Soil carbon: A measure of ecosystem response in a changing world?

Abstract

The global carbon (C) cycle is changing, as evident from abrupt increases in atmospheric CO₂. These changes have sparked interest in agricultural soils as potential repositories for excess atmospheric C. Our perspective on soil C, therefore, has shifted: once, we focused mainly on how soil C affected productivity within agroecosystems; now we see also how C dynamics in agricultural soils exert influences far beyond the farm. We have long used soil C as an indicator of soil quality; now we may want to use soil C also as a broader indicator of ecosystem response. To prompt further discussion, I offer some tentative thoughts about how we might use soil C as an indicator on a changing earth. They include: using soil C to measure changes across time, not only across space; devising more sensitive measures of soil C change; quantifying soil C across four dimensions; measuring the nature of C, as well as its amount; using soil C alongside other indicators; finding better ways of admitting our uncertainty; establishing long-term sites for our successors to measure soil C change; and following flows of C past the farm fences. Recent worries about global warming have focused our attention on “sequestering” soil C to remove atmospheric CO₂. That aim may be worthy, but perhaps too narrow; a broader goal might be to ensure the productivity, permanence, and health of our agroecosystems and adjacent environments – and use C storage as a measure of progress toward that goal. Key words: Soil organic matter, global carbon cycle, carbon sequestration, global change