Microbial Inoculants for Improving Carbon Sequestration in Agroecosystems to Mitigate Climate Change

Abstract

The impacts of losing carbon from the terrestrial pool into the atmosphere have major consequences that affect many aspects of our planet in the long term and the short term. Agricultural lands could contribute in targeting these issues and provide efficient solutions, such as decreasing the level of atmospheric carbon while increasing carbon levels in soil. The proper selection of suitable microbial inoculants that are able to sequester carbon into soils is very important in order to improve agricultural land’s capability to sequester and store carbon. By achieving that, soil quality and properties would increase, and atmospheric carbon would be mitigated. In this review, we discussed the potential of using microorganisms as microbial inoculants to overcome the negative impacts of losing carbon from soils, by increasing carbon levels in soils. Soil microorganisms have the ability to affect the organic matter quantity and quality, which leads to affecting soil ecology and properties. Fungi and bacteria contribute differently in soil carbon sequestration by regulating multiple and different pathways inputs and losses of soil carbon such as possessing metabolic activities that can capture CO2, the ability to sediment carbonates, the recalcitrant nature of their vegetative and products tissues, or the formation of stable forms that protect carbon in soil. More studies are needed to test the potential of certain microbial strains with carbon sequestration ability to improve soil quality and mitigate climate change.