(2016) Journal of Environmental Management_A review on the role of organic inputs in maintaining the soil carbon pool of the terrestrial ecosystem

Bhattacharya S.S., Kim K.-H., Das S., Uchimiya M., Jeon B.H., Kwon E., Szulejko J.E.

(Academic Press) Journal of Environmental Management ISSN: 3014797 Vol.167 Issue. Article No. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.09.042

Among the numerous sources of greenhouse gases, emissions of CO2 are considerably affected by changes in the extent and type of land use, e.g., intensive agriculture, deforestation, urbanization, soil erosion, or wetland drainage. As a feasible option to control emissions from the terrestrial ecosystems, the scientific community has explored the possibility of enhancing soil carbon (C) storage capacity. Thus, restoration of damaged lands through conservation tillage, crop rotation, cover cropping, reforestation, sub-soiling of compacted lands, sustainable water management practices, and organic manuring are the major antidotes against attenuation of soil organic C (SOC) stocks. In this research, we focused on the effect of various man-made activities on soil biotic organics (e.g., green-, farm-yard manure, and composts) to understand how C fluxes from various sources contribute to the establishment of a new equilibrium in the terrestrial ecosystems. Although such inputs substitute a portion of chemical fertilizers, they all undergo activities that augment the rate and extent of decay to deplete the SOC bank. Here, we provide perspectives on the balancing factors that control the mineralization rate of organic matter. Our arguments are placed in the background of different land use types and their impacts on forests, agriculture, urbanization, soil erosion, and wetland destruction. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

This study was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) (No. 2009-0093848 ). This work was also carried out with the support of the “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development” (Project title: Study on model development to control odor from hogpens, Project No. PJ01052101) Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. The sixth author also acknowledges the support made by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korean Government (MSIP) (No. 2914RA1A004893 ).