Two decades of conservation agriculture enhances soil structure, carbon sequestration, and water retention in Mediterranean soils

Alvarez-Sagrero, Jennifer; Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw; Chacon, Stephany S.; Mitchell, Jeffrey P.; Ghezzehei, Teamrat Afewerki

doi:10.5194/soil-12-979-2026

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-979-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-979-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

Original research article

|

16 Oct 2026

Original research article |

| 16 Oct 2026

Two decades of conservation agriculture enhances soil structure, carbon sequestration, and water retention in Mediterranean soils

Jennifer Alvarez-Sagrero, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephany S. Chacon, Jeffrey P. Mitchell, and Teamrat Afewerki Ghezzehei

Data sets

Two Decades of Conservation Agriculture Enhances Soil Structure, Carbon Sequestration, and Water Retention in Mediterranean Soils J. Alvarez-Sagrero et al. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qs3c

Model code and software

Two Decades of Conservation Agriculture Enhances Soil Structure, Carbon Sequestration, and Water Retention in Mediterranean Soils J. Alvarez-Sagrero et al. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qs3c

Short summary

We studied California farmland managed with conservation practices for 20 years to understand how reducing tillage and planting cover crops change soil. Conservation farming greatly improved soil structure, doubled carbon storage in surface soil, and increased its ability to hold water. We also found that much of the additional carbon became protected within soil structure, while the soil still had substantial capacity to store more carbon.