scholarly journals Short-term impact of crop diversification on soil carbon fluxes and balance in rainfed and irrigated woody cropping systems under semiarid Mediterranean conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Martínez-Mena ◽  
Carolina Boix-Fayos ◽  
Efrain Carrillo-López ◽  
Elvira Díaz-Pereira ◽  
Raúl Zornoza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Crop Diversification ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil C Balance ◽  
Woody Crop ◽  
Change Mitigation

Abstract Purpose Diversification practices such as intercropping in woody cropping systems have recently been proposed as a promising management strategy for addressing problems related to soil degradation, climate change mitigation and food security. In this study, we assess the impact of several diversification practices in different management regimes on the main carbon fluxes regulating the soil carbon balance under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. Methods The study was conducted in two nearby cropping systems: (i) a low input rainfed almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) orchard cultivated on terraces and (ii) a levelled intensively irrigated mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) orchard with a street-ridge morphology. The almond trees were intercropped with Capparis spinosa or with Thymus hyemalis While the mandarin trees were intercropped with a mixture of barley and vetch followed by fava bean. Changes caused by crop diversifications on C inputs into the soil and C outputs from the soil were estimated. Results Crop diversification did not affect soil organic carbon stocks but did affect the carbon inputs and outputs regulating the soil carbon balance of above Mediterranean agroecosystems. Crop diversification with perennials in the low-input rainfed woody crop system significantly improved the annual soil C balance in the short-term. However, crop diversification with annual species in the intensively managed woody crop system had not effect on the annual soil C balance. Conclusions Our results highlight the potential of intercropping with perennials in rainfed woody crop systems for climate change mitigation through soil carbon sequestration.

Changes in soil carbon under long-term maize in monoculture and legume-based rotation

2001 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
E G Gregorich ◽  
C F Drury ◽  
J A Baldock
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Natural Abundance ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Soil C

Legume-based cropping systems could help to increase crop productivity and soil organic matter levels, thereby enhancing soil quality, as well as having the additional benefit of sequestering atmospheric C. To evaluate the effects of 35 yr of maize monoculture and legume-based cropping on soil C levels and residue retention, we measured organic C and 13C natural abundance in soils under: fertilized and unfertilized maize (Zea mays L.), both in monoculture and legume-based [maize-oat (Avena sativa L.)-alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-alfalfa] rotations; fertilized and unfertilized systems of continuous grass (Poa pratensis L.); and under forest. Solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to chemically characterize the organic matter in plant residues and soils. Soils (70-cm depth) under maize cropping had about 30-40% less C, and those under continuous grass had about 16% less C, than those under adjacent forest. Qualitative differences in crop residues were important in these systems, because quantitative differences in net primary productivity and C inputs in the different agroecosystems did not account for observed differences in total soil C. Cropping sequence (i.e., rotation or monoculture) had a greater effect on soil C levels than application of fertilizer. The difference in soil C levels between rotation and monoculture maize systems was about 20 Mg C ha-1. The effects of fertilization on soil C were small (~6 Mg C ha-1), and differences were observed only in the monoculture system. The NMR results suggest that the chemical composition of organic matter was little affected by the nature of crop residues returned to the soil. The total quantity of maize-derived soil C was different in each system, because the quantity of maize residue returned to the soil was different; hence the maize-derived soil C ranged from 23 Mg ha-1 in the fertilized and 14 Mg ha-1 in the unfertilized monoculture soils (i.e., after 35 maize crops) to 6-7 Mg ha-1 in both the fertilized and unfertilized legume-based rotation soils (i.e., after eight maize crops). The proportion of maize residue C returned to the soil and retained as soil organic C (i.e., Mg maize-derived soil C/Mg maize residue) was about 14% for all maize cropping systems. The quantity of C3-C below the plow layer in legume-based rotation was 40% greater than that in monoculture and about the same as that under either continuous grass or forest. The soil organic matter below the plow layer in soil under the legume-based rotation appeared to be in a more biologically resistant form (i.e., higher aromatic C content) compared with that under monoculture. The retention of maize residue C as soil organic matter was four to five times greater below the plow layer than that within the plow layer. We conclude that residue quality plays a key role in increasing the retention of soil C in agroecosystems and that soils under legume-based rotation tend to be more “preservative” of residue C inputs, particularly from root inputs, than soils under monoculture. Key words: Soil carbon, 13C natural abundance, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, maize cropping, legumes, root carbon

scholarly journals Soil Carbon Transitions Supporting Climate Change Mitigation

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Kurniatun Hairiah
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Soil Carbon Storage ◽  
Soil Carbon Stocks ◽  
Supporting Soil ◽  
Change Mitigation

Maintaining and where feasible restoring soil carbon stocks is part of all sustainable development strategies that have a chance of meeting the global commitment of the Paris Agreement to contain global warming within a 1.5<sup>o</sup>C limit. Active policies to incentivize increased soil carbon storage require under­standing of the drivers of soil carbon decline, as well as the conditions under which soil management leads to an increase. Soil carbon transitions -- shifts from decline to increase of soil carbon stocks -- have been recorded as part of agricultural intensification. Organic inputs supporting soil carbon may primarily depend on roots, rather than aboveground inputs, and thus on the choice of crops, trees, and grasses that make up an agricultural land use system.

scholarly journals Result-oriented Agri-Environmental Climate Schemes as a means of promoting climate change mitigation in olive growing

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Colombo ◽  
Beatriz Rocamora-Montiel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Mitigation Potential ◽  
Hybrid Governance ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
Oriented Approach

The climate change mitigation potential of olive farming has been widely acknowledged. It has particular relevance in regions such as Andalusia (southern Spain) where olive growing is a key land use activity with significant social, economic and environmental implications. This potential of olive farming, however, is not adequately embodied in current Agri-Environmental Climate Schemes (AECS), which often fail to deliver the expected outcomes. The present article proposes an alternative strategy based on a result-oriented approach to AECS for enhancing soil carbon sequestration in Andalusian olive growing. After reviewing the current legal and institutional situation which forbids the wide application of result-oriented agri-environmental schemes, we suggest the use of alternative territorial governance arrangements, such as hybrid governance structures (HGS), as a framework to support the implementation of a result-oriented approach in the specific case of olive growing. Results indicate that the application of HGS can provide valuable benefits in terms of soil carbon storage. The information provided may be useful in the proposed new legislative framework, at both European and regional level, to promote more sustainable farming systems.

Limited influence of climate change mitigation on short-term glacier mass loss

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Marzeion ◽  
Georg Kaser ◽  
Fabien Maussion ◽  
Nicolas Champollion
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Change Mitigation

Quantifying the short-term contribution of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) to soil carbon using 13C natural abundance technique in a sandy loam soil in eastern Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-221
Author(s):  
Mehdi Sharifi ◽  
Derek Lynch ◽  
David L. Burton ◽  
Yousef A. Papadopoulos ◽  
Michael Main
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Panicum Virgatum ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
13C Natural Abundance ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Panicum Virgatum L ◽  
Loam Soil

The soil carbon (C) accumulation rate was determined for switchgrass, as compared with selected C3 species in Nova Scotia, Canada. There was no significant effect of crops on total soil C retention, whereas soil 13C signature (δ13C) was enriched by 0.4‰ in switchgrass relative to other C3 species, and C accumulation rate was 0.06 Mg ha−1 yr−1 in the top 30 cm of soil.

Biochar use for climate-change mitigation in rice cropping systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammadi ◽  
Annette Cowie ◽  
Thi Lan Anh Mai ◽  
Ruy Anaya de la Rosa ◽  
Paul Kristiansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Rice Cropping Systems ◽  
Change Mitigation
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