ABSTRACT
Soil erosion is a major form of soil degradation in western Canada. Eroded soils reduce plant yield due to their high bulk density, poor tilth, reduced organic matter content, low nutrient availability, and reduced water-holding capacity. The chapter aims to document short-term organic-matter changes in two artificially-eroded soils of the Aspen Parkland ecoregion of the Canadian Prairie. It seeks to explore if agronomic practices such as continuous cereal cropping, reduced tillage, and addition of fertilizers and/or organic amendments could change, in a five-year span, the amount and quality of carbon stored in artificially-eroded soils. Results support the hypothesis that soils most depleted in soil organic matter may have the highest potential for carbon gain. The chapter concludes that eroded soils under favorable management could revert their productivity and, at the same time, store atmospheric carbon in a relatively short period of time.
