4). We believe that the true val...

Comment on "Managing soil carbon" (I).

Modeling Carbon Sequestration in Home Lawns

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and the impact of carbon (C) cycling in urban soils are themes of increasing interest. A model was developed to investigate the potential of C sequestration in home lawns. The model contrasted gross C sequestered versus the hidden C costs (HCC) associated with typical lawn maintenance practices. The potential of SOC sequestration for U.S. home lawns was d...

Changes in temperature - moisture covariance could increase soil carbon loss