Carbon storage and land-use strategies in agricultural landscapes across three continents (Curr. Biol.)

As we face increasingly odd weather patterns resulting from elevated CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere, the question of how best to balance the need to produce food with the desire to minimize CO₂ emissions becomes increasingly urgent. Williams et al. compared the effects of different types of land-use strategies on above-ground carbon stocks. They found that any agricultural use led to a decrease in carbon storage as compared to natural habitats. When they compared three different land-use strategies (land sharing with low-yield agriculture, land sparing with high-yield agriculture, and an intermediate strategy), the highest above-ground carbon stocks were maintained with the high-yield, land sparing strategy. Although they conclude that setting aside natural habitats and employing high-yield methods is the most beneficial for carbon storage, they recognize that “land sparing is unlikely to occur passively” but that it needs to involve land-use zoning, taxes or subsidies, and strategic investment to alter the relative profitability of agriculture. (Summary by Mary Williams) Curr. Biol. 10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.087