Understanding the effects of regenerative agriculture on the soil microbiome, animal health and CO2 emissions

英格兰大约有930万公顷的农田，通过采取可再生农业实践，农业可以吸收英格兰每年排放的大量二氧化碳，有助于到2040年实现农业净零排放的目标。更健康的土壤具有更强的气候适应能力，可以容纳更多的水；例如，一茶匙健康土壤所维持的生物数量比地球上的人口还要多。有机碳含量较高的土壤生产力更高，需要的肥料更少，改善植物和动物健康，并减少洪水。为了调查土壤在农业中的作用和影响，这个项目的目的是整合一套多学科方法来评估将在农场环境中纳入的一系列再生管理实践的成功。因此，我们将与Re-Generation Earth合作，他们已经在农场建立了一个活体实验室。这种基础设施将农林业和生物炭结合起来，将放牧牲畜引入作物轮作。学生将研究所有这些环境对土壤和动物肠道的生物学、多样性、生态学和生物化学的影响，同时也研究土壤中的气体排放。通过这个多学科项目，我们打算展示再生农业如何为英格兰的净零目标做出贡献。因此，我们将建立一套测量、报告和验证协议，以确保碳信用额度能够为农民提供新的收入来源，并为消费者提供来自英国自然项目的信用额度。

There are approximately 9.3 million hectares of farmland in England and through a move to regenerative farming practices agriculture can sequester a significant amount of the CO2e emitted annually in England, helping to achieve agriculture's net zero goal by 2040. Healthier soils are more climate resilient, can hold more water; for example a single teaspoon of healthy soil sustains more organisms than there are humans on earth. Soils with higher organic carbon levels are more productive, require less fertilizer, improve plant and animal health, and reduce flooding. To investigate the role and effect of soil in farming, the aim of this project is to integrate a set of multidisciplinary approaches to evaluate the success of range of regenerative management practices that will be incorporated in a farm setting. As such, we will be joining forces with Re-Generation Earth, that has already established a living laboratory in a farm. This infrastructure combines agroforestry and biochar to the introduction of grazing livestock into a crop rotation. The student will investigate the effect of all these settings on the biology, diversity, ecology and biochemistry of the soil and animals' gut, while also investigating the gas emissions from the soil. Through this multi-disciplinary project, we intend to display how regenerative agriculture can contribute to England's net zero goal. Consequently, we will establish a set of measuring, reporting and verification protocols that ensure carbon credits can be created providing farmers with a new income stream and consumers, availability of credits from natural, UK projects.