Part 3 of 3
Thomas DeLuca is the Professor and Director of the School of Environment and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. His presentation is about managing soil carbon in temperate and boreal ecosystems.
He discusses land use change to historical tallgrass prairie, contemporary corn and soybeans, and contemporary tallgrass prairies, and states that nearly all carbon in the United States is below ground. Root carbon is in wheat and in prairie.
There is an increased interest in securing storage of carbon in terrestrial plants and soils because of human induced CO2 loading of the atmosphere. DeLuca argues it is also important to consider the influence carbon has on the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil, since this strongly influences the biotic potential of a landscape. He discusses options for the future, such as soil C additions, improving forest management, and avoiding positive feedback on permafrost. This presentation was a part of the Alberta Soil Science Workshop, February 2015.
