Carbon management practices and benefits in Conservation Agriculture systems: soil organic carbon fraction losses and restoration

The conversion of native vegetation (NV) into agricultural land by clearing and tillage disrupts the soil structure, and depletes soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. Data on changes in SOC pools are needed to enhance scientific knowledge regarding the effects of land use and Conservation Agriculture (CA) on soil fertility, agronomic productivity, and soil C sink capacity. The objective of this study was to quantify changes in SOC fractions due to conversion of NV to agricultural land, and to assess the rate of recovery of SOC fractions and the resilience index of CA cropping systems under sub-tropical (Ponta Grossa/PR — PG) and tropical (Lucas do Rio Verde/MT — LRV) regions of Brazil.