Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Biomes of the United States

1. Introduction.- 1.1. Terrestrial Land Area.- 1.2. Principal Biomes of the U.S.A..- 1.3. Changes in the Terrestrial Biosphere by Human Activities.- 2. Soil Organic Carbon Stocks.- 3. Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration.- 4. Soil Inorganic Carbon Stocks in Different Terrestrial Biomes.- 5. Conclusions.- 6. The Way Forward.- 7. Appendices.

Klaus Lorenz, Ph.D., is Senior Research Associate and Assistant Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, Ohio, USA. He is an experienced soil scientist with research interests in climate change, and the chemistry of soil organic carbon. His goal is to provide greater understanding of soil carbon protection and stabilization mechanisms to manage soils for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and for enhancing soil quality. He received a Diploma in Biology from University of Freiburg, Germany (1997), and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences from University of Hohenheim, Germany (2001). He served as Chief Soil Scientist/Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V. in Potsdam, Germany (2011-2014), and as Postdoctoral Researcher/Research Scientist/Senior Research Associate at OSU (2004 to date). He has written articles about the importance of the composition of soilorganic matter for carbon sequestration, the potential of the subsoil to store soil carbon inputs, and the role of soil organic carbon as an indicator for soil and land degradation in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. He has previously written books about carbon sequestration in forest and in agricultural ecosystems, and co-edited books on recarbonization of the biosphere, and on ecosystem services and carbon sequestration in the biosphere.

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University, as well as an Adjunct Professor of University of Iceland and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), India. He received a B.S. from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India (1963); M.S. from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India (1965); and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (1968). He