Biotic Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) Stock: What We Had & What We Lost

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).