A Comparison of Soil Organic Carbon Levels in Cropland, Restored Grassland and Native Grassland.

Land management practices greatly influence organic carbon levels in soils.  We sampled over 1200 sites in seven areas across five states in the northern Great Plains.  Soils were sampled to a depth of 30 cm at each site and soil organic carbon (SOC) levels were determined for cropland, restored grassland (including CRP land) and native grassland in each sampling area. Comparisons between land management practice and SOC will be discussed.  In general, SOC levels ranked cropland < restored grassland < native grassland.  However, in some sampling areas cropland SOC was higher that restored grassland or restored grassland Soc was higher than native grassland.  Causes for the observations will be discussed.