Soil microbiome interventions for carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.

Area of Science:

• Soil science
• Microbiology
• Climate change mitigation

Background:

• Soil ecosystems play a critical role in regulating carbon cycles.
• Plant and microbial processes are central to managing soil carbon pools and flows.
• Managed soils present opportunities for climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for soil microbiome interventions to increase soil carbon stocks.
• To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from managed soils.
• To identify knowledge gaps in microbial processes influencing soil organic matter (SOM) formation and turnover.

Main Methods:

• Direct interventions: introduction of microbial strains, consortia, phage, and soil transplants.
• Indirect interventions: managing soil conditions or additives to modulate microbial communities.
• Focus on microbially catalyzed processes for increasing carbon inputs, promoting SOM formation, and reducing SOM turnover.

Main Results:

• Marginal or degraded soils offer significant potential for increasing global soil carbon stocks.
• Crucial knowledge gaps exist regarding the transformation of plant carbon into SOM and the microbes involved.
• Broadening microbial screening to include functions for stimulating soil carbon stocks is encouraged.

Conclusions:

• Soil microbiome interventions are a promising strategy for climate change mitigation.
• Further research is needed to understand microbial roles in SOM dynamics.
• Consideration of ecological ramifications, site-specificity, and large-scale implementation is essential for effective interventions.