Carbon Storage in Cropland Soils: Insights from Iowa, United States

The restoration of soil organic matter (SOM, as measured by soil organic carbon (SOC)) within the world’s agricultural soils is imperative to sustaining crop production and restoring other ecosystem services. We compiled long-term studies on the effect of management practices on SOC from Iowa, USA—an agricultural region with relatively high-quality soil data—to highlight constraints on detecting changes in SOC and inform research needed to improve SOC measurement and management. We found that strip-tillage and no-tillage increased SOC by 0.25–0.43 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 compared to losses of 0.24 to 0.46 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 with more intensive tillage methods. The conversion of cropland to perennial grassland increased SOC by 0.21–0.74 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 . However, diversifying crop rotations with extended rotations, and supplementing synthetic fertilizer with animal manure, had highly variable and inconsistent effects on SOC. The improved prediction of changes in SOC requires: the use of methods that can identify and disentangle multiple sources of variability; looking beyond total SOC and toward systematic collection of data on more responsive and functionally relevant fractions; whole-profile SOC monitoring; monitoring SOC in long-term studies on the effect of multiple conservation practices used in combination; and deeper collaboration between field soil scientists and modelers.