Soils in less favoured areas, (LFA’s) defined as areas where unfavourable environmental conditions allow only extensive farming systems such as livestock rearing, are relatively stable, being rarely ploughed or disturbed, and cover extensive upland regions of the UK and Europe. Under low intensity management these soils have the potential to act as long-term carbon stores, mitigating the effects of climate change and potentially acting as a source of income for rural economies. However, upland grasslands are sensitive to management decisions, and careful planning is needed to ensure that they continue to provide a range of ecosystem services. Using the long-term grassland experimental plots at Brignant, Wales, management and liming effects on soil organic carbon and related soil parameters under long-term permanent pastures were explored. Results showed that interactions between management and liming could significantly influence carbon storage potential, making a difference of up to 0.45 kg C m⁻² in Hay-cut swards. The greatest reductions were found under pastures that had been cut (rather than grazed) and limed, probably due to a combination of enhanced soil microbial activity, increased root production and a lack of fresh biomass. These results indicate that while the potential to further increase soil organic carbon may be limited, grazing for all or part of the year can reduce losses by providing regular organic matter inputs.

偏爱地区（LFA）的土壤定义为不利的环境条件仅允许广泛的耕作系统（例如牲畜饲养），相对稳定，很少耕种或打扰并覆盖英国和欧洲广大的高地地区的地区。在低强度管理下，这些土壤有可能充当长期的碳库，减轻气候变化的影响，并有可能成为农村经济的收入来源。但是，高地草原对管理决策很敏感，需要仔细计划以确保它们继续提供一系列生态系统服务。利用在威尔士布赖恩特（Brignant）的长期草地试验区，研究了长期永久性牧场对土壤有机碳和相关土壤参数的管理和限制作用。在干草割草中为⁻²。在经过切割（而不是放牧）和撒石灰的草场下发现的减少量最大，这可能是由于土壤微生物活性增强，根系产量增加和缺乏新鲜生物量共同造成的。这些结果表明，尽管进一步增加土壤有机碳的潜力可能受到限制，但全年或部分时间放牧可通过提供定期的有机物投入来减少损失。