Summary
This field-based comparative study evaluated three methods for measuring soil organic carbon across 95 samples from 48 fields in Southwest England, spanning arable, temporary ley, and permanent grassland systems. All three methods (LOI, Dumas, NIRS) showed significant positive correlations (r = 0.549–0.579), though correlation strength differed by land type. The findings support portable near-infrared spectroscopy as a practical, safer, and cost-effective alternative for rapid SOC monitoring on farms, whilst providing conversion equations to align results between traditional and emerging measurement approaches.
UK applicability
The study was conducted entirely in Southwest England across mixed farm types representative of UK agriculture, making the findings directly applicable to UK soil carbon monitoring practice and policy. The proposed NIRS method offers UK farmers and consultants a safer, faster alternative to high-temperature furnace-based analysis for real-time SOC assessment, supporting compliance with soil health and carbon sequestration initiatives.
Key measures
Soil organic carbon (%) measured by loss-on-ignition, automated dry combustion (Dumas), and near-infrared spectroscopy; correlations between methods (r values); land-use type comparisons; predictive conversion equations
Outcomes reported
The study compared three SOC measurement methods (LOI, Dumas, and NIRS) across 95 soil samples from diverse agricultural land types in Southwest England, establishing conversion equations between methods. Permanent grassland fields showed significantly higher SOC content (6.6%) than arable and temporary ley fields (4.5–4.6%), with NIRS identified as a faster, cost-effective alternative to traditional laboratory methods.
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