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Farm Business
Agricultural Matters
Can increasing soil carbon also increase soil CO2 back into atmosphere?
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<blockquote data-quote="CornishTone" data-source="post: 7796194" data-attributes="member: 4147"><p>There's plenty of work being done on this now. Permanent grassland has been shown to store as much carbon as established woodland and we don't need to do anything other than just leave it alone. But where do people want to plant their trees? On permanent pasture which is seen as less "productive". Trouble is, the moment you dig a hole to plant a tree, you release carbon stored in the soil beneath. That grassland is no longer managed/grazed so grows long and rank and becomes a source of chemical decomposition rather than biological decomposition so releases C. Eventually the tree shades out the grass (or whatever understory establishes in its place) which stops fixing carbon, leaving only the tree. This means the tree actually takes many, many years to offset it's own carbon footprint before it can ever hope to offset anyone else's. Then there's the issue of "safe carbon". Trees can burn, so releasing their carbon. Soil, if left alone, will hold i's carbon no matter what, particularly if its stored nice and deep.</p><p></p><p>It's far more complex than just "plant some trees". If only people would just leave grass to do what it does best! Of course, there's an agenda at play here. Grass feeds ruminants, as it has done for millions of years, and they are dreadfully unfashionable at the moment. Trees are in fashion so it's "plant trees at all costs and stop cows eating"!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CornishTone, post: 7796194, member: 4147"] There's plenty of work being done on this now. Permanent grassland has been shown to store as much carbon as established woodland and we don't need to do anything other than just leave it alone. But where do people want to plant their trees? On permanent pasture which is seen as less "productive". Trouble is, the moment you dig a hole to plant a tree, you release carbon stored in the soil beneath. That grassland is no longer managed/grazed so grows long and rank and becomes a source of chemical decomposition rather than biological decomposition so releases C. Eventually the tree shades out the grass (or whatever understory establishes in its place) which stops fixing carbon, leaving only the tree. This means the tree actually takes many, many years to offset it's own carbon footprint before it can ever hope to offset anyone else's. Then there's the issue of "safe carbon". Trees can burn, so releasing their carbon. Soil, if left alone, will hold i's carbon no matter what, particularly if its stored nice and deep. It's far more complex than just "plant some trees". If only people would just leave grass to do what it does best! Of course, there's an agenda at play here. Grass feeds ruminants, as it has done for millions of years, and they are dreadfully unfashionable at the moment. Trees are in fashion so it's "plant trees at all costs and stop cows eating"! [/QUOTE]
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Can increasing soil carbon also increase soil CO2 back into atmosphere?
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