Bringing Carbon Home
Regenerative Practice – a bio-regional solution for a better planet…
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish
peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of
all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, Muckleshoot
nations and the Dkhw’Duw’Absh, the Duwamish Tribe.
Acknowledging the ceded and unceded land on which we all stand could not be more important in our
current historical moment. You may wish to to consult Native Land (https://native-land.ca/) to learn more.
Soil is an important
Carbon Sink…
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Soil carbon represents 25% of the potential of natural climate
solutions (total potential, 23.8 Gt of CO2-equivalent per year), of
which 40% is protection of existing soil carbon and 60% is
rebuilding depleted stocks. (Bossio, D.A., Cook-Patton, S.C., Ellis, P.W. et
al. The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions. Nat Sustain 3, 391–398
(2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0491-z)
Dark colored topsoil showing high levels of SOC due to abundant plant roots
and their associated soil fauna and microbes in a cultivated soil in central
Iowa.
© 2012 Nature Education - Photo courtesy of Todd Ontl.
Critical role
for
agriculture in
carbon
capture
Bossio, D.A., Cook-Patton, S.C., Ellis, P.W. et al. The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions. Nat
Sustain 3, 391–398 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0491-z
Scientists define
Regenerative
Agriculture:
• The core themes of regenerative agriculture, in which ‘the
number between brackets’ represents the number of
search records.
L. Schreefel, R.P.O. Schulte, I.J.M. de Boer, A. Pas Schrijver, H.H.E. van
Zanten, Regenerative agriculture – the soil is the base,
in Global Food Security, Vol 26,2020,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100404.
Organic Matter!
Reducing the cycle of disturbance…
Photo:The Land Institute
Below ground shifts…
Photo: Land Institute
Kelp!
• Removes CO2 From Water
Column.
• Reduces nutrient loading
• Creates habitat
• Food Value for humans and is
important in marine food webs
• Can be used to stimulate food
production in upland areas.
• Can be used to move carbon
from nearshore regions to long
term deep water storage.
Image
Kelp Production in the Salish Sea!
Photo: John Mickett, UW APL
Experimental Plots
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Treatments:
• Light Cover (Remay)
• Tarp
• No cover
• Null
• Kelp/or no Kelp across treatments
Post-treatment
Pre-treatment
Winter
Summer
Organic Matter Increases in all plots in Summer
but more so in plots with Kelp Addition…
*
No Kelp Added!
Kelp Added to Plots!
Bringing it back to
Pasture…
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Grass grows better after the addition of
Kelp
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There is more organic matter in the soil
after the addition of Kelp.
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Is this because of added organic matter
from Kelp?
Or because the roots of the grass
deposited carbon?
Isotope Data can help us discern the
answers to the questions above.
What are stable isotopes…?
Naturally Occurring
Isotopes
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
Post - treatment
Pre - treatment
Photo Credits:
Tabitha Jacobs-Mangiafico
• Special Thanks –
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Perry Acworth
Yona Sipos
Gary Handwerk
Kristi Straus
Yen-Chu Weng
Tim Billo
July Hazard
P. Sean McDonald
Program on The Environment - Faculty and Staff
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Nathan Mock
Meg Chadsey
UW Student Farmers – past and present
Dirty Dozen Volunteers
Washington State SeaGrant
Food Systems Nutrition and Health Faculty
UWBG
Dave Montgomery
Karen Litfin
Brittany Johnson
Jennifer Otten
Carbon Sequestration of Farming
Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Change, Rodale, 2014