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USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory 2150 Pammel Drive Ames, IA 50011
cambardella{at}nstl.gov
Edited by J.M. KIMBLE, R. LAL, and R.F. FOLLETT. CRC Press LLC (Lewis Publishers), 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431. 2002. Hardcover, 536 pp., $159.95. ISBN 1-56670-581-9.
This book contains the proceedings of the International Symposium on Agricultural Practices and Policies for Carbon Sequestration in Soils held at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, in July 1999. The format of the symposium was designed to bring together scientists, economists, policymakers, industrial representatives, environmental groups, and farmers to discuss an integrated approach to the science, practice, and policy of soil carbon sequestration. In the forward, Dr. Debbie Reed, Legislative Director of the National Environmental Trust, observes that the bridge between science and policy is particularly tenuous, with the media often acting to interpret scientific findings and the implications of those findings, to policymakers and the public. She suggests that because scientists tend to speak in "uncertainties" and policymakers tend to seek bottom-line "certainties," a thoughtful, thorough interface between these two groups is required to craft good policy around the complex issue of climate change. I believe Dr. Reed's statements reflect the intent of the organizers of this international symposium.
The book consists of nine parts that span a wide range of topics pertaining to agricultural management and soil carbon. There are a number of contributed papers from scientists with international affiliations. However, all representatives of the political, economic, industrial, environmental, and farming communities are from the USA. Very little new information is presented in this book, but rather, information from the scientific literature is utilized to test models, both mathematical and conceptual, and to summarize and integrate data. In the four chapters grouped under Part I, the authors provide a broad, historical perspective relative to the science, policy, and economics of sustainable land management, global climate change, and carbon sequestration. Part I discusses these topics from multiple perspectives, ranging from more traditional scientific thinking to a more sociological viewpoint which explores the concept that people's behavior and value systems must change to mitigate environmental problems and implement sustainable ecosystem management. Parts II, IV, and V encompass 16 chapters that explore the effects of agricultural management on soil carbon and related soil parameters. Six of the 16 chapters describe the potential of long-term no-till management in various cropping systems to affect soil properties and processes that drive the accumulation of soil carbon. Two chapters outline the impact of surface residue management on soil carbon storage and turnover and three discuss soil fertility and soil carbon storage potential. Part III and, to a lesser extent, Part VIII, are devoted to studies describing state, regional, or national scale efforts at monitoring and assessment of soil carbon stocks under various ecosystem types. The primary approach highlighted in these sections is the use of large, published databases to derive spatial distributions of ecosystem parameters and to drive mathematical models, although several chapters do include data for empirical measurements of soil carbon as well. In my opinion, the most informative section of the book is Part VII, which contains six chapters that discuss policy issues from an economic, industrial, or producer's point of view. However, Chapter 37, written by Michael Walsh, and Chapter 38, written by Bruno Alesii, also discuss soil carbon sequestration from an industrial perspective and should have been included in Part VII and not in Part VIII, where they currently can be found.
One of the major problems with the book is the apparent lack of organization of chapter topics under appropriate section headings. For example, Part VI is entitled "The Economics of Carbon Sequestration" but not one of the three chapters in this section talks about economics. Although the quality and the content of the 48 chapters found in the book varies widely, there is useful information to be gleaned from its pages. The final chapter, written by the book's editorial team, provides an excellent summary of viable options currently available to us for sequestering carbon in soil. I agree wholeheartedly with their conclusion, which calls for standardization of methods for monitoring and assessment of soil carbon storage and encourages scientists to develop a strong, unified common opinion to demonstrate convincingly to policy makers and the public that soil is an important terrestrial sink for atmospheric carbon.
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