The Scientific and Technical Committee of the International "4 per 1000" Initiative launches the Soil Carbon Science Webinar Series
As an attempt to foster scientific exchange on recent research and to feed into ongoing scientific debates around soil health and soil carbon sequestration, the Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) of the International "4 per 1000" Initiative launched the Soil Carbon Science Webinar Series on September 7 with the webinar "Is there a limit to soil organic carbon sequestration?" This first insightful scientific webinar focused on soil carbon saturation.
Recent developments have defined soil organic carbon (SOC) into two operational fractions: particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC). The formation of long-lived MAOC is crucial for climate change mitigation. While the assumption is that soils have a limited ability to accumulate MAOC, a recent study challenges this notion, prompting further mechanistic investigations.
These experts dove into the topic:
Prof. Budiman Minasny, University of Sydney, member of the Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) of the International "4 per 1000" Initiative who compiled and moderated the session;
Prof. Francesca Cotrufo, Professor of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University, an expert on Soil Organic matter dynamics, who looked at Mineral-Associated Organic Carbon Saturation from a physical point of view
Dr. Christopher Poeplau, Senior Researcher at the Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture in Braunschweig (Germany), who stated that “we have no soil in the world which is actually saturated” and explained why there is no detectable upper limit of mineral-associated organic carbon in agricultural soils.
Watch a recording of the webinar here:
There are two more webinars coming up in the series before the end of the year:
October 17, 2023: "Soil Inorganic Carbon: Unveiling its Role in Global Carbon Cycle"
November 27: "Measuring, Reporting and Verifying Soil Carbon Sequestration: Measurement or Modeling?"
Background: The International "4 per 1000" Initiative has set up a strong Scientific and Technical Committee to guide its actions on a scientific level. As of today, the committee includes 14 renowned experts from 5 continents, covering a wide disciplinary field. Set up on 17 November 2016, the STC gives orientation for the research program, provides scientific and technical advice for projects and proceedings under the Initiative, proposes indicators for the evaluation framework, and actively engages in knowledge dissemination for different stakeholder groups around soil health and soil carbon sequestration.
