Deep Carbon: quantifying the role of ley mixture roots in carbon sequestration

The project builds upon the previous ‘Carbon sequestration in grassland mixtures’ project (finished March 2025) by exploiting and continuing the already established grassland diversity field trial. The overarching objective is to deliver scientific underpinning for increased grassland carbon (C) storage by exploiting deep roots. We aim to quantify, under field conditions,

1. The relationship between deep root mass and C sequestration potential;
2. The relative contribution of species to deep root mass and C sequestration potential;
3. The soil C stocks accumulated during the grassland phase;
4. The C losses resulting from grassland termination;
5. The productivity of diverse mixtures over time.