Since carbon sequestration in soils reduces the amount of carbon available to the atmosphere, the Kyoto Protocols have heightened interest in soil carbon pools and their effect on carbon fluxes. Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon addresses many of the questions related to the measurement, monitoring, and verification of organic and inorganic carbon in soils. The major topics covered are: carbon pools; soil sampling
and preparation, analytical techniques for soil carbon; soil erosion and sedimentation; remote sensing, GIS and modeling; procedures for scaling carbon data from point and local measurements to regional and even national scales; and economic and policy issues.

In Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon, leading researchers show that we now have the ability to measure, monitor, and verify changes to soil carbon. The book establishes the need for standardized methods that can be used by anyone, and helps us better understand the link between the pedosphere (soils) and the atmosphere. It also shows the importance of developing links between the economics of carbon sequestration and the amounts sequestered, and highlights the need for scientists and policy makers to interact to ensure that policies fit within the scope of present technologies.

The potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change is one factor driving agricultural policy development of programs that might pay farmers for practices with a high potential to sequester carbon. With chapters by economists, policy makers, farmers, land managers, energy company representatives, and soil scientists, Agricultural Practices and Policies for Carbon Sequestration in Soil explores a broad range of topics. It examines topics such as the effects of soil tillage and mulch rate, soil monitoring and assessment, soil fertility management, policy options, and the economic issues associated with carbon sequestration. This volume caps a "series" of books from leading researchers on carbon sequestration in soils by integrating the science with the economic and policy issues surrounding it. It provides agricultural scientists, farmers, and policy makers with innovative and environmentally friendly practices for improved land management and crop production. Agricultural Practices and Policies for Carbon Sequestration in Soil helps to identify strategies that can lead to widespread adoption of management practices that will enhance productivity, the soil carbon pool, and the overall environment.

Better Manage Soil C for Improved Soil Quality In the United States, soil has fueled the availability of abundant, safe food, thus underpinning economic growth and development. In the future we need to be more vigilant in managing and renewing this precious resource by replacing the nutrients and life-sustaining matter that we remove for our own needs. Taking these issues into consideration, Soil Carbon Management: Economic, Environmental, and Societal Benefits explores all of the advantages of effective soil carbon (C) management. A Different Way of Examining Soil C Management This unique resource provides a new conceptual framework to develop policies for managing and enhancing soil C and presents new approaches to achieve positive environmental outcomes. In each chapter, the book poses a problem or set of problems and then describes how effective soil C management can help to solve these challenges, listing the multiple benefits that arise from these practices. The book addresses specific problems such as soil erosion and land degradation and evaluates the advantages of soil C sequestration, specifically for policy development purposes. The policies discussed can be tailored to meet regional and local needs and constraints. The book also explains how to achieve an ideal environment by applying beneficial practices for farming and land management. A Plan for the Future Illustrating how to conserve and preserve soil quality for future generations and detailing how to restore the ecological functions of soil, this book will aid in the formulation of future agricultural policies that sustain food and fuel needs and have long-lasting, positive environmental impacts.

The potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change is one factor driving agricultural policy development of programs that might pay farmers for practices with a high potential to sequester carbon. With chapters by economists, policy makers, farmers, land managers, energy company representatives, and soil scientists, Agricultural Practices and Policies for Carbon Sequestration in Soil explores a broad range of topics. It examines topics such as the effects of soil tillage and mulch rate, soil monitoring and assessment, soil fertility management, policy options, and the economic issues associated with carbon sequestration.

This volume caps a "series" of books from leading researchers on carbon sequestration in soils by integrating the science with the economic and policy issues surrounding it. It provides agricultural scientists, farmers, and policy makers with innovative and environmentally friendly practices for improved land management and crop production. Agricultural Practices and Policies for Carbon Sequestration in Soil helps to identify strategies that can lead to widespread adoption of management practices that will enhance productivity, the soil carbon pool, and the overall environment.

World soils contain about 1500 gigatons of organic carbon. This large carbon reserve can increase atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by soil misuse or mismanagement, or it can reverse the 'greenhouse' effect by judicious land use and proper soil management.
Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle describes soil processes and their effects on the global carbon cycle while relating soil properties to soil quality and potential and actual carbon reserves in the soil. In addition, this book deals with modeling the carbon cycle in soil, and with methods of soil carbon determinations.

Since carbon sequestration in soils reduces the amount of carbon available to the atmosphere, the Kyoto Protocols have heightened interest in soil carbon pools and their effect on carbon fluxes. Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon addresses many of the questions related to the measurement, monitoring, and verification of organic and inorganic carbon in soils. The major topics covered are: carbon pools; soil sampling and preparation, analytical techniques for soil carbon; soil erosion and sedimentation; remote sensing, GIS and modeling; procedures for scaling carbon data from point and local measurements to regional and even national scales; and economic and policy issues. In Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon, leading researchers show that we now have the ability to measure, monitor, and verify changes to soil carbon. The book establishes the need for standardized methods that can be used by anyone, and helps us better understand the link between the pedosphere (soils) and the atmosphere. It also shows the importance of developing links between the economics of carbon sequestration and the amounts sequestered, and highlights the need for scientists and policy makers to interact to ensure that policies fit within the scope of present technologies.

Better Manage Soil C for Improved Soil Quality In the United States, soil has fueled the availability of abundant, safe food, thus underpinning economic growth and development. In the future we need to be more vigilant in managing and renewing this precious resource by replacing the nutrients and life-sustaining matter that we remove for our own needs. Taking these issues into consideration, Soil Carbon Management: Economic, Environmental, and Societal Benefits explores all of the advantages of effective soil carbon (C) management. A Different Way of Examining Soil C Management This unique resource provides a new conceptual framework to develop policies for managing and enhancing soil C and presents new approaches to achieve positive environmental outcomes. In each chapter, the book poses a problem or set of problems and then describes how effective soil C management can help to solve these challenges, listing the multiple benefits that arise from these practices. The book addresses specific problems such as soil erosion and land degradation and evaluates the advantages of soil C sequestration, specifically for policy development purposes. The policies discussed can be tailored to meet regional and local needs and constraints. The book also explains how to achieve an ideal environment by applying beneficial practices for farming and land management. A Plan for the Future Illustrating how to conserve and preserve soil quality for future generations and detailing how to restore the ecological functions of soil, this book will aid in the formulation of future agricultural policies that sustain food and fuel needs and have long-lasting, positive environmental impacts.

Global climate change is a natural process that currently appears to be strongly influenced by human activities, which increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG). Agriculture contributes about 20% of the world's global radiation forcing from carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and produces 50% of the methane and 70% of the nitrous oxide of the human-induced emission. Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases synthesizes the wealth of information generated from the GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) effort with contributors from a variety of backgrounds, and reports findings with important international applications.

This report assesses the potential of U.S. cropland to sequester carbon, concluding that properly applied soil restorative processes and best management practices can help mitigate the greenhouse effect by decreasing the emissions of greenhouse gases from U.S. agricultural activities and by making U.S. cropland a major sink for carbon sequestration.
Topics include:
Describe the greenhouse processes and global tends in emissions as well as the three principal components of anthropogenic global warming potential
Present data on U.S. emissions and agriculture's related role
Examines the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in soils of the U.S. and its loss due to cultivation
Provides a reference for the magnitude of carbon sequestration potential
Analyzes the primary processes governing greenhouse gas emission from the pedosphere
Establishes a link between SOC content and soil quality
Outlines strategies for mitigating emissions from U.S. cropland
Discusses soil erosion management
Assesses the potential of using cropland to create biomass for direct fuel to produce power
Details the potential for sequestering carbon by intensifying prime agricultural land
The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect provides an exceptional framework for the adoption of science-based management methods on U.S. cropland, encouraging appropriate agricultural practices for the sustainable use of our natural resources and the improvement of our nation's environment.