Soil is an important pool for C stocks and plays a fundamental role in greenhouse gas emissions and consequently in climatic changes. Land use change can cause either a negative or a positive effect in terms of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. However, the intensification of global warming has been confirmed, related mainly to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions from burning of fossil fuel, deforestation, and adoption of inadequate agricultural land management practices. An inadequate soil use does not only contribute to intensified greenhouse effects but also creates problems related to soil sustainability due to the degradation of soil organic matter, which negatively reflects on soil physical and chemical attributes, as well as on its biodiversity. On the other hand, best management practices that maintain or even increase soil organic matter contents can minimize the effects of global warming. Examples of such management practices are no-tillage, rehabilitation of degraded pasture, reforestation of marginal lands and elimination of the burning activity among others. The aim of this review was to evaluate some of the main greenhouse gas sources related to agriculture and land use change, to present strategies to mitigate these emissions and to increase C sequestration in the soil-plant system, in three of the main biomes of Brazil.
land use change; greenhouse gas emissions; soil carbon stocks; global warming
