Articles | Volume 7, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-415-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-415-2021
Original research article
 | 
19 Jul 2021
Original research article |  | 19 Jul 2021

Nonlinear turnover rates of soil carbon following cultivation of native grasslands and subsequent afforestation of croplands

Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez, Thomas J. Sauer, Yury G. Chendev, and Alexander N. Gennadiev

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on soil-2021-5', Anonymous Referee #1, 03 Apr 2021
  • RC2: 'Comment on soil-2021-5', Anonymous Referee #2, 10 Apr 2021

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (28 May 2021) by Carolina Boix-Fayos
AR by Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez on behalf of the Authors (04 Jun 2021)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (16 Jun 2021) by Carolina Boix-Fayos
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (18 Jun 2021) by Jeanette Whitaker (Executive editor)
AR by Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez on behalf of the Authors (20 Jun 2021)  Author's response   Manuscript 
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Short summary
We evaluated how sequestration of soil carbon changes over the long term after converting native grasslands into croplands and also from annual cropping into trees. Soil carbon was reduced by cropping but increased with tree planting. This decrease in carbon storage with annual cropping happened over centuries, while trees increase soil carbon over just a few decades. Growing trees in long-term croplands emerged as a climate-change-mitigating action, effective even within a person’s lifetime.