Soil carbon map sets baseline 19 Mar, 2014 03:30 AM Print Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Comments 0 This map is the first effective nationwide baseline of organic carbon levels in the top 30cm of soil RELATED CSIRO chiefs parting makeover Clean Energy fund keeps investing Webinars target young farmers Poll: Are you changing your farming practices to adapt to climate variability? LATEST SA poll remains on knife-edge Elders homes in on new chief Forrest digs in over Minderoo MLA lamb markets wrap Steer prices ease: MLA Soil carbon map sets baseline A NEW map of Australias stored soil carbon can provide a touchstone against which future changes in carbon storage or carbon sequestration can be tracked, says the CSIRO. Providing the most detailed and accurate representation of soil organic carbon stocks (to a depth of 30 centimetres) at a national scale, the 2010 soil organic carbon map for Australia draws on soil sampling data and innovative prediction methods. The map includes an estimate of soil carbon stock and an estimate of the uncertainty for approximately two billion football-field-sized blocks (90m by 90m) across Australia. Previously estimates of soil organic carbon across Australia were largely uncertain or unavailable because of large gaps in data and the limits of past measurement and spatial modelling. This map is the first effective nationwide baseline of organic carbon levels in the top 30cm of soil, which comes with estimates of uncertainty, said CSIRO lead researcher, Dr Raphael Viscarra Rossel. The map provides a reliable benchmark for Australia to monitor the influence that changes in land cover, climate, land management and greenhouse gas offset activities have on soil carbon stocks and associated carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere, Dr Viscarra Rossel said. In assembling the new map, CSIRO drew on three major datasets, including CSIROs National Soil and Spectral databases and the national Soil Carbon Research Program - a nationally co-ordinated research program led by CSIRO, universities and state government agencies and funded by the Australian Government and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The map and its prediction methods provide new insight into the environmental drivers that determine the distribution of soil carbon across the nation, its diverse bioregions and its states and territories. Australias largest soil organic carbon stores per hectare occur in the cool, temperate zones, which have higher-than-average rainfall and extensive rainforests and eucalyptus forests, Dr Viscarra Rossel said.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 21:03:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015