Soil carbon dynamics and variability at the landscape scale: its relation to aspects of spatial distribution in national emission databases

An important part of the carbon cycle is the storage of carbon in the soil in the form of organic matter. Compared with vegetation, the soil can absorb far more carbon and fix it for a longer period. For mitigation of climate change, therefore, it is interesting to know exactly how carbon storage in the soil works. Moreover, under the Kyoto Treaty the Netherlands is obliged to report each year on the carbon store in the soil, surface and underground biomass, dead wood, litter and organic matter in the soil.