Tracking soil carbon dynamics in benchmark soil quality site at SJRDC

Understanding the long-term trajectory of soil organic carbon under various management practices is critical for sustainable soil management. The AAFC St. John's Research and Development Center (SJRDC) conducted a benchmark soil quality survey in 1992 across a 3-ha site within the center. The site has a long-term dataset on agricultural management history which can lead to an important understanding of how the management practices influenced the soil organic carbon dynamics across the site.

We re-established the benchmark soil quality survey grid in 2022 and collected a new set of soil samples. Comparing the soil carbon values from these two time-steps will help us model the soil carbon dynamics (1992-2022) under different management conditions. In addition, this will help simulate the impacts of climate change during this 30-year time period.