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Soil biogeochemistry

Warming to increase cropland carbon sink

Nature Climate Change volume 13, pages 121–122 (2023)Cite this article

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Temperature affects both erosion and carbon cycling in the soil. Research now shows that under warming, the replacement of soil organic carbon lost by erosion increases but the preservation of deposited carbon decreases, with an overall rise in the cropland carbon sink.

SOC stocks and turnover times vary with climate, and the relationships here are complex. In particular, the sensitivity of SOC cycling to temperature change is higher in cold regions than in warm ones2, making the response of SOC to climate change one of the largest uncertainties under future climate change projections. These uncertainties increase when factors such as soil erosion and crop production are incorporated. Soil erosion involves the transport of topsoil from the upper parts of slopes (eroding sites) to foothills and valleys (depositional sites)3. Recent studies have estimated that the effect of erosion on crop production is a reduction of around 0.4% in global crop yields per year4. This decrease in yield deserves our utmost attention when applied to the approximately 12 million hectares of croplands suffering severe soil erosion5. In croplands, the erosion may have complex impacts on SOC storage, which in turn is altered in a temperature-dependent manner.

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Fig. 1: Soil erosion in cropland after heavy rains.

References

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  1. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación, Valencia, Spain

    Julian Campo

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  1. Julian Campo
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Correspondence to Julian Campo.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Campo, J. Warming to increase cropland carbon sink. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 121–122 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01559-3

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