Maintain and improve soil health

Healthy soils are necessary to ensure the productivity and profitability of diverse agricultural enterprises. Healthy soils provide for many functions and ecosystem services, including: sustaining biological activity and diversity, regulation of water quality and quantity, provision of nutrients, and carbon sequestration. These functions and services depend on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics or properties of the soil, some of which are dynamic and easily altered, while others are inherent and more resistant to change. Climate change creates multiple direct and indirect threats on soil health, which in turn creates challenges for agricultural productivity. Practices that improve soil health help to buffer many of these impacts. For example, crop residues and soil organic matter can help protect against both dry and wet precipitation extremes; increased organic matter can improve water infiltration and reduce nutrient losses during extreme precipitation events as well as retain moisture in the soil during dry conditions. Altering the land use production system or infrastructure may also maintain and improve either dynamic or inherent soil properties.

Climate has the potential to disrupt critical functions of soil and water, and many management actions will be needed to work both directly and indirectly to maintain the integrity of agricultural systems in the face of climate change. Many existing guidelines and conservation practices describe actions to reduce impacts to soil and water; many of these actions are also likely to be beneficial in the context of adaptation, either in their current form or with modifications to address potential climate change impacts.