Play this interactive to learn how changes to soil may affect the carbon cycle.
“Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals. Food chains are the living channels that conduct energy upward; death and decay return it to the soil. The circuit is not closed; some energy is dissipated in decay, some is added by absorption from the air, some is stored in soils, peats and long-lived forests.” Aldo Leopold, 1948
Like all aspects of our environment, soil is part of our planet’s complex and dynamic energy cycles, including the carbon cycle. Carbon is one of the most prevalent and important elements on our planet. Its movement through the environment modifies the temperature of our atmosphere and oceans, provides the structure and fuel for all living organisms, and contributes significantly to the living skin of our earth. As we learn more about how carbon moves through the environment, we discover how changes in one part of the carbon cycle can affect the earth as a whole.
This investigation of soil’s role in the carbon cycle illustrates the importance of soil to our ecosystems, and demonstrates how human interactions with soil may affect the carbon cycle.
“Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals. Food chains are the living channels that conduct energy upward; death and decay return it to the soil. The circuit is not closed; some energy is dissipated in decay, some is added by absorption from the air, some is stored in soils, peats and long-lived forests.” Aldo Leopold, 1948