Trade-offs Associated with Using Soil Carbon Sequestration as Climate Change Mitigation

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Soil C Stabilization

• Efficacy and Trade-offs of Management Options for Soil C Sequestration

  • Conservation tillage

  • Application of organic amendments (crop residues, cover crops, and composted manure)

  • Biochar

  • Constraints to the efficacy of soil C sequestration for climate change mitigation

• Challenges Related to C Accounting for Soil C Sequestration

  • Project and baseline scenarios

  • Additionality

  • Permanence and risks of reversal

  • Secondary emissions

  • Uncertainty and discounting

  • Geographic greenhouse gas accounting boundaries and leakage

• Case Studies on Factors Affecting Soil Processes and Stabilization of C

  • Maintaining soil C levels

  • Managing organic residues in tropical agroecosystems

• Knowledge Gaps and Future Research

• Concluding Remarks

• References