Climate Change Underfoot: Beyond Soil Carbon
Andrew Margenot, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Abstract: As the foundation of terrestrial food production systems, soils are unavoidably implicated in climate change impacts on food security. Much of the discussion regarding climate change and soils focuses on soil carbon, and largely as a means to mitigate climate forcing. Yet independently of carbon sequestration, soils can play more direct roles in addressing climate change stresses on food production. At the same time, soils are themselves vulnerable to forecasted climatic changes. Examples of how soils can be understood as both mitigating risk and being at risk at varying temporal and spatial scales will be discussed.
Bio: Andrew Margenot is an Assistant Professor of Soil Science in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Margenot’s work addresses the literal foundation of all cropping systems: soils. He seeks to advance how we monitor and manage soils as natural capital. His research team evaluates how human activities can enhance or compromise soil services to human societies, with an emphasis on agroecosystems in the US Midwest and the tropics.
