To promote the long-term sustainability and productivity of U.S. corn-based cropping systems against recent climate trends and future uncertainty.

Project Objectives:

1. Develop standardized methodologies and perform baseline monitoring of carbon, nitrogen and water footprints at agricultural test sites across the Midwest.
2. Evaluate how crop management practices impact carbon, nitrogen and water footprints at test sites.
3. Apply models to research data and climate scenarios to identify impacts and outcomes that could affect the sustainability and economic vitality of corn-based cropping systems.
4. Gain knowledge of farmer beliefs and concerns about climate change, attitudes toward adaptative and mitigative strategies and practices, and decision support needs to inform the development of tools and practices that support long-term sustainability of crop production.
5. Promote extension, outreach and stakeholder learning and participation across all aspects of the program.
6. Train the next generation of scientists, develop science education curricula and promote learning opportunities for high school teachers and students.

The CSCAP project's multi-pronged approach utilizes place-based education at multiple levels (9-12, undergraduate, graduate, extension and stakeholders) to increase learning and foster a new generation of scientists, farmers, entrepreneurs and citizens.

Printable handout >> Soil Organic Carbon Cycle Fact Sheet (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Oct8 15)

Soil contains ~1500 Pg of carbon (C) which plays a key role in the global C cycle. Most of the soil C is part of soil organic matter (SOM) and is stored in the upper 1 m of the soil profile. Soils vary widely in their organic matter content from 90% in wetland originated soils of boreal forests to less than 1% in arid deserts. SOM is a vital component of soil quality and productivity that provides plant nutrients creates air and water regimes suitable for plant growth. It is also the form in which atmospheric C is captured and stored in soil. Enhanced soil C sequestration is one of the tools for mediating climate change. Soil C cycle begins with plants that acquire atmospheric CO2 and synthesize biomolecules from it by a process of photosynthesis. The synthesized organic material ends up in soil as leaf and root residues of the dead plants as well as root exudates of living plants. There, residues are subjected to decay and decomposition via soil fauna and especially via activities of myriads of soil microorganisms.

As a result, most of it is completely decomposed and released back to the atmosphere mainly as CO2, while a smaller portion which is in a form of complex organic macro-molecules is stabilized into what is becoming SOM. SOM consists of a huge variety of organic compounds that are difficult to separate and study in a pure form. Thus, for the purpose of addressing its functional properties and modeling its behavior in soil, SOM is classified into stability pools based on how quickly microorganisms decompose them. Three commonly considered pools are fast, slow, and passive with turnover rates of several years, decades-to-centuries, and thousand years, respectively. Latest research suggests that under auspicious water/air/temperature conditions microbes can rapidly decompose any of the SOM compounds which they can reach and that the main mechanism of SOM protection is via limited microbial access to it. This can occur by sorption of organic molecules on surfaces of soil particles or by physical barriers disconnecting microbes and their enzymes from SOM.

As an infinitely complex and intricate system of hierarchically aggregated particles, soil provides a wealth of such barriers. However, plowing destroys soil aggregation and exposes SOM to microorganisms and subsequent rapid decomposition. No-till management preserves complexity and heterogeneity of soil structure, while cover crop based management enhances it, thus both can contribute to physical protection of SOM and soil C sequestration. Diagram of plant production processing in soil

Assessment is at the discretion of the educator and how the Speed Science Fact Sheets are applied.

For more information, contact: Dr. Sasha Kravchenko, Associate Professor, Michigan State University, kravche1@msu.edu, 517-355-0271extension 1241

Additional Resource:http://soils.usda.gov and http://csite.esd.ornl.gov

Project Partners

Ten land grant universities and one USDA Agricultural Research Service laboratory are participating in this project. These 11 institutions represent nine states in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin).

• Iowa State University
• Lincoln University
• Michigan State University
• The Ohio State University
• Purdue University
• South Dakota State University
• University of Illinois
• University of Minnesota
• University of Missouri
• University of Wisconsin
• USDA Agricultural Research Service–Columbus, Ohio
• USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA)

Source:Climate and Corn-based Cropping Systems CAP (CSCAP)

Citation

Kravchenko, S. (2014). Speed Science Fact Sheet: Soil Organic Carbon Cycle - CSCAP.