<p><strong>Aim:</strong>&nbsp;Develop strategies that result in maximum levels of soil carbon</p>
<p class="h5">What does success look like?</p>
<p>Proven strategies to increase soil carbon stocks</p>
<p class="h5">How will&nbsp;we get there?</p>
<ol>
<li>Field testing of potential management regimes</li>
<li>Develop models and analyse scenarios for short and long term effects</li>
<li>Identify soil properties and management practices that affect soil carbon stabilisation</li>
</ol>
<p class="h5">What input is needed?</p>
<p>Science is needed to identify soil properties and management practices that most affect soil carbon stabilization.</p>
<p>Commercial input it needed to promote proven strategies via industry and to ensure management practices are included in a soil carbon accounting framework.</p>
<p class="h5">What's the timeline?</p>
<p><img title="pipeline_soilc.jpg" src="user/image/large/507/pipeline_soilc.jpg" alt="pipeline_soilc.jpg" data-href="" /></p>
<p class="h5">Lead research partners</p>
<p><a href="landcare.html">Landcare Research</a><br /><a href="agresearch.html">AgResearch Limited</a></p>
<p class="h5">Latest progress</p>
<p>"MANAGEMENT PRACTICE IMPACTS ON SOIL CARBON: On-going field trials measuring a range of factors related to carbon measurements have shown that:</p>
<ul>
<li>diverse sward has more root biomass and turnover but it is not possible to determine whether this would translate to increased carbon inputs to soil</li>
<li>large carbon inputs following pasture renewal events that is available for stabilization</li>
<li>minimising the period between spraying off pasture, reseeding and pasture reemergence minimises the immediate loss of carbon particularly when soils are wet."</li>
</ul>
<p>"MORE POTENTIAL THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT FOR INCREASING NZ SOIL CARBON STOCKS: During the past year soil sampling, measurement and statistical analyses have improved a soil carbon stabilisation model.</p>
<p>We have confirmed that allophane-rich and non-allophanic soils behave differently with allophane rich (and gley) soils having the potential to store 25% more carbon than non-allophanic soils. We are using this finding to obtain improved estimates of how much more carbon NZ&rsquo;s pastoral soils can potentially store."</p>
<p><a href="annualreport.html">Read full annual report</a></p>
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