A new Illinois project is examining how healthier soils, trees and diverse plant life could help strengthen local water cycles, capture rainfall and cool the climate.
Photo: Steven Weeks/Unsplash
by Judith Ruiz-BranchPublic News Service
A new venture in Illinois is highlighting how healthy farmland can help to address climate change and restore local rainfall. The Nature Cools project, led by the Climate Land Leaders initiative, is studying how healthy soils, trees and diverse plant life work together to strengthen local water cycles. Katie Ross, a scientist and researcher for Nature Cools, said regenerating land brings back diversity both above and below the ground. Then, living landscapes can release natural particles helping clouds form and bring rain back to the places where water first evaporated. "In addition to carbon sequestration, restoring that local rain cycle includes several powerful processes, which is nature's way of cooling the climate," Ross explained.
Photo: Graddes/Unsplash
Central Illinois farms are helping researchers examine whether regenerative practices and healthier soils can improve water absorption and contribute to natural climate cooling. Researchers found that central Illinois farms with restored prairie and long-term regenerative practices absorbed rainwater much faster than conventionally cropped land.
Research shows by 2050, Illinois is projected to have at least 26 more days above 95 degrees and more frequent and rapid-onset droughts. With increasing incidents of wildfires and flooding, Ross stressed the project serves to remind farmers of how much agency they can have in the face of natural disasters. Along with carbon emissions, Ross noted practices killing the microbial community in soils have stunted nature’s natural cooling processes. This summer, Ross visited three central Illinois farms that are part of the project to measure soil temperature and test how quickly rainwater soaks into the ground. Farms with restored prairie and long-term regenerative practices absorbed water far more quickly than land with a long history of conventional row cropping. The findings suggest healthier soils are better able to capture rainfall instead of letting it run off. "What these farmers are doing is incredibly important," Ross emphasized. "That's part of the joy and purpose of this project, is to say you guys actually are superheroes more than is recognized."
The results revealed how difficult land recovery can be
Leslie Cooperband, co-owner of Prairie Oasis Farm near Champaign, said researchers found compacted soils with very little organic matter, even in areas covered by perennial vegetation for decades. Cooperband called it a reminder rebuilding soil damaged over generations takes time.
"It's like a paradigm shift. I will say though, it's a long-term proposition," Cooperband observed. "It's not like plant a bunch of trees and next year you're going to have rain clouds over your farm. The damage is so profound that it is going to take years to bring that soil life back."
Cooperband added with so many farmers feeling squeezed to maximize productivity, it can be hard for farmers to commit to sparing farmland for alternative uses. Still, Cooperband stressed as farmers crave greater climate predictability, the project's findings can help expand efforts beyond farmers already open to adopting regenerative practices.
