<p>
The Centre&#39;s research programme on soil carbon is designed to move beyond quantifying how much soil carbon is stored in agricultural soils into the challenging area of understanding the processes driving soil carbon storage and, crucially, manipulating these processes so that agricultural soil carbon is conserved and, where possible, increased. 
</p>
<p>
<span class="h5">Goals &amp; Objectives</span><a name="Goals" title="Goals"></a> 
</p>
<p>
Increasing the quantity of&nbsp;carbon stored in agricultural soils has the potential to offset emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. However, realising this potential is technically challenging, especially when soil carbon stocks are already high as they are in New Zealand. The NZAGRC&#39;s programme has three distinct components (1) assessing the potential to store carbon across the range of physical and climatic conditions found in New Zealand, (2) devising management practises that can increase the long term soil carbon store and (3) methods for verifying that soil carbon stocks have been changed.<br />
</p>
<br />
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td width="7%" align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #d1d3d4; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			&nbsp;</td>
			<td width="43%" align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #d1d3d4; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<span class="h6">Objective</span> 
			</td>
			<td width="28%" align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #d1d3d4; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<span class="h6">Leader</span> 
			</td>
			<td width="22%" align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #d1d3d4; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<span class="h6">Timeframe</span> 
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td align="center" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			<span class="h5">3.1</span> 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Limits of soil carbon storage in New Zealand soils 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Dr Mike Beare 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Apr 10 - Jun 12 
			</p>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td align="center" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			<span class="h5">3.2</span> 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Quantifying the carbon currently stored in New Zealand soils 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Dr Allan Hewitt 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Apr 10 - Jun 12 
			</p>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td align="center" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			<span class="h5">3.3</span> 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Process-based modelling of drivers of soil carbon change 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Prof Tony Parsons 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Apr 10 - Jun 14 
			</p>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td align="center" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			<span class="h5">3.4</span> 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Manipulation of carbon inputs, incorporation and retention to protect and enhance soil carbon 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Dr David Whitehead 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Apr 10 - Jun 14 
			</p>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td align="center" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			<span class="h5">3.5</span> 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Improved soil carbon measurements 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Prof Frank Kelliher 
			</p>
			</td>
			<td align="left" valign="middle" style="background-color: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d1d3d4">
			<p>
			Apr 10 - Jun 14 
			</p>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<p>
<span class="h5">Principal Investigators</span><a name="Principal Investigators" title="Principal Investigators"></a>  
</p>
<p>
Professor Frank Kelliher, AgResearch<br />
Dr David Whitehead, Landcare Research 
</p>
<p>
<span class="h5">Stories</span><a name="Stories" title="Stories"></a> 
</p>
<a href="user/file/25/Release3_Aug_2011_p6-7.pdf" title="Is biochar a possible solution for the mitigation of pastoral GHG emissions?"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><a href="user/file/26/Release5_February_2012_p6.pdf" title="Prospects for manipulating soil carbon"></a><a href="user/file/26/Release5_February_2012_p6.pdf" title="Prospects for manipulating soil carbon"><img src="user/image/thumb/226/Manipulating%20soil%20carbon.jpg" border="0" alt="Manipulating soil carbon" title="Manipulating soil carbon" width="80" height="80" /></a></td>
			<td><a href="user/file/26/Release5_February_2012_p6.pdf" title="Prospects for manipulating soil carbon"><span class="h6">Prospects for manipulating <br />
			soil carbon</span><br />
			Release Newsletter - February</a><a href="user/file/26/Release5_February_2012_p6.pdf" title="Prospects for manipulating soil carbon"></a><a href="user/file/26/Release5_February_2012_p6.pdf" title="Prospects for manipulating soil carbon"> 2012</a> </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td><a href="user/file/24/Release4_Nov_2011_p4-6.pdf" title="Investigating the scope for increasing soil carbon levels in New Zealand"></a><a href="user/file/24/Release4_Nov_2011_p4-6.pdf" title="Investigating the scope for increasing soil carbon levels in New Zealand"><img src="user/image/thumb/229/Soil%20carbon%20levels.jpg" border="0" alt="Soil carbon levels" title="Soil carbon levels" width="80" height="80" /></a></td>
			<td><a href="user/file/26/Release5_February_2012_p6.pdf" title="Prospects for manipulating soil carbon"><span class="h6">Investigating the scope for <br />
			increasing soil carbon levels <br />
			in New Zealand</span> <br />
			Release Newsletter - November 2011 </a></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td><a href="user/file/25/Release3_Aug_2011_p6-7.pdf" title="Is biochar a possible solution for the mitigation of pastoral GHG emissions?"><img src="user/image/thumb/227/Biochar.jpg" border="0" alt="Biochar" title="Biochar" width="80" height="80" /></a></td>
			<td>
			<p>
			<a href="user/file/25/Release3_Aug_2011_p6-7.pdf" title="Is biochar a possible solution for the mitigation of pastoral GHG emissions?"><span class="h6">Is biochar a possible solution for <br />
			the mitigation of</span> </a><a href="user/file/25/Release3_Aug_2011_p6-7.pdf" title="Is biochar a possible solution for the mitigation of pastoral GHG emissions?"><span class="h6"><span class="h6">pastoral GHG <br />
			emissions?</span><br />
			</span>Release Newsletter - August 2011 </a>
			</p>
			<a href="user/file/25/Release3_Aug_2011_p6-7.pdf" title="Is biochar a possible solution for the mitigation of pastoral GHG emissions?"></a></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td><a href="user/file/27/Release1_Dec_2010_p4.pdf" title="Can we increase soil carbon in dairy systems?"><img src="user/image/thumb/228/Soil%20carbon%20in%20dairy%20systems.jpg" border="0" alt="Soil carbon in dairy systems" title="Soil carbon in dairy systems" width="80" height="80" /></a></td>
			<td>
			<p>
			<span class="h6"><a href="user/file/27/Release1_Dec_2010_p4.pdf" title="Can we increase soil carbon in dairy systems?">C</a></span><a href="user/file/27/Release1_Dec_2010_p4.pdf" title="Can we increase soil carbon in dairy systems?"><span class="h6">an we increase soil carbon <br />
			in dairy systems?</span><br />
			Release Newsletter - December 2010</a> 
			</p>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<p>
<span class="h5">Linkages</span><a name="Linkages" title="Linkages"></a> 
</p>
<p>
AgMardt<br />
AgResearch<br />
Agriculture &amp; AgriFood, Canada<br />
Colorado State University, USA<br />
CSIRO Land &amp; Water, Australia<br />
Landcare Research<br />
Lincoln University<br />
Massey University<br />
New South Wales DPI, Australia<br />
Plant &amp; Food Research<br />
Scion<br />
University of California, Davis, USA<br />
Waikato University 
</p>
