Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems

The global magnitude (Pg) of soil organic carbon (SOC) is 677 to 0.3-m, 993 to 0.5-m, and 1,505 to 1-m depth. Thus, ~55% of SOC to 1-m lies below 0.3-m depth. Soils of agroecosystems are depleted of their SOC stock and have a low use efficiency of inputs of agronomic yield. This review is a collation and synthesis of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The rates of SOC sequestration are scaled up to the global level by linear extrapolation. Soil C sink capacity depends on depth, clay content and mineralogy, plant available water holding capacity, nutrient reserves, landscape position, and the antecedent SOC stock. Estimates of the historic depletion of SOC in world soils, 115-154 (average of 135) Pg C and equivalent to the technical potential or the maximum soil C sink capacity, need to be improved. A positive soil C budget is created by increasing the input of biomass-C to exceed the SOC losses by erosion and mineralization. The global hotspots of SOC sequestration, soils which are farther from C saturation, include eroded, degraded, desertified, and depleted soils. Ecosystems where SOC sequestration is feasible include 4,900 Mha of agricultural land including 332 Mha equipped for irrigation, 400 Mha of urban lands, and ~2,000 Mha of degraded lands. The rate of SOC sequestration (Mg C ha-1 year-1 ) is 0.25-1.0 in croplands, 0.10-0.175 in pastures, 0.5-1.0 in permanent crops and urban lands, 0.3-0.7 in salt-affected and chemically degraded soils, 0.2-0.5 in physically degraded and prone to water erosion, and 0.05-0.2 for those susceptible to wind erosion. Global technical potential of SOC sequestration is 1.45-3.44 Pg C/year (2.45 Pg C/year).