New Research Shows Practices From the Past Will Be Key to Future Soil Carbon Solutions
Sometimes to go forward, you must go back
A new study from Colorado State University’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and and the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology found that regenerative practices—including integrating crop and livestock systems—were successful as long-term carbon storage solutions.
The paper, “Restoring particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon through regenerative agriculture,” was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study was led by ecology Ph.D. candidate Aaron Prairie, along with two co-authors: research scientist Alison King and M. Francesca Cotrufo, professor of soil and crop sciences and Prairie’s advisor.
Their research presented a global systemic meta-analysis looking beyond the impact of regenerative agricultural practices on total soil organic carbon (SOC) alone, instead looking at two main pools.