Techno humus systems and global-change conservation agriculture

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.10.036

read in progress: i've copied jeff lowenfels' summary, but i'd like to read all of 3.3 before i move on

From the abstract:

What a reader should have in mind at the end of the article:

• Soil organisms have a prominent positive influence on soil structure and fertility; their mass is proportional to the soil organic matter quantity
• It is possible to contrast the climate warming using the soil as sink of C. (It is) estimated that the Agro Humipedons of a European economically active region could sink about 13 or 20% of its emissions, switching from conventional to minimum or no tillage during the coming 40 years. At planetary level, a well programmed 4 per 1000 action can even be more efficacious and compensate a part of the global greenhouse gas effect.

Questions the paper seeks to answer (from the introduction):

2. Is there a fundamental rule to be respectful while using the soil? Yes, we must understand and manage the soil as if it were a living system.
3. Are there experienced scientific references that allow a better understanding and soil management?
4. Is there recent data to support 3?
5. How much does it cost to use the soil as a C sink?
6. What about cultivated drained peat lands?
7. Is the 4/1000 proposal a good plan for humanity?

Somehow, individual organisms act as though they know what is best for increasing the efficiency of the ecosystem they live in.

Ecosystems automatically regenerate; they seem programmed for continuously increasing our planet biodiversity. Meanly, all living organisms seem to have an interest in increasing the efficiency of the system in which they live, as if they knew that the best of the group is the best of the individual. Theoretical bases of this assertion are known.
3.1

Masanobu Fukuoka correctly predicted that allowing species to select themselves (ie by permitting 5-10% of a particular crop's plants to succumb to pest damage each year) produces more resilient species of that particular crop.

By replacing“struggle-for-life” in the frame of“coevolution”, Masanobu transcended Darwinian’s principles, and anticipated theories demonstrating that group selection is more advantageous than selfish selection for the joint maintenance of productivity and diversity in his practice of natural farming.
3.1

Allan Savory is featured as a case study for coining "holistic planned grazing", which is a system that supposedly permits soil regeneration through livestock farming. However, I'm taking his contributions with a large hunk of salt, mostly because his findings have significant controversy among scientists, but also because he seems like a major Bad Guy™ during the story of apartheid and Rhodesia in Africa.

Jeff Lowenfels, who wrote some helpful books for gardeners (Teaming with Fungi, Teaming with Microbes, Teaming with Bacteria, Teaming with Nutrients), provided a summary for working with soil.

Soil management, then, should be concerned with preserving and promoting crop-appropriate soil food webs. Zero-tillage, for example, should be an immediate goal as should the reduction and elimination of pesticides and synthetic nutrients. And use of techniques to promote the
appropriate soil food webs should follow. In fact, the set of rules for working with the soil food web are short and simple:

1. Some plants prefer the kind of nitrogen provided by soils dominated by fungi; others prefer the nitrogen provided by soils dominated by bacteria.
2. Vegetables, annuals and grasses prefer their nitrogen in nitrate form and therefor do best in bacterially dominated soils.
3. Perennials, shrubs, and trees prefer their nitrogen in ammonium form and do best in fungal dominated soils.
4. Compost can be used to inoculate soil and to support the formation of a diverse, self-stabilizing microbial soil population which by itself supports a stable food web.
5. Adding compost to the surface of the soil will inoculate the soil with the same soil food web in the compost.
6. Brown organic materials support fungi while green supports bacteria.
7. Fresh, green mulches tend to support bacterial populations; aged, brown mulches support fungal growth.
8. Mulch laid on the surface tends to support fungi while mulch worked into the soil tends to support bacteria.
9. Wetting and pulverizing mulch thoroughly, speeds up bacterial colonization.
10. Coarse, dryer mulches support fungal activity.
11. Sugars help bacteria multiply and grow while kelp, humic and fulvic acids and phosphate rock dusts help fungi grow.
12. Depending on the compost and the nutrients added, you can make soil and water mixes that are fungal dominated, bacterially dominated or an even ratio of both
13. Compost teas are very sensitive to chlorine and preservatives in the brewing water and ingredients.
14. Applications of synthetic fertilizers kill o or alter populations of most or all of the soil food web microbes.
15. Stay away high NPK numbers which cause plants to shut off natural processes.
16. Immediately follow any chemical spraying or soil drenching with an application of compost tea or extract, mulch and or compost to reignite the soil food web.
17. The roots of conifers as well as hardwood trees including birch, oak, beech, and hickory form mycorrhizae with Ectomycorrhizal fungi and these should be applied at the time of seeding or planting.
18. Shrubs and softwood trees form mycorrhizae with Endomycorrhizal fungi.
19. Rototilling and excessive soil turning destroys or severely damages the soil food web. The least amount of disturbance is all that should be used.
20. Always mix the appropriate Endomycorrhizal fungi with the seeds of annuals and vegetables at planting time or apply them to roots at transplanting time.
    In essence, fostering a healthy soil food web only requires acknowledgement that agricultural soils should be teaming with life, a rich diverse population of soil animals and microorganisms (algae,
    fungi, bacteria etc.), so that plants can provide for themselves. The application of human genius to improve the ability to provide food to the world’s population should be confined to improving what Nature has developed instead of replacing it, as has modern agricultural techniques.
    3.3.4