When it comes to climate change, one of the answers could lie in the soil, according to a groundbreaking North East study.
An investigation into the amount of carbon locked into the soil of the National Trust’s Wallington estate in Northumberland is providing climate change experts with new information about how agricultural land could be managed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve the ability of green spaces to capture soil carbon.
The trust sponsored a three-year study by Durham University into the levels of carbon contained within the different parts of Wallington estate, including its historical parkland, tenant farms and woodland.
The 13,500-acre estate was chosen because of its varied range of land uses.
More than 700 soil samples from across the estate were analysed to produce detailed data on the amount of carbon in the soil.
The results have given scientists the most accurate picture yet of soil carbon levels and how they are affected by different management and land uses.
The study has revealed that an estimated 1,265,474 tonnes of carbon – equivalent to the annual CO² emissions from the combined populations of Newcastle and Gateshead – are contained in the soils of Wallington.
Over the past 150 years, it is believed that the amount of carbon in the atmosphere has increased by 30%.
Soils contain around 75% of the carbon on land – three times the amount stored in living plants and animals.
The amount and length of time carbon is stored is determined by how land is managed and it is hoped that the Northumberland project will help land managers and farmers to understand and protect soil carbon and to improve their skills as soil carbon stewards. The evidence gathered at Wallington has identified agricultural practices which can enhance carbon storage and will help avoid those that are most likely to lead to losses in carbon.