Soil Carbon Science, Management and Policy for Multiple Benefits

This book brings together the essential evidence and policy opportunities regarding the global importance of soil carbon for sustaining Earth's life support system for humanity. Covering the science and policy background for this important natural resource, it describes land management options that improve soil carbon status and therefore increase the benefits that humans derive from the environment. Written by renowned global experts, it is the principal output from a SCOPE rapid assessment process project.

Section 1: Introduction, Overview and Integration

1. The global challenge for soil carbon

2. Soil carbon, a critical natural resource: Wide scale goals, urgent actions

3. Soil carbon transition curves: reversal of land degradation through management of soil organic matter for multiple benefits

4. From potential to implementation: An innovation framework to realise the benefits of soil carbon

5. A strategy for taking soil carbon into the policy arena

Section 2: Soil Carbon in Earth’s Life Support System

6. Soil formation

7. Soil carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling

8. Soil hydrology and reactive transport of carbon and nitrogen in a multi-scale landscape

Section 3: The Multiple Benefits of Soil Carbon

9. Climate change mitigation

10. Soil carbon and agricultural productivity: Perspectives from sub Saharan Africa

11. Soil as support of biodiversity and functions

12. Water supply and quality

13. Wind erosion of agricultural soils and the carbon cycle

14. Historical and socio-cultural aspects of soil organic matter and soil organic carbon benefits

15. The economic value of soil carbon

Section 4: Quantification and Reporting of Soil Carbon

16. Measuring and monitoring soil carbon

17. Modelling soil carbon

18. Valuation approaches for soil carbon

Section 5: Influence of Human Activity on Soil Carbon

19. Current soil carbon loss and land degradation globally – where are the hotspots and why there?

20. Climate change and soil carbon impacts

21. Impacts of land use change on carbon stocks and dynamics in central-southern South American biomes: Cerrado, Atlantic forest and southern grasslands.

Section 6: Managing Soil Carbon for Multiple Benefits

22. Basic principles of soil carbon management for multiple ecosystem benefits

23. Managing soil carbon for multiple ecosystems benefits: positive exemplars – Latin America

24. Managing soil carbon for multiple benefits: positive exemplars - North America

25. Managing soil carbon in Europe: paludicultures as a new perspective for peatlands

26. Managing soil organic carbon for multiple benefits – The case of Africa

27. Managing soil organic carbon for multiple benefits case studies – positive exemplars. Benefits of SOM in agro-ecosystems: A case of China

28. Assessment of organic carbon status in Indian soils

Section 7: Governance of Soil Carbon

29. Policy frameworks

30. National implementation case study: China

31. Avoided land degradation and enhanced soil C storage: Is there a role for carbon markets?