Conservation agriculture increases soil organic carbon and residual water content in upland crop production systems

Enhancement of terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration on marginal lands in Canada using bioenergy crops has been proposed. However, factors influencing system-level C gain (SLCG) potentials of maturing bioenergy cropping systems, including belowground biomass C and soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation, are not well documented. This study, therefore, quantified the long-term C sequestration potentials at the system-level in nine-year-old (2009–2018) woody (poplar clone 2293–29 (Populus spp.), hybrid willow clone SX-67 (Salix miyabeana)), and herbaceous (miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus var. Nagara), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)) bioenergy crop production systems on marginal lands in Southern Ontario, Canada. Results showed that woody cropping systems had significantly higher aboveground biomass C stock of 10.02 compared to 7.65 Mg C ha−1 in herbaceous cropping systems, although their belowground biomass C was not significantly different. Woody crops and switchgrass were able to increase SOC significantly over the tested period. However, when long term soil organic carbon (∆SOC) gains were compared, woody and herbaceous biomass crops gained 11.0 and 9.8 Mg C ha−1, respectively, which were not statistically different. Results also indicate a significantly higher total C pool [aboveground + belowground + soil organic carbon] in the willow (103 Mg ha−1) biomass system compared to other bioenergy crops. In the nine-year study period, woody crops had only 1.35 Mg C ha−1 more SLCG, suggesting that the influence of woody and herbaceous biomass crops on SLCG and ∆SOC sequestrations were similar. Further, among all tested biomass crops, willow had the highest annual SLCG of 1.66 Mg C ha−1 y−1.

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Soil organic carbon, physical fractions of the macro-organic matter, and soil stability relationship in lacustrine soils under banana crop

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0254121 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0254121

Author(s):

Tatiana Rondon ◽

Rosa Mary Hernandez ◽

Manuel Guzman

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Agronomic Traits ◽

Soil Aggregates ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Organic Fertilizers ◽

Plant Soil

Banana is a staple food and a major export commodity in the tropics. However, banana production systems are affected by the plant-soil relationships, where properties such as quality and quantity of soil organic matter play an important role in the dynamics of soil physical properties. In order to evaluate the effect of the soil organic carbon (SOC) content and its distribution in the water-stable of soil aggregates (WAS), and the physical fractions of the macro-organic matter, a study was conducted in lacustrine soils under Banana cv. ʻGrand Nainʼ in Venezuela. Soil sampling was carried out in two batches differentiated by their textural class and crop production. A completely randomized design under a directed random sampling technique was carried out. In each condition, 12 composite samples were taken at depths 0–5 and 5–10 cm, respectively. WAS were separated into micro (< 250 μm) and macroaggregates (> 250 μm). Also, physical fractionation by size-density of the macro-organic matter into light (LF), intermediate (IF), and heavy (HF) fraction using a silica gel solution, and SOC, were determined and correlated with banana yield and other agronomic traits. A major proportion of aggregates > 250 μm were found in both conditions and depths. Organic Carbon within soil aggregates ranged between 29.7 and 35.3 g kg-1. The HF was superior to IF and LF; however, its C content was higher in the LF. The results allow inferring that the stability conferred to these soils is primarily associated with the presence of the snail, which shares the same size as the aggregates studied. High yields are associated with high C content in stable aggregates, as well as in the most labile fractions of macro-organic matter. These results highlight the importance of the use of organic fertilizers less recalcitrant as a strategy for sustainable management of banana cultivation.

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Estimating residual water content in air-dried soil from organic carbon and clay content

Soil and Tillage Research ◽

10.1016/j.still.2014.09.021 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 145 ◽

pp. 181-183 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Christopher Poeplau ◽

Jan Eriksson ◽

Thomas Kätterer

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Water Content ◽

Clay Content ◽

Residual Water ◽

Residual Water Content

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Physical definition of residual water content in unsaturated soils

Unsaturated Soils for Asia ◽

10.1201/9781003078616-10 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 91-93

Author(s):

T. Aoda

Keyword(s):

Water Content ◽

Unsaturated Soils ◽

Residual Water ◽

Residual Water Content ◽

Definition Of

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Determination of Residual Water Content in Unconventional Low-Permeable Oil Reservoirs on the Example of the Bazhenov Formation

10.3997/2214-4609.201900486 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

E.S. Kazak ◽

A.V. Kazak ◽

M.Y. Spasennykh

Keyword(s):

Water Content ◽

Oil Reservoirs ◽

Residual Water ◽

Bazhenov Formation ◽

Residual Water Content

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Laboratory test investigations on soil water characteristic curve and air permeability of municipal solid waste

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x18766223 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (5) ◽

pp. 463-470 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jianyong Shi ◽

Xun Wu ◽

Yingbo Ai ◽

Zhen Zhang

Keyword(s):

Municipal Solid Waste ◽

Solid Waste ◽

Water Content ◽

Permeability Coefficient ◽

Inflection Point ◽

Void Ratio ◽

Characteristic Curve ◽

Air Permeability ◽

Residual Water ◽

Residual Water Content

The air permeability coefficient has a high correlation with the water content of municipal solid waste. In this study, continuous drying methodology using a tension meter was employed to construct the soil water characteristic curve of municipal solid waste (M-SWCC). The municipal solid waste air permeability test was conducted by a newly designed apparatus. The measured M-SWCC was well reproduced by the van Genuchten (V-G) model and was used to predict the parameters of typical points in M-SWCC, including saturated water content, field capacity, residual water content and water content at the inflection point. It was found that the M-SWCC was significantly influenced by void ratio. The final evaporation and test period of M-SWCC increase with the increase in void ratio of municipal solid waste. The evolution of air permeability coefficient with water content of municipal solid waste depicted three distinct characteristic stages. It was observed that the water contents that corresponded to the two cut-off points of the three stages were residual water content and water content at the inflection point, respectively. The air permeability coefficient of municipal solid waste decreased with the increase of the water content from zero to the residual water content. The air permeability coefficient was almost invariable when the water content increased from residual water content to the water content at the inflection point. When the water content of municipal solid waste exceeded the water content at the inflection point, the air permeability coefficient sharply decreased with the increase of water content.

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Leveraging drought risk reduction for sustainable food, soil and climate via soil organic carbon sequestration

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-55835-y ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Toshichika Iizumi ◽

Rota Wagai

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Drought Tolerance ◽

Food Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Agricultural Drought ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Drought Risk ◽

Organic Carbon Content ◽

Economic Output

AbstractDrought is a major risk in global agriculture. Building-up soil organic carbon (SOC) enhances soil fertility and efficient use of rainwater, which can increase drought tolerance in food production. SOC management demonstrates its benefit at various locations and is a promising means to achieve food security and climate mitigation at once. However, no global assessment of its potential and co-benefits gained from SOC enhancement has been presented. Here we evaluated the extent to which SOC build-up could reduce agricultural drought risk. Using statistical analysis of spatially-explicit global crop and soil datasets, we find that relatively small enhancement in topsoil (0–30 cm) organic carbon content (OCtop) could increase drought tolerance of the food production systems operating over 70% of the global harvested area (particularly drylands). By closing the gap between current and upper limit of tolerance levels through SOC addition of 4.87 GtC at the global scale, farmer’s economic output in drought years would increase by ~16%. This level of SOC increase has co-benefit of reducing global decadal mean temperature warming by 0.011 °C. Our findings highlight that progress towards multiple development goals can be leveraged by SOC enhancement in carbon (C)-poor soils in drier regions around the world.

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