How Soil Breathes and Carbon-Cycling

Environmental Expert : "Soil respiration (SR) plays a major role in moving carbon from the ecosystem to the atmosphere. Converting land for agricultural use accelerates CO2 emissions via SR. Planting trees (afforestation) has been

heralded as a potential climate change mitigation approach. However, new research suggests that the effects of agricultural practices on peatland remain for decades and can continue to influence CO2 emissions even 30 years after afforestation.