Article
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Biotic Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) Stock: What We Had & What We Lost
Version 1
: Received: 13 December 2022 / Approved: 14 December 2022 / Online: 14 December 2022 (14:02:26 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 10 April 2023 / Approved: 11 April 2023 / Online: 11 April 2023 (11:32:38 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 10 April 2023 / Approved: 11 April 2023 / Online: 11 April 2023 (11:32:38 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Blakemore. (2023). Biotic SOC Stock: What We Had & What We Lost. Veop, 6, 1–59. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7825446 Blakemore. (2023). Biotic SOC Stock: What We Had & What We Lost. Veop, 6, 1–59. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7825446
Abstract
Land’s basic biota metric is soil organic carbon (SOC) yet global estimates range 1,417–15,000 Gt C. Erosion of ancient topsoil and loss of vital soil taxa are most urgent – and most ignored – of all context-triaged concerns. Albeit topographical terrain increases most soil calculations and inventories on a non-flat Earth, re-evaluation shows the major contribution to unrelenting atmospheric CO2 increase more from topsoil loss than fossil fuels. Although increased CO2 has resulted in a global greening effect with NPP productivity now ~220 Gt C/yr, this is arguably outweighed by more rapid erosion of topsoil and expansion of desertification at 2-15 Gt SOC/yr volatilized due to excessive meat eating with unsupportable soil extractive, toxic farm management. In particular excess synthetic Nitrogen acidifies topsoil and depletes the organic SOC biotic-dynamics. Carbon credits of our disappearing soil biotic stocks are enumerated for plant roots (916 Gt C), litter (600 Gt C), microbes (200 Gt C), fungi (30 Gt C), biocrust (10-20 Gt C), earthworms (2.3-3.6 Gt C), termites (0.15 Gt C), nematodes (0.06 Gt C), ants (0.024 Gt C), and soil viruses (0.02–4.0 Gt C). Consideration of soil microbes and review of global SOC inventories reveal critical topsoil loss up to 20,000 tonnes per second with species extinction as high as 23 taxa each second. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) fail without a solid soil foundation. However, heritage soil data points to remedy in modern organic farm restoration. Safe solution is via natural vermi-composting, 100% organic farming, and Permaculture under a simple logical premise that the Problem (i.e., SOC loss) is the Solution (viz., SOC restoration).
Keywords
Humus; soil biota; organic soil carbon; atmospheric CO2; carbon credits and deficits
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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