Dynamics of soil organic carbon in the steppes of Russia and Kazakhstan under past and future climate and land use

AbstractChanges in land use and climate are the main drivers of change in soil organic matter contents. We investigated the impact of the largest policy-induced land conversion to arable land, the Virgin Lands Campaign (VLC), from 1954 to 1963, of the massive cropland abandonment after 1990 and of climate change on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in steppes of Russia and Kazakhstan. We simulated carbon budgets from the pre-VLC period (1900) until 2100 using a dynamic vegetation model to assess the impacts of observed land-use change as well as future climate and land-use change scenarios. The simulations suggest for the entire VLC region (266 million hectares) that the historic cropland expansion resulted in emissions of 1.6⋅ 1015 g (= 1.6 Pg) carbon between 1950 and 1965 compared to 0.6 Pg in a scenario without the expansion. From 1990 to 2100, climate change alone is projected to cause emissions of about 1.8 (± 1.1) Pg carbon. Hypothetical recultivation of the cropland that has been abandoned after the fall of the Soviet Union until 2050 may cause emissions of 3.5 (± 0.9) Pg carbon until 2100, whereas the abandonment of all cropland until 2050 would lead to sequestration of 1.8 (± 1.2) Pg carbon. For the climate scenarios based on SRES (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) emission pathways, SOC declined only moderately for constant land use but substantially with further cropland expansion. The variation of SOC in response to the climate scenarios was smaller than that in response to the land-use scenarios. This suggests that the effects of land-use change on SOC dynamics may become as relevant as those of future climate change in the Eurasian steppes.

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How will Future Climate Change and Land-Use Change Affect Rates of Erosion on Agricultural Land?

10.13031/2013.4586 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. Boardman ◽

D.T. Favis-Mortlock

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Future Climate ◽

Future Climate Change

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Global soil organic carbon removal by water erosion under climate change and land use change during 1850–2005 AD

10.5194/bg-2017-527 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Victoria Naipal ◽

Philippe Ciais ◽

Yilong Wang ◽

Ronny Lauerwald ◽

Bertrand Guenet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Carbon Cycle ◽

Atmospheric Co2 ◽

Terrestrial Carbon

Abstract. The onset and expansion of agriculture has accelerated soil erosion by rainfall and runoff substantially, mobilizing vast quantities of soil organic carbon (SOC) globally. Studies show that at timescales of decennia to millennia this mobilized SOC can significantly alter previously estimated carbon emissions from land use change (LUC). However, a full understanding of the impact of erosion on land-atmosphere carbon exchange is still missing. The aim of our study is to better constrain the terrestrial carbon fluxes by developing methods compatible with Earth System Models (ESMs) in order to explicitly represent the links between soil erosion by rainfall and runoff and carbon dynamics. For this we use an emulator that represents the carbon cycle of a land surface model, in combination with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation model. We applied this modeling framework at the global scale to evaluate the effects of potential soil erosion (soil removal only) in the presence of other perturbations of the carbon cycle: elevated atmospheric CO2, climate variability, and LUC. We found that over the period 1850–2005 AD acceleration of soil erosion leads to a total potential SOC removal flux of 100 Pg C of which 80 % occurs on agricultural, pasture and natural grass lands. Including soil erosion in the SOC-dynamics scheme results in a doubling of the cumulative loss of SOC over 1850–2005 due to the combined effects of climate variability, increasing atmospheric CO2 and LUC. This additional erosional loss decreases the cumulative global carbon sink on land by 5 Pg for this specific period, with the largest effects found for the tropics, where deforestation and agricultural expansion increased soil erosion rates significantly. We also show that the potential effects of soil erosion on the global SOC stocks cannot be ignored when compared to the effects of climate change or land use change on the carbon cycle. We conclude that it is necessary to include soil erosion in assessments of LUC and evaluations of the terrestrial carbon cycle.

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Supplementary material to "Global soil organic carbon removal by water erosion under climate change and land use change during 1850–2005 AD"

10.5194/bg-2017-527-supplement ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Victoria Naipal ◽

Philippe Ciais ◽

Yilong Wang ◽

Ronny Lauerwald ◽

Bertrand Guenet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Water Erosion ◽

Carbon Removal ◽

Global Soil ◽

Supplementary Material

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Modeling the Impact of Climate Change and Land Use Change Scenarios on Soil Erosion at the Minab Dam Watershed

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11123353 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 3353 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mohammad Reza Azimi Sardari ◽

Ommolbanin Bazrafshan ◽

Thomas Panagopoulos ◽

Elham Rafiei Sardooi

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Soil Cover ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Future Period ◽

The Future ◽

The Impact

Climate and land use change can influence susceptibility to erosion and consequently land degradation. The aim of this study was to investigate in the baseline and a future period, the land use and climate change effects on soil erosion at an important dam watershed occupying a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz. The future climate change at the study area was inferred using statistical downscaling and validated by the Canadian earth system model (CanESM2). The future land use change was also simulated using the Markov chain and artificial neural network, and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation was adopted to estimate soil loss under climate and land use change scenarios. Results show that rainfall erosivity (R factor) will increase under all Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios. The highest amount of R was 40.6 MJ mm ha−1 h−1y−1 in 2030 under RPC 2.6. Future land use/land cover showed rangelands turning into agricultural lands, vegetation cover degradation and an increased soil cover among others. The change of C and R factors represented most of the increase of soil erosion and sediment production in the study area during the future period. The highest erosion during the future period was predicted to reach 14.5 t ha−1 y−1, which will generate 5.52 t ha−1 y−1 sediment. The difference between estimated and observed sediment was 1.42 t ha−1 year−1 at the baseline period. Among the soil erosion factors, soil cover (C factor) is the one that watershed managers could influence most in order to reduce soil loss and alleviate the negative effects of climate change.

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Effects of climate change and land management on soil organic carbon dynamics and carbon leaching in northwestern Europe

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-13-1519-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 1519-1536 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Maria Stergiadi ◽

Marcel van der Perk ◽

Ton C. M. de Nijs ◽

Marc F. P. Bierkens

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Land Management ◽

Arable Land ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Century Model ◽

Precipitation Effect ◽

Land Use Types

Abstract. Climate change and land management practices are projected to significantly affect soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leaching from soils. In this modelling study, we adopted the Century model to simulate past (1906–2012), present, and future (2013–2100) SOC and DOC levels for sandy and loamy soils typical of northwestern European conditions under three land use types (forest, grassland, and arable land) and several future scenarios addressing climate change and land management change. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the Century model has been applied to assess the effects of climate change and land management on DOC concentrations and leaching rates, which, in combination with SOC, play a major role in metal transport through soil. The simulated current SOC levels were generally in line with the observed values for the different kinds of soil and land use types. The climate change scenarios result in a decrease in both SOC and DOC for the agricultural systems, whereas for the forest systems, SOC is projected to slightly increase and DOC to decrease. An analysis of the sole effects of changes in temperature and changes in precipitation showed that, for SOC, the temperature effect predominates over the precipitation effect, whereas for DOC the precipitation effect is more prominent. A reduction in the application rates of fertilisers under the land management scenario leads to a decrease in the SOC stocks and the DOC leaching rates for the arable land systems, but it has a negligible effect on SOC and DOC levels for the grassland systems. Our study demonstrated the ability of the Century model to simulate climate change and agricultural management effects on SOC dynamics and DOC leaching, providing a robust tool for the assessment of carbon sequestration and the implications for contaminant transport in soils.

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A global overview of studies about land management, land‐use change, and climate change effects on soil organic carbon

Global Change Biology ◽

10.1111/gcb.15998 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Damien Beillouin ◽

Rémi Cardinael ◽

David Berre ◽

Annie Boyer ◽

Marc Corbeels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Land Management ◽

Climate Change Effects

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Modelling and mapping soil organic carbon stocks under future climate change in south-eastern Australia

Geoderma ◽

10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115442 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 405 ◽

pp. 115442

Author(s):

Bin Wang ◽

Jonathan M. Gray ◽

Cathy M. Waters ◽

Muhuddin Rajin Anwar ◽

Susan E. Orgill ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Future Climate ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

South Eastern ◽

Soil Organic Carbon Stocks ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

South Eastern Australia

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The Effect of Land Use Change on Transformation of Relief and Modification of Soils in Undulating Loess Area of East Poland

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2014/341804 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jerzy Rejman ◽

Anna Rafalska-Przysucha ◽

Jan Rodzik

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Texture ◽

Arable Land ◽

Primary Forest ◽

Loess Area ◽

Land Use Structure ◽

Arable Land Use

The change of primary forest areas into arable land involves the transformation of relief and modification of soils. In this study, we hypothesized that relatively flat loess area was largely transformed after the change of land use due to erosion. The modifications in soil pedons and distribution of soil properties were studied after 185 years of arable land use. Structure of pedons and solum depth were measured in 128 and soil texture and soil organic carbon in 39 points. Results showed that soils of noneroded and eroded profiles occupied 14 and 50%, respectively, and depositional soils 36% of the area. As a consequence, the clay, silt, and SOC concentration varied greatly in the plowed layer and subsoil. The reconstructed profiles of eroded soils and depositional soils without the accumulation were used to develop the map of past relief. The average inclination of slopes decreased from 4.3 to 2.2°, and slopes >5° vanished in the present topography. Total erosion was 23.8 Mg ha−1 year−1. From that amount, 88% was deposited within the study area, and 12% was removed outside. The study confirmed the hypothesis of the significant effect of the land use change on relief and soils in loess areas.

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