Soil carbon stocks and dynamics of different land uses in Italy using the LUCAS soil database

The largest and most dynamic agricultural frontier in Brazil is known as MATOPIBA, an area that covers part of the Cerrado biome. Within this region, Western Bahia stands out as a large producer of soy and cotton. There are no studies that quantify carbon stocks for different land uses and land cover types in Western Bahia, which hinders comprehension of the role of agricultural expansion in carbon dynamics and the development of sustainable agriculture policies. Here, we evaluate how the land use changes in this region have affected the carbon balance in the aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), and soil reservoirs. We collected soil samples for areas with different land uses and land cover types to estimate soil carbon stocks (SCS) and combined remote sensing results and modeling techniques to develop a historical reconstruction of spatial patterns of SCS, AGB, and BGB during the period 1990–2018. The replacement of areas from the forest formations class with pasture and rainfed agriculture reduced the 100 cm depth SCS (SCS100) by 37.3% (p = 0.031) and 30.3% (p = 0.053), respectively. By contrast, the conversion of pasture and rainfed agriculture to irrigated agriculture increased SCS100 by 34% (p = 0.034) and 26.5% (p = 0.022), respectively. Spatial changes in historical carbon stocks are strongly associated with land use changes that occurred between 1990 and 2018. We estimated a non-significant loss of 61.9 Tg-C (p = 0.726) from the total carbon stocks (calculated as the sum of AGB, BGB, and SCS) of which 80% of the losses came from soil stocks, 11% from BGB, and 8% from AGB. These findings reveal the need to monitor carbon stocks in sandy soils to reduce the uncertainties of estimates and support the development of effective sustainable agriculture policies. The best alternatives for reducing carbon losses in the Cerrado are to maintain natural forest cover and to recover soils through sustainable soil management, especially in pasturelands where soil carbon stocks are lowest.

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Soil carbon stocks under different land uses and the applicability of the soil carbon saturation concept

Soil and Tillage Research ◽

10.1016/j.still.2018.11.001 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 188 ◽

pp. 53-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Songchao Chen ◽

Dominique Arrouays ◽

Denis A. Angers ◽

Manuel P. Martin ◽

Christian Walter

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Land Uses ◽

Carbon Saturation ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

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Causes of variation in soil carbon predictions from CMIP5 Earth system models and comparison with observations

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-9-14437-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 14437-14473 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

K. E. O. Todd-Brown ◽

J. T. Randerson ◽

W. M. Post ◽

F. M. Hoffman ◽

C. Tarnocai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Net Primary Productivity ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Earth System ◽

System Models ◽

Soil Database ◽

Empirical Estimates ◽

Global Soil ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks ◽

Earth System Models

Abstract. Stocks of soil organic carbon represent a large component of the carbon cycle that may participate in climate change feedbacks, particularly on decadal and century scales. For Earth system models (ESMs), the ability to accurately represent the global distribution of existing soil carbon stocks is a prerequisite for predicting future carbon-climate feedbacks. We compared soil carbon predictions from 16 ESMs to empirical data from the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD) and Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD). Model estimates of global soil carbon stocks ranged from 510 to 3050 Pg C, compared to an estimate of 890–1660 Pg C from the HWSD. Model predictions for the high latitudes fell between 60 and 800 Pg C, compared to 380–620 Pg C from the NCSCD and 290 Pg C from the HWSD. This 5.3-fold variation in global soil carbon across models compared to a 3.4-fold variation in net primary productivity (NPP) and a 3.8-fold variation in global soil carbon turnover times. The spatial distribution of soil carbon predicted by the ESMs was not well correlated with the HWSD (Pearson's correlations < 0.4, RMSE 9.4 to 22.8 kg C m−2), although model-data agreement generally improved at the biome scale. There was poor agreement between the HWSD and NCSCD datasets in northern latitudes (Pearson's correlation = 0.33), indicating uncertainty in empirical estimates of soil carbon. We found that a reduced complexity model dependent on NPP and soil temperature explained most of the spatial variation in soil carbon predicted by most ESMs (R2 values between 0.73 and 0.93). This result suggests that differences in soil carbon predictions between ESMs are driven primarily by differences in predicted NPP and the parameterization of soil carbon responses to NPP and temperature not by structural differences between the models. Future work should focus on accurately representing these driving variables and modifying model structure to include additional processes.

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Predicted consequences of increased rainfall variability on soil carbon stocks in a semiarid environment

Climate Research ◽

10.3354/cr01356 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 67 (1) ◽

pp. 61-69

Author(s):

M Forouzangohar ◽

R Setia ◽

DD Wallace ◽

CR Nitschke ◽

LT Bennett

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Rainfall Variability ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Semiarid Environment ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

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Changes in soil carbon stocks under plantation systems and natural forests in Northeast India

Ecological Modelling ◽

10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109500 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 446 ◽

pp. 109500

Author(s):

Gaurav Mishra ◽

Avishek Sarkar ◽

Krishna Giri ◽

Arun Jyoti Nath ◽

Rattan Lal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Northeast India ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Natural Forests ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

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Erratum to “Soil carbon stocks in different bioenergy cropping systems including subsoil” [Soil Tillage Res. 155 (2016) 308–317]

Soil and Tillage Research ◽

10.1016/j.still.2015.12.009 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 158 ◽

pp. 186

Author(s):

Martin Gauder ◽

Norbert Billen ◽

Sabine Zikeli ◽

Moritz Laub ◽

Simone Graeff-Hönninger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Soil Tillage ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks ◽

Bioenergy Cropping Systems

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Crop rotation, tillage system, and precipitation regime effects on soil carbon stocks over 1 to 30 years in Saskatchewan, Canada

Soil and Tillage Research ◽

10.1016/j.still.2017.12.001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 177 ◽

pp. 97-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Émilie Maillard ◽

Brian G. McConkey ◽

Mervin St. Luce ◽

Denis A. Angers ◽

Jianling Fan

Keyword(s):

Soil Carbon ◽

Crop Rotation ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Precipitation Regime ◽

Tillage System ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

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Greater soil carbon stocks and faster turnover rates with increasing agricultural productivity

SOIL ◽

10.5194/soil-3-1-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Jonathan Sanderman ◽

Courtney Creamer ◽

W. Troy Baisden ◽

Mark Farrell ◽

Stewart Fallon

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Sugar Content ◽

Bulk Composition ◽

Agricultural Productivity ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Decay Rates ◽

Turnover Rates ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

Abstract. Devising agricultural management schemes that enhance food security and soil carbon levels is a high priority for many nations. However, the coupling between agricultural productivity, soil carbon stocks and organic matter turnover rates is still unclear. Archived soil samples from four decades of a long-term crop rotation trial were analyzed for soil organic matter (SOM) cycling-relevant properties: C and N content, bulk composition by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, amino sugar content, short-term C bioavailability assays, and long-term C turnover rates by modeling the incorporation of the bomb spike in atmospheric 14C into the soil. After > 40 years under consistent management, topsoil carbon stocks ranged from 14 to 33 Mg C ha−1 and were linearly related to the mean productivity of each treatment. Measurements of SOM composition demonstrated increasing amounts of plant- and microbially derived SOM along the productivity gradient. Under two modeling scenarios, radiocarbon data indicated overall SOM turnover time decreased from 40 to 13 years with increasing productivity – twice the rate of decline predicted from simple steady-state models or static three-pool decay rates of measured C pool distributions. Similarly, the half-life of synthetic root exudates decreased from 30.4 to 21.5 h with increasing productivity, indicating accelerated microbial activity. These findings suggest that there is a direct feedback between accelerated biological activity, carbon cycling rates and rates of carbon stabilization with important implications for how SOM dynamics are represented in models.

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Climate Change Impact on Soil Carbon Stocks in India

Soil and Climate ◽

10.1201/b21225-12 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 301-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tarik Mitran ◽

Rattan Lal ◽

Umakant Mishra ◽

Ram Swaroop Meena ◽

T. Ravisankar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Climate Change Impact ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks ◽

Change Impact

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The southern Brazilian grassland biome: soil carbon stocks, fluxes of greenhouse gases and some options for mitigation

Brazilian Journal of Biology ◽

10.1590/s1519-69842012000400006 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 72 (3 suppl) ◽

pp. 673-681 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

VD Pillar ◽

CG Tornquist ◽

C Bayer

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Soil Tillage ◽

Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gases Emissions ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks ◽

Grassland Biome

The southern Brazilian grassland biome contains highly diverse natural ecosystems that have been used for centuries for grazing livestock and that also provide other important environmental services. Here we outline the main factors controlling ecosystem processes, review and discuss the available data on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gases emissions from soils, and suggest opportunities for mitigation of climatic change. The research on carbon and greenhouse gases emissions in these ecosystems is recent and the results are still fragmented. The available data indicate that the southern Brazilian natural grassland ecosystems under adequate management contain important stocks of organic carbon in the soil, and therefore their conservation is relevant for the mitigation of climate change. Furthermore, these ecosystems show a great and rapid loss of soil organic carbon when converted to crops based on conventional tillage practices. However, in the already converted areas there is potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by using cropping systems based on no soil tillage and cover-crops, and the effect is mainly related to the potential of these crop systems to accumulate soil organic carbon in the soil at rates that surpass the increased soil nitrous oxide emissions. Further modelling with these results associated with geographic information systems could generate regional estimates of carbon balance.

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