Deeply Rooted: Evaluating Plant Rooting Depth as a Means for Enhanced Soil Carbon Sequestration (Abbreviated Final Report)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Soils store three times as much carbon (C) as the atmosphere, but are not at capacity, and enhanced soil C storage is considered an essential strategy to mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 levels. Agricultural soils have experienced substantial C loss in the past century due to poor agricultural practices and erosion. A shift towards deep-rooting crops and low-impact soil management could potentially increase long-term sequestration of C fixed by plants and stored in their root tissues, particularly for crops that have naturally deep root systems (>1 meter). A substantial amount of the CO2 taken up by plants is allocated to their root systems, and because C deposited in deep soil layers has a longer residence time (up to millennia, in contrast to C deposited in topsoils), C increases at depth may have better long-term C sequestration potential than topsoils. However, the accrual, turnover, and stabilization of C in subsoils is a critical knowledge gap.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- OSTI ID:
- 1829024
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-TR-828788; 1044414
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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