When forested land is converted to agricultural land, it is not only the landscape that changes but also the ecosystem services that it provides. In a new research project spanning Argentina's Dry Chaco region, PhD student Axel Gualdoni-Becerra investigates how the transition from native forest to agricultural land fundamentally reshapes ecosystem structural, compositional and functional properties. In collaboration with Dr. Antonios Apostolakis, they plan to expand the project to include soil! Along a 400-kilometer precipitation gradient, they want to study and understand how forest soil organic carbon pools respond to one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time: large-scale deforestation and land use intensification.
Soils are the largest carbon reservoir on land. The organic carbon stored in soils ultimately originates from atmospheric carbon dioxide fixed by plants through photosynthesis and transferred belowground as dead roots, litter, and other organic residues. In relatively undisturbed forests and other natural ecosystems, soil organic carbon tends to pendle around a dynamic steady state where carbon inputs from plant production and carbon losses through decomposition are roughly balanced, allowing large stocks to build up and persist over decades to centuries.
However, when land use change or management intensification shift a system from its native state to a new one, for example when a forest is converted into a cropland, this balance is disrupted: carbon inputs typically decrease and carbon losses often increase, driving soils toward a new steady state with much lower carbon stocks. Therefore, soils turn from a long-term carbon sink into a source. In this project in Argentina's Dry Chaco, the largest dry forest in the world, the focus is on how this transition from natural forest to cropland, including the narrow forest strips left within agricultural landscapes, reshapes soil organic carbon storage and its stability along a broad rainfall gradient.
Axel Gualdoni-Becerra also collaborates with Mixed Media artist Carolina Genoni, to create a documentary on the deforestation of Dry Chaco Forest and its consequence on the environment. The aim is to raise awareness about deforestation and bring science closer to the public. For this, Axel and Carolina visited the laboratory facilities of Division Agronomy on Friday, November 21st, and filmed the soil organic matter fractionation to operational pools. 
This attempt represents genuine collaboration bringing together expertise in ecology, soil science and art. Soil and plant samples are being currently processed and analysed hoping to shed light on how precipitation, forest structure, and land use collectively shape soil carbon in one of South America's most threatened ecosystems.

Walking around Aegina island in the Saronic gulf, I observed several pistachio groves. More than half were ploughed, with no understory vegetation and exposed soils. Soil ploughing is deeply rooted in the agricultural tradition of the Mediterranean region, even in orchards where plough-benefits are limited. 

Organic farming applies nature-based solutions to sustain agricultural production with minimum use of synthetic fertilizers and pest or fungicides. It promotes biodiversity, environmental quality and public health. In addition, there is evidence that organic farming might result in lower overall greenhouse gas emissions than conventional farming, and might contribute to carbon sequestration in soils. 
However, organic farming leads to lower yields per area compared to conventional farming. This is really not surprising since conventional farming is optimised to deliver higher yields. In contrast, organic farming aims at improving multiple ecosystem services of agroecosystems. And my point: is it sensible to avoid organic farming in European Union (EU) because of its lower yield, when food waste is enormous?
According to EUROSTAT, about 60 million tonnes of food is wasted annually in EU. This translates to 131 kg per citizen annually, and totals about 132 billion Euros. Wouldn't it be better to promote organic farming in the frame of sustainable degrowth? This way, we would protect the environment and public health and welfare. In addition, we would save vital resources, i.e., energy, nitrogen, phosphorus even greenhouse gas emissions, that are needed elsewhere. 
And here does a disclaimer: this is not to say there is no malnutrition in EU. Accessibility to food rather than food quantity is the root of malnutrition. Sticking to conventional farming instead of organic farming doesn't solve this problem. 
The lower yield under organic farming can lead to increased food prices due to high demand and lower supply. EU or national budgets might need to cover for this. However, global change and climate change will also lead to higher food prices if action is not taken. And public health deterioration also comes at a great cost to national budgets. Is my take too romantic on this? Am I mission the socioeconomic aspect of this issue? Your thoughts are welcome. 

Written by Antonios Apostolakis

Understanding the way that forest properties shape ecosystem services, such as carbon and nitrogen cycling, is pivotal for sustainable silviculture that targets multiple services rather than just the delivery of wood provisions. F,orests are often considered as natural, pristine ecosystems that are not affected by human activities. This argument might stand when comparing forests with other types of ecosystems like grasslands and croplands. However, when focusing on forested land, it becomes apparent that forests too have not eluded human touch. 
​Take the two forest stands in the photos below as an example. These are a coniferous and a deciduous forest stand located about 2 km apart in Schorfheide-Chorin, Germany. You can clearly spot the differences in the light conditions under the canopy as well as in the understory vegetation, with the coniferous forest being much brighter and greener in the understory. 

The species of trees found in a stand as well as their density and age, are subject to silvicultural management. As such, silvicultural management shapes forest properties, which in their turn shape the ecosystem services delivered by in the stand. ​