On-farm monitoring of subsurface carbon sequestration in regenerative agriculture

可能广泛采用的再生农业做法，如覆盖种植，已证明有能力促进国家一级的净零排放目标，通常是通过植物活动将碳封存在土壤中。然而，在了解管理变化是否已经或将导致土壤中的碳固存增加方面，存在着方法学上的挑战。我们的研究将开发技术和技术，能够实现农场级别的监测和决策，以实现植物中介的、可再生的解决方案，以实现碳封存目标。具体地说，我们将推进现有的植物根系近地表和亚表层成像技术，作为土壤碳输入的潜在来源，并在开发和校准新型电化学生物传感器方面迈出第一步，以跟踪碳输入到较长期土壤碳库的代谢物。我们将结合不同农民群体对再生实践和潜在的碳和土壤健康监测工具的反馈，以及对实现长期管理目标的重要性的认识，结合我们的研究和发现。我们的合作伙伴关系将通过i)通过知识转化和转移研讨会扩大与农民的接触，以及ii)确保我们的方法在实地行业应用于测量、监测和验证农场的碳和土壤健康变化方面具有可行性，从而加深我们研究的相关性并扩大潜在的最终用途。我们的研究结果将提高农民量化土壤碳封存的有形近期和长期能力--这不仅可以促进参与碳抵消计划，而且更普遍地可以支持自下而上的气候智能农场运营能力。

Potential widespread adoption of regenerative agricultural practices, such as cover cropping, has documented capacity to contribute to net-zero emissions goals at the national level, often by sequestering carbon in soils through plant-mediated activity. However, there are methodological challenges in knowing if a management change has, or will result in, increased carbon sequestration in soil. Our research will develop technologies and techniques that can enable farm-level monitoring and decision making of plant-mediated, regenerative solutions for achieving carbon sequestration goals. Specifically, we will advance existing technologies of near-surface and sub-surface imaging of plant roots as potential sources of carbon inputs to soil, and make first steps in the development and calibration of novel electro-chemical bio-sensors to track metabolites of carbon inputs into longer-term pools of soil carbon. We will contextualize our research and findings with diverse farmer groups' feedback on regenerative practices and potential carbon and soil health monitoring tools, and perceived importance in achieving long-term management goals. Our partnerships will deepen the relevance and expand the potential end use of our research through i) increased reach with farmers through knowledge translation and transfer workshops and ii) in ensuring our approach has feasibility for on-the-ground industry application in measuring, monitoring, and verification of carbon and soil health changes on farms. Results from our research will increase the tangible near- and long-term capacity for farmers to quantify soil carbon sequestration - which can facilitate participation in carbon offsetting programs, but also more generally can bolster bottom-up capacity in running climate-smart farm operations.