How does soil carbon storage work?
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Under the right conditions, nature can play a substantial role in eliminating our climate change crisis. For hundreds of millions of years, the photosynthesis process in trees, shrubs and grasses has taken carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turned it with water into sugars as basis for plant material. A large portion of the sugars is transported through the stems into the roots and provided to microorganisms in exchange for nutrients. In this way the plant captures atmospheric carbon dioxide and pumps the carbon into the soil.
When plants degrade over time or are consumed, part of the carbon eventually returns to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This is the Earth’s natural carbon cycle – a cycle that is now out of balance due to humans emitting CO2 at unprecedented rates. One way to restore this balance is to protect, enhance, and expand the natural ecosystems that capture and store carbon dioxide. |
Grazing and Carbon
Restoration of native grassland ecosystems can reliably store vast amounts of carbon in near-surface soil at very low cost. Certain land management practices that focus on soil health and ecological health accelerate and improve carbon storage. One such practice is adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing, which mimics the action of bison grazing on the prairie. Using flexible electric fencing and multiple paddocks per herd, livestock are moved so that areas of land are grazed intensively for short periods and then rest for long periods. Movements are continuously adapted in response to changing weather and land conditions. When done well, this recreates the conditions under which grassland ecosystems co-evolved together with migrating herds of grazing mammals. Plants, insects and soil microbes thrive, initiating natural processes by which impressive amounts of carbon dioxide are captured by the process of photosynthesis and pumped into the soil.
While carbon storage rates can vary widely, scientists have measured that well-managed ranches in favorable climates where AMP grazing is fully implemented can capture and store more than 4.5 metric tonnes CO2/acre/year (source: Teague et al. 2011; Apfelbaum et al. 2015). A large North American grazing research study comparing many such ranches to conventional ranches is currently underway.
While carbon storage rates can vary widely, scientists have measured that well-managed ranches in favorable climates where AMP grazing is fully implemented can capture and store more than 4.5 metric tonnes CO2/acre/year (source: Teague et al. 2011; Apfelbaum et al. 2015). A large North American grazing research study comparing many such ranches to conventional ranches is currently underway.
A scale that matters
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Over 40% of America’s land – over 650 million acres - is devoted to grazing animals and growing their feed. If different grazing methods were used on half of our grasslands, we could store 25% of all US CO2 emissions every year.
Many ranchers utilize these techniques profitably, but they are not common practice. We aim to change that by supporting landowners and preserving their rights. We and designing a system with terms that work for both landowners and carbon buyers. |
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