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. 


Goals & Objectives 


Increasing the quantity of 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.

 

	
		
			
			
			Objective 
			
			
			
			
			Leader 
			
			
			
			
			Timeframe 
			
			
		
		
			
			
			3.1 
			
			
			
			
			Limits of soil carbon storage in New Zealand soils 
			
			
			
			
			Dr Mike Beare 
			
			
			
			
			Apr 10 - Jun 12 
			
			
		
		
			
			
			3.2 
			
			
			
			
			Quantifying the carbon currently stored in New Zealand soils 
			
			
			
			
			Dr Allan Hewitt 
			
			
			
			
			Apr 10 - Jun 12 
			
			
		
		
			
			
			3.3 
			
			
			
			
			Process-based modelling of drivers of soil carbon change 
			
			
			
			
			Prof Tony Parsons 
			
			
			
			
			Apr 10 - Jun 14 
			
			
		
		
			
			
			3.4 
			
			
			
			
			Manipulation of carbon inputs, incorporation and retention to protect and enhance soil carbon 
			
			
			
			
			Dr David Whitehead 
			
			
			
			
			Apr 10 - Jun 14 
			
			
		
		
			
			
			3.5 
			
			
			
			
			Improved soil carbon measurements 
			
			
			
			
			Prof Frank Kelliher 
			
			
			
			
			Apr 10 - Jun 14
			
			
		
	


 


Principal Investigators  


Professor Frank Kelliher, AgResearch
Dr David Whitehead, Landcare Research  


Linkages 


AgMardt
AgResearch
Agriculture & AgriFood, Canada
Colorado State University, USA
CSIRO Land & Water, Australia
Landcare Research
Lincoln University
Massey University
New South Wales DPI, Australia
Plant & Food Research
Scion
University of California, Davis, USA
Waikato University


Stories 




	
		
			
			Prospects for manipulating 
			soil carbon
			Release Newsletter - February 2012
			
		
		
			
			Investigating the scope for 
			increasing soil carbon levels 
			in New Zealand
			
			Release Newsletter - November 2011 
			
		
		
			
			
			
			Is biochar a possible solution for 
			the mitigation of  pastoral GHG 
			emissions?
			Release Newsletter - August 2011
			
			
			
			
		
		
			 
			
			
			
			Can we increase soil carbon 
			in dairy systems?
			Release Newsletter - December 2010