Prospects for soil carbon storage on recently retired marginal farmland

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is strongly affected by farm cropping, which covers >10% of the earth's surface. Land retirement of marginal fields, now a global initiative, can increase SOC storage but reported accumulation rates are variable. Here, we quantify SOC in crop fields and retired marginal land in an intensely farmed 10,000 km 2 region of central North America, testing nutrients, soil texture and management as drivers of SOC storage. Overwhelmingly, SOC was associated with farm management with among-farm differences varying >fourfold (17.4–81 t ha −1) in the top 15 cm. Total farm SOC averaged 502.2 t farm −1 but again ranged widely (216–1611 t farm −1). Farm-specific SOC was often, but not always, higher on farms with N-rich silt-clay soils, and lower on sandy soils with higher P relating to former tobacco production. In contrast, within-farm SOC between crop fields and retired land did not significantly differ with time. Low SOC on retired lands was associated with persistently high soil N and P and elevated microbial respiration. Retired soils did possess substantially larger pools of lignin-rich root biomass to depths of 60 cm, which may signify eventual SOC accumulation possibly as nutrient legacies diminish. Our work shows that management legacy, interacting with soil texture and nutrients, predicts SOC more than short-term retirement. Indeed, crop fields averaged 67% of farm SOC because they represented up to 94% of total farm area – SOC retention on cropland remains a management priority, above and beyond gains with retirement. Interestingly, the largest per-volume SOC levels were in remnant forest that contained 25% of farm SOC despite only averaging 11% of farm area. Maintaining SOC stocks in farm landscapes may be more quickly attained by protecting remnant forest, with retired lands needing time to re-build SOC stocks. [Display omitted] •Farm management, not short-term retirement, best predicted soil organic carbon (SOC).•Retired soils had more lignin-rich root biomass suggesting eventual SOC increases.•With 95% of farm area, cropfields contained 67% of farm SOC – C retention with cropping remains a management priority.