Read full article: “The Potential of U.S. Grazing Lands to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect”
Summary: This book is edited by the world’s leading soil scientists, including Rattan Lal of Ohio State University. It describes grazing lands, the areas they occupy, and their important role in sequestering C to help mitigate the greenhouse effect. The editors and 36 other authors prepared the 17 chapters in this volume each of which includes extensive references. Chapter 16 provides a summary and overview of C sequestration.
It shows that grazing lands represent the largest and most diverse single land resource in the U.S. and in the world. In the U.S., rangelands and pastures together make up about 55% of the total land surface, and more than half of the earth’s land surface is grazed. Table 16.1 shows that rangelands in the US can sequester between 17.5 and 90.5 million metric tons of carbon per year through soil enhancement measures including improved grazing and conversion of crops to pasture.
Follett, Ronald.F., J.M. Kimble, and Rattan Lal. 2001. The Potential of U.S. Grazing Lands to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect: CRC Press.
