**3. Balancing soil CO2: a race against time**

If left undisturbed, soil carbon may remain sequestered for thousands of years [32]. Disturbed soils, which are primarily due to intensive cultivation, have decreased the soil's ability to maintain and store carbon, amplifying the impacts of climate change and the accompanying costs to mitigate them [33]. While soil ability as a carbon sequester varies with location, climate, and soil type, one common cause of carbon loss, the majority of which is emitted as carbon dioxide is due to unsustainable management practices at the macroscopical level. Further approaches to sustainable management practices should consider and employ our current knowledge at the microscopical or cellular level. Acknowledgment and immediate actions from all relevant stakeholders must be engaged in the race against time to mitigate the climate change while ensuring the benefits for the environment, community, and economy.

#### **3.1 Macroscopical level: sustainable soil management**

Among the easiest options to avoid or reduce soil carbon loss are sustainable soil management practices at the ground level where the results of carbon sequestration can be detected within several years of implementation [34]. Enhanced food security and nutrition as well as improved ecosystem services are some of the possible benefits to be gained over the short to medium term (**Figure 3**).

Sustainable soil management practices involve the increase of SOM to offset the effects of land conversion, tillage disturbance, soil erosion, and leaching from human activities [35]. The conundrum in sustainable soil management practices is that determining the best practices does not only depend on the dynamic properties of the soil, but also relies on various environmental conditions and social and economic factors. Nevertheless, several studies agreed that sustainable soil management practices should include the following:

i.Adoption of no-till or conservation tillage to preserve soil structure [36];

ii.Use of cover crops to increase SOM, water holding capacity, and protection from wind and water erosion [37];

**Figure 3.** *Benefits of sustainable soil management practices.*


Following these strategies, the measurement of soil CO2 flux can be used to determine whether the ecosystem is functioning as a net carbon sink [40]. This is important since there are reports that the application of organic manures and residues could increase CO2 emission, which negates the goals of mitigating climate change [41]. Verifying the most appropriate sustainable soil management practices is deemed of the utmost importance to ensure successful soil-specific microbial carbon sequestration.
