Sequestering carbon as stable, soil organic matter (SOM) is considered a feasible strategy in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The book opens with discussion of the structure of SOM and challenges the traditional macropolymeric structure of SOM with evidence for a self-assembled supra-molecular association of small molecules. With this new vision of the structure of SOM, the authors describe experiments conducted at four locations in Italy (MESCOSAGR* project) to test the effects of various soil treatments in relation to the ability of soil to sequester carbon. The principal treatments were (a) a traditional approach involving the addition of mature compost to protect labile organic molecules from mineralization, and (b) a novel approach involving the addition of a biomimetric catalytic compound (a water-soluble iron porphyrin) to enhance photo-polymerisation of SOM. The main parts of the book deal with the results of the MESCOSAGR project in which the two principle treatments and other treatments (e.g. minimum tillage) to sequester carbon at agricultural sites were explored. The effects of iron porphyrin catalysts on soil and root respiration are also described. The final chapter highlights the development of a new model to describe and predict carbon sequestration dynamics in agricultural soils using information from 13C NMR to assess soil carbon quality. The value of the book is not only related to the new ideas of the structure of SOM and the results of the MESCOSAGR project but also to the informative introductory sections of many of the chapters.
*In Italian: Metodi sostenibili per il sequestro del carbonio organico nei suoli agrari. English translation: Sustainable methods for organic carbon sequestration in agricultural soils.
