Soil CO2–C flux and carbon storage in the dry tropics: Impact of land-use change involving bioenergy crop plantation

Land‐use change can have a major impact on soil properties, leading to long‐term changes in soilnutrient cycling rates and carbon storage. While a substantial amount of research has been conducted onland‐use change in tropical regions, empirical evidence of long‐term conversion of forested land toagricultural land in North America is lacking. Pervasive deforestation for the sake of agriculturethroughout much of North America is likely to have modified soil properties, with implications for theglobal climate. Here, we examined the response of physical, chemical and biological soil properties toconversion of forest to agricultural land (100 years ago) on Roebuck Farm near Perth, Ontario, Canada.Soil samples were collected at three sites from under forest and agricultural vegetative cover on bothhigh‐ and low‐lying topographic positions (12 locations in total; soil profile sampled to a depth of 40cm).Our results revealed that bulk density, pH, and nitrate concentrations were all higher in soils collectedfrom cultivate sites. In contrast, samples from forested sites exhibited greater water‐holding capacity,porosity, organic matter content, ammonia concentrations and cation exchange capacity. Many of these characteristics are linked to greater organic matter abundance and diversity in soils under forestvegetation as compared with agricultural soils. Microbial activity and Q10 values were also higher in theforest soils. While soil properties in the forest were fairly similar across topographic gradients, low‐lyingpositions under agricultural regions had higher bulk density and organic matter content than upslopepositions, suggesting significant movement of material along topographic gradients. Differences in soilproperties are attributed largely to increased compaction and loss of organic matter inputs in theagricultural system. Our results suggest that the conversion of forested land cover to agriculture landcover reduces soil quality and carbon storage, alters long‐term site productivity, and contributes toincreased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

Download Full-text

Future Impacts of Land Use Change on Ecosystem Services under Different Scenarios in the Ecological Conservation Area, Beijing, China

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11050584 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 584 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Zuzheng Li ◽

Xiaoqin Cheng ◽

Hairong Han

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Soil Conservation ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Ecological Conservation ◽

Flood Regulation

Ecosystem services (ES), defined as benefits provided by the ecosystem to society, are essential to human well-being. However, it remains unclear how they will be affected by land-use changes due to lack of knowledge and data gaps. Therefore, understanding the response mechanism of ecosystem services to land-use change is critical for developing systematic and sound land planning. In this study, we aimed to explore the impacts of land-use change on the three ecosystem services, carbon storage (CS), flood regulation (FR), and soil conservation (SC), in the ecological conservation area of Beijing, China. We first projected land-use changes from 2015 to 2030, under three scenarios, i.e., Business as Usual (BAU), Ecological Land Protection (ELP), and Rapid Economic Development (RED), by interactively integrating the Markov model (Quantitative simulation) with the GeoSOS-FLUS model (Spatial arrangement), and then quantified the three ecosystem services by using a spatially explicit InVEST model. The results showed that built-up land would have the most remarkable growth during 2015–2030 under the RED scenario (2.52% increase) at the expense of cultivated and water body, while forest land is predicted to increase by 152.38 km2 (1.36% increase) under the ELP scenario. The ELP scenario would have the highest amount of carbon storage, flood regulation, and soil conservation, due to the strict protection policy on ecological land. The RED scenario, in which a certain amount of cultivated land, water body, and forest land is converted to built-up land, promotes soil conservation but triggers greater loss of carbon storage and flood regulation capacity. The conversion between land-use types will affect trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services, in which carbon storage would show significant positive correlation with soil conservation through the period of 2015 to 2030, under all scenarios. Together, our results provide a quantitative scientific report that policymakers and land managers can use to identify and prioritize the best practices to sustain ecosystem services, by balancing the trade-offs among services.

Download Full-text

Ecosystem carbon storage under different scenarios of land use change in Qihe catchment, China

Journal of Geographical Sciences ◽

10.1007/s11442-020-1796-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (9) ◽

pp. 1507-1522

Author(s):

Wenbo Zhu ◽

Jingjing Zhang ◽

Yaoping Cui ◽

Lianqi Zhu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Ecosystem Carbon

Download Full-text

Responses of seasonal and diurnal soil CO2 effluxes to land-use change from paddy fields to Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) stands

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.011 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 77 ◽

pp. 856-864 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Tao Zhang ◽

Yongfu Li ◽

Scott X. Chang ◽

Peikun Jiang ◽

Guomo Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Paddy Fields ◽

Soil Co2 ◽

Phyllostachys Praecox

Download Full-text

Seasonal soil CO2 efflux dynamics after land use change from a natural forest to Moso bamboo plantations in subtropical China

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2011.06.015 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 262 (6) ◽

pp. 1131-1137 ◽

Cited By ~ 97

Author(s):

Juan Liu ◽

Peikun Jiang ◽

Hailong Wang ◽

Guomo Zhou ◽

Jiasen Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Co2 Efflux ◽

Natural Forest ◽

Moso Bamboo ◽

Co2 Efflux ◽

Soil Co2 ◽

Subtropical China

Download Full-text

Soil carbon storage in plantation forests and pastures: land-use change implications

Tellus B ◽

10.1034/j.1600-0889.1999.00015.x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 326-335 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

NEAL A. SCOTT ◽

KEVIN R. TATE ◽

JUSTIN FORD-ROBERTSON ◽

DAVID J. GILTRAP ◽

C. TATTERSALL SMITH

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Soil Carbon Storage ◽

Plantation Forests

Download Full-text

Land use change and the impact on greenhouse gas exchange in north Australian savanna soils

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-8-9087-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 9087-9123 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. P. P. Grover ◽

S. J. Livesley ◽

L. B. Hutley ◽

H. Jamali ◽

B. Fest ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Water Content ◽

Soil Water Content ◽

Co2 Fluxes ◽

Soil Co2 ◽

Gas Fluxes ◽

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes

Abstract. Savanna ecosystems are subject to accelerating land use change as human demand for food and forest products increases. Land use change has been shown to both increase and decrease greenhouse gas fluxes from savannas and considerable uncertainty exists about the non-CO2 fluxes from the soil. We measured methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2) over a complete wet-dry seasonal cycle at three replicated sites of each of three land uses: savanna, young pasture and old pasture (converted from savanna 5–7 and 25–30 yr ago, respectively) in the Douglas Daly region of northern Australia. The effect of break of season rains at the end of the dry season was investigated with two irrigation experiments. Land use change from savanna to pasture increased net greenhouse gas fluxes from the soil. Pasture sites were a weaker sink for CH4 than savanna sites and, under wet conditions, old pastures turned from being sinks to a significant source of CH4. Nitrous oxide emissions were generally very low, in the range of 0 to 5 μg N2O-N m−2 h−1, and under dry conditions soil uptake of N2O was apparent. Break of season rains produced a small, short lived pulse of N2O up to 20 μg N2O-N m−2 h−1, most evident in pasture soil. Annual cumulative soil CO2 fluxes increased after clearing, with savanna (14.6 t CO2-C ha−1 yr−1) having the lowest fluxes compared to old pasture (18.5 t CO2-C ha−1 yr−1) and young pasture (20.0 t CO2-C ha−1 yr−1). Clearing savanna increased soil-based greenhouse gas emissions from 53 to ~70 t CO2-equivalents, a 30% increase dominated by an increase in soil CO2 emissions and shift from soil CH4 sink to source. Seasonal variation was clearly driven by soil water content, supporting the emerging view that soil water content is a more important driver of soil gas fluxes than soil temperature in tropical ecosystems where temperature varies little among seasons.

Download Full-text

The quantitative estimation of forest carbon storage and its response to land use change in Fuzhou, China

Acta Ecologica Sinica ◽

10.5846/stxb201502110337 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 (17) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

陆君 LU Jun ◽

刘亚风 LIU Yafeng ◽

齐珂 QI Ke ◽

樊正球 FAN Zhengqiu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Quantitative Estimation ◽

Forest Carbon ◽

Forest Carbon Storage

Download Full-text

Land use change and the impact on greenhouse gas exchange in north Australian savanna soils

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-9-423-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 423-437 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

S. P. P. Grover ◽

S. J. Livesley ◽

L. B. Hutley ◽

H. Jamali ◽

B. Fest ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Water Content ◽

Soil Water Content ◽

Co2 Fluxes ◽

Soil Co2 ◽

Gas Fluxes ◽

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes

Abstract. Savanna ecosystems are subjected to accelerating land use change as human demand for food and forest products increases. Land use change has been shown to both increase and decrease greenhouse gas fluxes from savannas and considerable uncertainty exists about the non-CO2 fluxes from the soil. We measured methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) over a complete wet-dry seasonal cycle at three replicate sites of each of three land uses: savanna, young pasture and old pasture (converted from savanna 5–7 and 25–30 yr ago, respectively) in the Douglas Daly region of Northern Australia. The effect of break of season rains at the end of the dry season was investigated with two irrigation experiments. Land use change from savanna to pasture increased net greenhouse gas fluxes from the soil. Pasture sites were a weaker sink for CH4 than savanna sites and, under wet conditions, old pastures turned from being sinks to a significant source of CH4. Nitrous oxide emissions were generally very low, in the range of 0 to 5 μg N2O-N m−2 h−1, and under dry conditions soil uptake of N2O was apparent. Break of season rains produced a small, short lived pulse of N2O up to 20 μg N2O-N m−2 h−1, most evident in pasture soil. Annual cumulative soil CO2 fluxes increased after clearing, with savanna (14.6 t CO2-C ha−1 yr−1) having the lowest fluxes compared to old pasture (18.5 t CO2-C ha−1 yr−1) and young pasture (20.0 t CO2-C ha−1 yr−1). Clearing savanna increased soil-based greenhouse gas emissions from 53 to ∼ 70 t CO2-equivalents, a 30% increase dominated by an increase in soil CO2 emissions and shift from soil CH4 sink to source. Seasonal variation was clearly driven by soil water content, supporting the emerging view that soil water content is a more important driver of soil gas fluxes than soil temperature in tropical ecosystems where temperature varies little among seasons.

Download Full-text