Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!mx02.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: songbird Newsgroups: sci.environment Subject: Re: Scientists Turn Carbon Dioxide Emissions into Stone Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2016 11:50:47 -0400 Organization: the little wild kingdom Lines: 36 Message-ID: References: <20160613Xi7RaJi69w@CoJV> <79t53d-hj7.ln1@mail.specsol.com> Reply-To: songbird Injection-Info: mx02.eternal-september.org; posting-host="67eaa308e708f2a3b05fe45a4f4bdb96"; logging-data="32033"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/gMsoN/D0r/iCakfczJmBSUd+zidSwLhE=" User-Agent: slrn/1.0.2 (Linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:ZjVx8Xbvrsf5m9B0tiajhAdDAYI= Xref: csiph.com sci.environment:97905 cowbird wrote: ... > Plant roots exude a wide range of carbon > based compounds. Some of them are natural > herbicides and pesticides. > > But the most important root exudation for > building soil carbon are carbohydrates that > feed beneficial organisms that in return > deliver nutrients to the roots. Without > those beneficial organisms and the carbon > compounds they build in the soil, the plants > require much higher inputs of fertilizer and > water and are much more susceptible to disease > and pests. And of course the stupid response > to that problem is to dump enormous amounts > of toxic chemicals on the plants which adds > to the problem of soil carbon depletion by > killing the beneficial organisms. over the longer term, feeding the bacteria population by such compounds is only a part of the picture. for humus it is the plant parts that decay which last longer. if you have some fires going through at times to form some chars then you get carbon in a more stable form (often with vastly more surface area for bacterial populations). btw, terra preta is composed of more than just carbon. it is also evidence of a complicated society and large population... songbird