By Joey Pitchford
Researchers have demonstrated a series of biological tests that could serve as “proxies” for measuring how different regenerative agriculture practices could improve soil carbon – years before it would be possible to measure the carbon directly. The technique offers new insights into how effective various regenerative practices are at improving soil health.
The phenomenon is explored in a new study from North Carolina State University in collaboration with North Carolina A&T State University and Emory University, which stacked multiple regenerative practices on top of each other and then measured biological parameters including enzyme activity, microbial biomass (living microbes) and microbial necromass (dead microbes). All of those parameters serve as proxies for the amount of carbon stored in soil.
Soil carbon is a cornerstone of soil health, supporting nutrient cycling, biological activity, soil structure and long-term functioning of soil ecosystems. Biomass and necromass serve as early markers of soil carbon formation and loss and can be measured years before traditional soil carbon measurements may become detectable.
“When microbes in the soil consume carbon, they release enzymes to break that carbon down; then they consume some of it,” said Debjani Sihi, corresponding author of a paper on the work and an assistant professor of plant and microbial biology and crop and soil sciences at NC State.
Source : ncsu.edu