Protect the soil carbon!

Following the 5^th article about the soil carbon, firstly I would like to explain why the carbon in the soil is important.

First of all, the soil can be characterized as both carbon emitter and carbon storage as we saw in the 2^nd post. 

The soil organic matter (SOM) is one of the main contributors of the carbon cycle related with the soil (SEC (2006)1165). It plays a major role in the soil fertility, soil structure and soil biodiversity (SEC (2006)620).

The EU recognises the importance of the soil carbon and the human impact on it (COM (2006)231), as it is crucial for the survival of the human kind. The main threats causing by the human interaction with the soil are (Banwart et al., 2011):

1. Soil erosion
2. Metal and acid toxicity
3. Soil compression
4. Decline in the biodiversity of the soil ecosystem
5. Soil carbon reaching

According to FAO (Bot and Benites, 2005) some of the most important activities of the soil organic matter are:

1. It helps to increase the soil fertility, as it holds the cations and the nutrients in organic forms in the soil, so as the necessary nutrients for the growth of plants to be gradually released.
2. The soil particles are binded together resulting in the creation of aggregations improving the soil structure and the aeration of the soil.
3. It also provides food for microorganisms living in the soil.

To conclude, this post tries to point out the importance of the soil carbon which is crucial for the soil fertility and it is strongly affected by the human’s activities. We should try to protect our lands on which we are so dependent.

See you in the next post