The current and projected anthropogenic global warming and the attendant increase in the severity and extent of soil degradation may exacerbate the intensity and duration of drought occurrence in agroecosystems. Restoration of the soil organic matter (SOM) content of degraded/depleted soils can increase soil water retention (SWR) more at field capacity (FC) than that at the permanent wilting point (PWP), and thus increase the plant available water capacity (PAWC). The magnitude of increase in PAWC may depend on soil texture and the initial SOM content. Thus, restoration of the SOM content of degraded/depleted soils can make them as well as agroecosystems climate‐resilient. Management practices which enhance soil health by restoring SOM content include conservation agriculture, cover cropping, residue mulching, and complex farming systems involving integration of crops with trees and livestock. Such technologies must be fine‐tuned under site‐specific conditions. Additional research is needed to establish the cause‐effect relationship between increase in SOM content and PAWC and the ameliorative effect on drought‐resilience for diverse crops and cropping systems.

中文翻译：

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土壤有机质和保水性

当前和预计的人为造成的全球变暖以及随之而来的土壤退化的严重性和程度的增加可能加剧农业生态系统中干旱发生的强度和持续时间。退化/枯竭土壤的土壤有机质（SOM）含量的恢复在田间持水量（FC）上比在永久枯萎点（PWP）上增加更多的土壤持水量（SWR），从而增加植物的可用水量（ PAWC）。PAWC的增加幅度可能取决于土壤质地和初始SOM含量。因此，恢复退化/枯竭土壤的SOM含量可使它们以及农业生态系统具有气候适应力。通过恢复SOM含量来增强土壤健康的管理措施包括：保护性农业，覆盖作物，覆盖秸秆，复杂的耕作制度，包括将农作物与树木和牲畜融合在一起。此类技术必须在特定于站点的条件下进行微调。需要进行更多的研究来建立SOM含量增加和PAWC的因果关系，以及多种作物和种植系统对干旱抗逆性的改善作用。