Award details

Dynamics of organic carbon in soil

Reference	BBS/E/C/00004172
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Keith Goulding
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Saran Sohi
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	645,265
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/1999
End date	31/03/2008
Duration	108 months

Abstract

The organic carbon content of a soil influences virtually all of its physical, chemical and biological properties. These greatly influence agricultural productivity and sustainability and the wide range of environmental services provided by soil including regulation of water quality and atmospheric composition and its role as a reservoir of biodiversity. By linking the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) with spatial data on soil type, land cover and climate we are quantifying the extent to which soils can sequester carbon through changes in land management. By linking RothC with the Hadley Centre models of climate and vegetation we are estimating the extent to which climate change will cause a release of CO2 into the atmosphere, thus worsening climate change. Objectives 1. Assess the potential for sequestration or release of carbon in soils as influenced by changes in land management, land use or climate. 2. Test and, where necessary, improve the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) using datasets from long-term experiments worldwide. 3. Identify and understand the range of mechanisms leading to stabilisation of organic C in soils. 4. Assess the extent to which organic C is subsoil is stabilised compared with that in topsoil. 5. Increase understanding of soil C dynamics using physical fractionation and spectroscopic methods.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

I accept the terms and conditions of use (opens in new window)

export PDF file

back to list new search