Título:	Soil carbon debt from land use change in Brazil.
Autoria:	VILLELA, J. M. DAMIAN, J. M. GONÇALVES, D. R. P. BARIONI, L. G. CHERUBIN, M. R. CERRI, C. E. P.
Afiliação:	JOÃO MARCOS VILLELA, UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO; JÚNIOR MELO DAMIAN; DANIEL RUIZ POTMA GONÇALVES, UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE PONTA GROSSA; LUIS GUSTAVO BARIONI, CNPTIA; MAURÍCIO ROBERTO CHERUBIN, UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO; CARLOS EDUARDO PELLEGRINO CERRI, UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO.
Ano de publicação:	2026
Referência:	Nature Communications, v. 17, n. 1, 1626, 2026.
Conteúdo:	Carbon farming is a fundamental strategy for mitigating climate change. Brazil, with 276 million hectares of agricultural land, has strong potential to lead this agenda, but uncertainty about soil carbon (C) debt hinders understanding of its true mitigation capacity. Here, we estimate the soil carbon gap, the difference between soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks under native vegetation and agricultural land across Brazil’s six biomes, which represents the theoretical potential for soil recarbonization. A meta-analysis using a comprehensive national SOC database (4,290 records, 0–30 cm) is used to estimate an overall carbon debt of 1.40 ± 0.1 Pg C. The results show that sustainable practices such as crop rotation, intercropping, no-tillage, and integrated agricultural systems enhance SOC recovery. These findings highlight Brazil’s capacity to drive global emissions mitigation, guide low-carbon policies, and position the country as a key actor in the emerging global carbon market.
Thesagro:	Uso da Terra
NAL Thesaurus:	Land use change Soil organic carbon Carbon sequestration
Palavras-chave:	Carbono do solo Dívida de carbono Sequestro de carbono Meta-análise
ISSN:	2041-1723
Digital Object Identifier:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68340-4
Tipo do material:	Artigo de periódico
Acesso:	openAccess
Aparece nas coleções:	Artigo em periódico indexado (CNPTIA)