A global dataset of experimental agricultural management on soil carbon accrual, its synergies and trade-offs

Abstract

Maintaining and enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural soils is proposed as a key practice to mitigate climate change. While there is agreement on the co-benefits of SOC accrual on other agroecosystem services, its potential trade-offs in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient losses are still under debate. We present a global dataset compiling the results of 232 articles that experimentally compare the effects of agricultural management practices with a potential to preserve or enhance SOC against conventional practices. The dataset reports 570 experimental effects of practices to minimise soil disturbance, diversify cropping systems, or increase organic inputs in 254 experiments across 38 countries. The dataset further reports the qualitative (positive, neutral or negative) effects of these management practices on SOC accrual, crop yield, and other response variables related to soil structure, soil biota, CO₂ and N₂O emissions, and nitrogen and phosphorus losses. This dataset helps understanding the synergies and trade-offs of SOC accrual practices with other ecosystem services, detect current knowledge gaps, and guide future agricultural policies.

Fig. 1

Geographic distribution of the 239 experimental sites assessing the effects of agricultural management practices aiming at SOC accrual against conventional practices, reported in 232 articles. Map produced with Geo Point Plotter https://dwtkns.com/pointplotter/.

Fig. 2

PRISMA diagram showing the workflow of article identification, screening, inclusion and exclusion. Numbers indicate the number of articles included (green boxes) or excluded (blue boxes) at each step.

Fig. 3

Density plots showing the frequency distribution of a few parameters in the dataset, including the duration of the experiments, soil pH, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilisation rates, and tillage depth under reduced (RT, including minimum and no tillage) and standard tillage (ST) practices.

Fig. 4

Distribution of the counts of experimental effects recorded for specific management practices in the three categories targeted (minimising soil disturbance, diversifying cropping systems, increasing organic inputs) throughout five climatic zones. N indicates the number of experimental effects.