Soils for the Future Tanzania
Mark E. Ritchie, Ph.D., designed and authored the original methodology (VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing, v1.0 (2013)) used in all CarbonSolve’s projects.
This methodology quantifies the GHG emission reductions and removals from activities that introduce sustainable adjustment of the density of grazing animals and the frequency of prescribed fires into an uncultivated grassland landscape. The methodology shows how to determine additional carbon offsets through grassland soil sequestration and/or reduction in methane emissions as a result of reducing fire frequency and altering the density and/or activities of grazing animals.
The SNAP model has been developed to understand carbon dynamics in Serengeti National Park by Mark E. Ritchie, Ph.D. to account for fixed carbon as determined by leaf area index. This model is used to make deductive predictions of current soil carbon stocks based on assumptions of a balance steady-state.
SNAP has potential utility of tracking the fate of stable carbon in the ecosystem rather than focusing on fluxes in understanding soil carbon dynamics. The predictions in this model suggest that grazing and fire, two factors commonly under management control can have large impacts on soil carbon stocks.
SNAPGRAZE is an evolved model that comes out of the SNAP model and assesses the potential effects of grazing management on soil carbon across a range of climates. This model is one of the first explorations of how different grazing management schemes affect grassland production and soil carbon storage under different climatic conditions.
The SNAPGRAZE model includes episodic grazing in the model for forage production and shows its potential sensitivity to periods of stay and rest. SNAPGRAZE may provide a framework for exploring the consequences of grazing management for forage production and soil carbon dynamics.