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Re-Thinking the Conservation of Carbon, Water and Soil: A Different Perspective

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Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Sustaining soil productivity requires continuing actions of soil organisms on organic materials for optimizing of soil porosity and of movements of roots, water and gases in the root-zone. Soil is more quickly formed and self-renewed from the top downwards than only by slow additions from the bottom upwards. Loss of porosity diminishes soil’s infiltration capacity and water-holding potential. Factors that provide insufficient organic substrates for soil organisms and that unduly accelerate oxidation of soil organic matter hinder the self-recuperation of soil and facilitate ‘Stage-1’ loss of carbon from within soil aggregates. They predispose the soil to lose rapidly even more carbon, in particulate form, through ‘Stage-2’ losses during consequent processes of runoff and erosion. Forms of land use and management are advocated that favour the functioning of soil-inhabiting organisms, including plants, such that carbon’s capture in photosynthesis is increased, its usefulness in the soil as a rooting medium is prolonged, and its subsequent immobilization in the process of sequestration ameliorates the rate of increase of carbon dioxide concentration in the global atmosphere.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Greensbridge, Winterborne Kingston, Dorset, England

    Thomas Francis Shaxson

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  1. Thomas Francis Shaxson
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Correspondence to Thomas Francis Shaxson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INRA-CMSE-PME, rue Sully 17, Dijon CX, 21065, France

    Eric Lichtfouse

  2. Unite d¿Écodéveloppement, INRA-SAD, Avignon CX 09, 84914, France

    Mireille Navarrete

  3. UMR AGIR, INRA, Toulouse CX, 31326, France

    Philippe Debaeke

  4. UMR SADAPT, INRA-INA PG, Thiverval-Grignon, 78850, France

    Souchere Véronique

  5. Dépt. Environnement et Agronomie, INRA Avignon, Avignon CX 9, 84914, France

    Caroline Alberola

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Shaxson, T.F. (2009). Re-Thinking the Conservation of Carbon, Water and Soil: A Different Perspective. In: Lichtfouse, E., Navarrete, M., Debaeke, P., Véronique, S., Alberola, C. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2666-8_6

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