🌱 Here we explore the mechanisms of soil carbon storage in the tropical savanna soils of the Cerrado biome in central Brazil.

We are excited to share our new study: “Pasture management in Ferralsols drives mineral-associated organic matter storage, exceeding native soil carbon stocks and enhancing cation exchange capacity.”

👉 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2026.117678

🔍 Our key findings:
- Unmanaged pastures lead to soil degradation and a decline in soil organic carbon stocks below those of native Cerrado ecosystems.
- Our 24‑year field study shows that optimized pasture management aimed at enhancing forage growth helped rebuild soil organic carbon stocks
- Remarkably, SOC gains exceeded native ecosystem carbon stocks, driven primarily by the formation of mineral‑associated organic matter and accompanied by improved cation exchange capacity.

✅ With the right management, tropical grasslands hold the potential to increase soil carbon storage while simultaneously improving soil fertility and nutrient retention.

🙏 Congratulations to Lucas Bento on the excellent outcome of his one year research visit with us, kindly supported by FAPESP.
Many thanks as well to all collaborators at Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária, especially Ladislau Martin Neto, for their continued support. We very much look forward to deepening our research collaboration!