Open Collections

Kersey, Jordan

University of British Columbia

Regenerative agriculture is an approach designed to improve soil health, increase water availability, and contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation. While lacking universal delineation, increasing biodiversity, minimizing soil disturbance, and maximizing soil cover are common principles. Although there are many agricultural practices that adhere to these principles it is often unclear which specific practices lead to regenerative outcomes particularly as they are likely to be regionally specific.. The objectives of my dissertation were to evaluate selected agricultural management practices for regenerative outcomes in southwestern British Columbia by quantifying indicators of climate mitigation, adaptation, and soil health. For study one, fields were grouped by participation in stewardship programs that promoted the adoption of management practices including hedgerow planting, winter-cover crops and grassland set-asides between 1992 and 2016 and those that did not. The results from this study indicate enrollment in stewardship programs reduces the loss of carbon from soils and improves indicators of soil water regulation, aiding in mitigation of climate breakdown while building climate resiliency. For study two and three, an experiment was established at the Alaksen National Wildlife Area, under a 5-year rotation (2-years of annual vegetables and 3-years of perennial forage). For study two I investigated the effects of short-term management on soil health. The results from this chapter indicate that reduced tillage leads to some improved soil health indicators without sacrificing crop yield or intensifying weed pressure. For study three I investigated the capacity of three management systems (perennial forage; conservation; conventional) to improve short-term indicators of climate mitigation and adaptation. The results from this chapter indicate that integration of perennial forage crops not only support the accrual of soil carbon but also can improve soil physical properties related to aggregate stability and water regulation. Overall, these results suggest these practices can effectively contribute to regenerative outcomes and improve agroecosystem resilience in this important agricultural region.

Text

2025-02-13

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90360

Soil Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/