Calculating Soil Organic Turnover at Different Landscape Position in Precision Conservation

An important aspect of precision conservation is assessing changes in soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) across landscapes. Carbon (C) cycling can be determined using carbon flux towers, modeling, and by experimentally measuring budgets. Once the carbon budgets are understood, this information can be used to assess the value of implementing precision conservation and the potential impacts of targeted residue harvesting on soil health. This chapter provides a review of methods to determine carbon budgets, and the potential impacts of crop residue harvesting on SOC maintenance across landscapes. The chapter also provides examples on how to convert point carbon budget measurements into a precision conservation assessment.