Carbon Sequestration
The Carbon Cycle in an agricultural ecosystem
Nature uses carbon to store energy. In the air, carbon exists mostly as carbon dioxide (CO2). Through photosynthesis, green plants use CO2. Plant materials are then eaten by microbes, cattle and humans that use the energy contained in the plants to live and grow, and release CO2 in the process. The unconsumed plant material eventually decomposes and adds organic matter containing carbon and nutrients to the soil.
The importance of pasturelands
Pasturelands remove greenhouse gases from the air and store them in soil. Land used for grazing beef cattle in Canada is currently storing about 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon. Grasslands around the world store nearly 30% of global soil carbon.