A conceptual model of carbon stabilisation based on patterns observed in different soils

Abstract In principle, greenhouse gas emissions can be offset by increasing soil carbon stocks. Full utilisation of that potential, however, requires a good understanding of the controls on carbon stocks to identify factors that can be modified through management changes and distinguish those from factors that are inherent soil properties that cannot be modified. Here, we present a conceptual model of protected (or stabilised) carbon stocks in soils based on observations from two farms in New Zealand, and from a combined soils data set from observations from throughout New Zealand. These data showed that These observations improve our understanding of the important carbon-protection mechanisms in the soil, with significant implications for the optimal manipulation of carbon input rates into different soils to maximise overall soil carbon storage. They imply that overall carbon storage of soils could be enhanced by physically transferring any available carbon from soils with low to soils with high specific surface areas.