California Dept. Food and Agriculture Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation
Development of Soil Organic Carbon Map for California
May 5 & 6, 2020
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE Introductions/Agenda/Logistics
Casey Walsh Cady, Sr. Environmental Scientist CDFA Office of Environmental Farming & Innovation Team Casey Walsh Cady, MS, Biodiversity Coordinator Geetika Joshi, PhD, Program Supervisor Carolyn Cook, MS, Program Supervisor Amrith Gunasekara, PhD, Science Advisor & Program Manager Steph Jamis, MS, Env. Scientist SWEEP • Introductions/Webinar Logistics
• Background/Purpose – Casey Walsh Cady
Agenda • USDA NRCS – Tony Rolfes • Comments and Feedback-Casey Walsh Cady
• Wrap up and Next Steps – Casey Walsh Cady Biodiversity Initiative California Biodiversity A Roadmap for Protecting the State's Natural Heritage Roadmap
• In 2018 – Governor Brown launched the California Biodiversity Initiative • Preserving native species • Protecting and restoring all types of California ecosystems, and improving ecosystem functions. • Completing vegetation maps for the entire state • Updating a statewide habitat connectivity assessment
• Seedbanking California’s plants. September 2018
• https://www.californiabiodiversityinitiative.org/pdf /california-biodiversity-action-plan.pdf cdfa ------=.::::::: CALIFOltNIA oe,AlTMENT 01' FOO0 & AGIICUllUlf Focal Areas of the CA Biodiversity Roadmap
Help government Improve understanding Manage lands and Improve understanding coordinate on and protection of waters to achieve of California’s biodiversity goals California’s native biodiversity goals biodiversity plants
Restore and protect lands and waters to Educate Californians Prioritize collaboration achieve biodiversity about biodiversity and partnerships goals CDFA Key Actions California • Establishment of a soil carbon map of Biodiversity California to serve as an indicator of soil health. Initiative: A • Potential development of soil health Roadmap for data repository system for CDFA Healthy Soils Program. Protecting the • Legislative Mandate: CDFA will State’s Natural collaborate with various groups to establish and maintain a Soil Carbon Heritage Map, Budget Act of 2019, Item 8570- 001-0001 Main component of soil organic matter (SOM) and is a crucial contributor to food production, mitigation The and adaption to climate change. Importance of Soil SOC affects most of the processes relevant to soil Organic functions and food production. Carbon SOC often used as an indicator of soil health, due to (SOC) its capacity to improve soil structural stability, which affects porosity, aeration and water filtration capacities to supply clean water. FAO, 2018 Project Soil Organic Carbon Map Scoping Healthy Soils Program Soil Health Data System? Soil Carbon Map for State of California
Purpose - to serve as an indicator of soil health as California takes multiple actions to sequester carbon in agricultural soils.
CDFA endeavors to develop a resource that will be broadly useful for the state. CDFA Healthy Soils Program
Incentive Program - funds conservation management practices that ti sequester carbon, reduce GHGs and improve soil health
Soil sampling requirements – data is submitted to CDFA prior to implementation of practices and then annually after the practices are implemented, for up to 3 years.
CDFA is considering the development of a data repository system for soils data. USDA NRCS – Tony Rolfes A NR(S Natural Resources U Conservation Service NRCS Soil Surveys
ffl USOANRCS USOA_NRCS S.p8 ~• NRCSTilled vs uSoilndisturbed. Carbon go.usa Data.gov/k563 Tony Rolfes #soilhealth CA State Soil Scientist • How Soil Data is Collected
• Soil Organic Matter in CA
• Soil Survey Innovative Tools NRCS USDA Cooperative Soil Survey Program 1899 to 2016 ,-,.,~b:,lit, r • .,,....,,..,..• .,., • .... ll:.... "' -"" uor-... --- • ·•- ~~-1·•1o ..... ,- rg . 3265 surveys nation ·- ,,.. •:- . ·• .. •..-- <..':'.'.,, •» .. • ...... - ...... 120 Surveys in CA I , "...... ,._• - r.Jbllcetion Date-: 11/4.'2019 USDA Unbc:I State& Department of iiilll Agrlcuttu,. l /$1'1:.l:l .:1r ~,m:I r~-.r,"'1.,rlly f .<"C1y0.l.:o(,:01l,fMt1 r li:yNO Soil Organic Carbon By Weight Baseline Soil Organic Matter 0-30 cm depth
Organic carbon (kilograms / square meter) for the horizon = ((om _ r * 0.58) / 100) * dbthirdbar _ r * ((100 - ∑ fragvol _r) / 100) * (hzdepb_ r - hzdept _ r) * 10 Collecting the Soil Information
The Field Work How many holes do you dig? Soil Map - How is it Made
San Ysidro loam, o to 5 percent slopes, dry, MLRA 17 (Sh) " .A. Map Unit Composition 85~. San Ysidro Geomorphic Posdion; ran remnants I Toe~ . Solano morphic Posdion; ~ on oata n/a Extent of State Soil San Joaquin
Soil Organicf' Carbon
' '8. ""1.,._' ;- Lab. ...., 1 ,, Datar " '
"...... Top Bottom Al 0 8
Cover Crop .... 25% ....., 2$% ...... - S.11 - --Tu tu
Mulch No Till Living organisms <5% PARTICULATE RECALCITRANT CROP RESIDUES ORGANIC CARBON HUMUS CARBON ORGANIC CARBON Stabilized lab/le lab/le resistant Inert organic Decomposing matter organic matter 1]:( .1:1[ .'. . t .I !Hit'. 1, I ; i l (1 'J~•1 :· j JI I I j11 . : II . :I. :1 (1 .'.I 1 1i1 : 11 jl l~:1 . (hunus) (active 33°/o -50% fraction weeks to years years to decadM decades to centuries centuries to mtllennla 33% -so•. Rgure 1: Organic carbon is made up offour different pools that decompose at different rates /adapted Fran Belland towreoce, 2009). A 60 Year History of California Soil Quality Using Paired Samples Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California
125 samples in 1945 and 2001 analyzed for Soil Carbon
Tobie'- Mean value.J of son properlies .fer g,eogropl1ic regions in Califo:11io for J 91'15 and 2001 sample dat<~ fndict'!!M Yu. Cnlirom!O So11rhen1 Central Somhcn, Norrhcm Cold Wine Northern Califo mii:a C:o~s, $Jm J. Sa\n J. c<1unt.y country tnlifomia N 194$ 0.09 0.06
(,'P.lifornia
Credits: Michael J Singer, Fabrice De Clerck and Peter Lindert Farm Demonstration in Turlock CA Soils are the Delhi sandy loam series.
About ½ percent organic matter, soil on the right.
About 3 percent soil organic matter, soil on the left.
Soil on the left - Walnut orchard with reduced tillage, cover crop, livestock grazing, and compost added.
Soil on the right – conventionally tilled sweet potatoes
Clay content, bulk OC density, depth, mineralogy
Rainfall, Attainable OC temperature, solar radiation
Plant productivity, Actual OC . . ." rotation strategy, soil management NRCS Soil Data – Organic Carbon
Kefbgg Soil Surve;,· L$bora.tory Sam::ile Data Pciits
L~gend
I I c.: ..i,1_ tio11 Otv11n_. C•tllO" Soil IX(IIUlic: ,car General Location fl.10c'"' ~•a.'H ~ •1uft ~t ltCtlw.l _. ~Z- •G.C'J • !l.(C . <).S!) Surfaceof layer CDFA HSP sites A II) I ::Ill•> • l.~1 . ~.0!) 30cm2017 and 2018 • 101 .~ :,:1 • ~ · .:.:. •> .ti. ,l!;. l . $!:.) • aa 1.1n)c, UC Davis CA Soil Resource Lab Innovative Tools & Research - Using NRCS Soil Surveys
Pedology and Soil Survey ' S FOR IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE
PEDOLOGY AND SOIL SURVEY I
Geographic Nutnent Management Zones foe Winegrape Production GIS and D1grtal Soil Survey Protects
New Technologies in Soil Survey Other lnfonnatx>n
RANGELAND SOIL MANAGEMENT AND HYDROLOGY
~g[i!phic Nutrient Managm!ifill New Technologiti.Jn Zones for Wmegrape Production ~y
Other Information
Credit: Dr Toby O’Geen, Scott Devine and Dr. Kerri Steenwerth Which existing maps/data sets can be used as baseline for soil organic carbon?
USDA NRCS has developed several maps that may serve the purpose above; stakeholder feedback on the use of these is Questions for encouraged. What scale is needed for the map to meet its objective of Stakeholder serving as an indicator of soil health? Input (1) Should CDFA develop a statewide map or focus on agricultural production areas?
What components and layers should the map include? 7. What is appropriate soil depth for the map (ex: 30 cm)?
8. What are other issues and concerns?
Questions for 9. Are there recommendations on data standards and quality assurance? Stakeholder 10. What would stakeholders like to use this map Input (2) for? 11. What are the needs for this tool beyond its use by governmental agencies?
12. What can stakeholders contribute? Written Comment Period - May 7, 2020 – May 21, 2020 Wrap Up –
Next Steps Comments should be submitted by e-mail to: [email protected] by 5:00 pm PDT, May 21, 2020.