Modeling the impact of agricultural land use and management on US carbon budgets

Abstract. Cultivation of the terrestrial land surface can create either a source or sink of atmospheric CO2, depending on land management practices. The Community Land Model (CLM) provides a useful tool for exploring how land use and management impact the soil carbon pool at regional to global scales. CLM was recently updated to include representation of managed lands growing maize, soybean, and spring wheat. In this study, CLM-Crop is used to investigate the impacts of various management practices, including fertilizer use and differential rates of crop residue removal, on the soil organic carbon (SOC) storage of croplands in the continental United States over approximately a 170-year period. Results indicate that total US SOC stocks have already lost over 8 Pg C (10%) due to land cultivation practices (e.g., fertilizer application, cultivar choice, and residue removal), compared to a land surface composed of native vegetation (i.e., grasslands). After long periods of cultivation, individual subgrids (the equivalent of a field plot) growing maize and soybean lost up to 65% of the carbon stored compared to a grassland site. Crop residue management showed the greatest effect on soil carbon storage, with low and medium residue returns resulting in additional losses of 5 and 3.5%, respectively, in US carbon storage, while plots with high residue returns stored 2% more carbon. Nitrogenous fertilizer can alter the amount of soil carbon stocks significantly. Under current levels of crop residue return, not applying fertilizer resulted in a 5% loss of soil carbon. Our simulations indicate that disturbance through cultivation will always result in a loss of soil carbon, and management practices will have a large influence on the magnitude of SOC loss.

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Modeling the impact of agricultural land use and management on US carbon budgets

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-11-13675-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 13675-13698 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

B. A. Drewniak ◽

U. Mishra ◽

J. Song ◽

J. Prell ◽

V. R. Kotamarthi

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Land Surface ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Management Practices ◽

Residue Removal ◽

Community Land Model ◽

Land Use And Management ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Cultivation of the terrestrial land surface can create either a source or sink of atmospheric CO2, depending on land management practices. The Community Land Model (CLM) provides a useful tool to explore how land use and management impact the soil carbon pool at regional to global scales. CLM was recently updated to include representation of managed lands growing maize, soybean, and spring wheat. In this study, CLM-Crop is used to investigate the impacts of various management practices, including fertilizer use and differential rates of crop residue removal, on the soil organic carbon (SOC) storage of croplands in the continental United States over approximately a 170 year period. Results indicate that total US SOC stocks have already lost over 8 Pg C (10%) due to land cultivation practices (e.g., fertilizer application, cultivar choice, and residue removal), compared to a land surface composed of native vegetation (i.e., grasslands). After long periods of cultivation, individual plots growing maize and soybean lost up to 65% of the carbon stored, compared to a grassland site. Crop residue management showed the greatest effect on soil carbon storage, with low and medium residue returns resulting in additional losses of 5% and 3.5%, respectively, in US carbon storage, while plots with high residue returns stored 2% more carbon. Nitrogenous fertilizer can alter the amount of soil carbon stocks significantly. Under current levels of crop residue return, not applying fertilizer resulted in a 5% loss of soil carbon. Our simulations indicate that disturbance through cultivation will always result in a loss of soil carbon, and management practices will have a large influence on the magnitude of SOC loss.

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Baseline-Dependent Responses of Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics to Climate and Land Disturbances

Applied and Environmental Soil Science ◽

10.1155/2013/206758 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Zhengxi Tan ◽

Shuguang Liu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Surface ◽

Management Practices ◽

C Sequestration ◽

The United States ◽

Natural Ecosystems ◽

Organic C ◽

Realistic Option ◽

Managed Ecosystems ◽

Land Use And Management

Terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration through optimizing land use and management is widely considered a realistic option to mitigate the global greenhouse effect. But how the responses of individual ecosystems to changes in land use and management are related to baseline soil organic C (SOC) levels still needs to be evaluated at various scales. In this study, we modeled SOC dynamics within both natural and managed ecosystems in North Dakota of the United States and found that the average SOC stock in the top 20 cm depth of soil lost at a rate of 450 kg C ha−1 yr−1in cropland and 110 kg C ha−1 yr−1in grassland between 1971 and 1998. Since 1998, the study area had become a SOC sink at a rate of 44 kg C ha−1 yr−1. The annual rate of SOC change in all types of lands substantially depends on the magnitude of initial SOC contents, but such dependency varies more with climatic variables within natural ecosystems and with management practices within managed ecosystems. Additionally, soils with high baseline SOC stocks tend to be C sources following any land surface disturbances, whereas soils having low baseline C contents likely become C sinks following conservation management.

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Modelling soil carbon stocks in semi-natural and agro-ecosystems – quantifying national scale impacts of the Anthropocene

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18355 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Victoria Janes-Bassett ◽

Jessica Davies ◽

Richard Bassett ◽

Dmitry Yumashev ◽

Ed Rowe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Nutrient Cycling ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Management Practices ◽

Carbon Stocks ◽

Soil Carbon Storage ◽

National Scale ◽

Soil Carbon Stocks

Throughout the Anthropocene, the conversion of land to agriculture and atmospheric deposition of nitrogen have resulted in significant changes to biogeochemical cycling, including soil carbon stocks. Quantifying these changes is complex due to a number of influential factors (including climate, land use management, soil type) and their interactions. As the largest terrestrial store of carbon, soils are a key component in climate regulation. In addition, soil carbon storage contributes to numerous ecosystem services including food provision. It is therefore imperative that we understand changes to soil carbon stocks, and provide effective strategies for their future management.Modelling soil systems provides a means to estimate changes to soil carbon stocks. Due to linkages between the carbon cycle and other major nutrient cycles (notably nitrogen and phosphorus which often limit the productivity of ecosystems), models of integrated nutrient cycling are required to understand the response of the carbon cycle to global pressures. Simulating the impacts of land use changes requires capacity to model both semi-natural and intensive agricultural systems.In this study, we have developed an integrated carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus model of semi-natural systems to include representation of both arable and grassland systems, and a range of agricultural management practices. The model is applicable to large spatial scales, as it uses readily available input data and does not require site-specific calibration. &#160;After being validated both spatially and temporally using data from long-term experimental sites across Northern-Europe, the model was applied at a national scale throughout the United Kingdom to assess the impacts of land use change and management practices during the last two centuries. Results indicate a decrease in soil carbon in areas of agricultural expansion, yet in areas of semi-natural land use, atmospheric deposition of nitrogen has resulted in increased net primary productivity and subsequently soil carbon. The results demonstrate anthropogenic impacts on long-term nutrient cycling and soil carbon storage, and the importance of integrated nutrient cycling within models.

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Land Use and Management Practices Impact on Plant Biomass Carbon and Soil Carbon Dioxide Emission

Soil Science Society of America Journal ◽

10.2136/sssaj2009.0447 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 74 (5) ◽

pp. 1613-1622 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Upendra M. Sainju ◽

William B. Stevens ◽

Thecan Caesar-TonThat ◽

Jalal D. Jabro

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Land Use ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Management Practices ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emission ◽

Biomass Carbon ◽

Soil Carbon Dioxide ◽

Land Use And Management

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Canadian agricultural land-use and land management data for Kyoto reporting

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/s05-103 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 86 (3) ◽

pp. 431-439 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

T. Huffman ◽

R. Ogston ◽

T. Fisette ◽

B. Daneshfar ◽

P-Y. Gasser, L. White ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Management ◽

Management Practices ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Data Sources ◽

Land Use And Management ◽

National Analysis ◽

The Impact

The land use and management data requirements for assessing, monitoring and reporting on the impact of agricultural production practices on the environment, especially in a country as large as Canada, are considerable. In view of the fact that environmental assessments are a relatively new phenomenon, data collection activities targeted toward these needs are not widespread. As a result, we find it necessary to acquire and integrate a variety of data sources with differing time lines, spatial scales and sampling frameworks. This paper uses our current activities with respect to Kyoto reporting as a focus to present and discuss the types of data required and the spatial analysis and integration procedures being developed to provide them. The essential data for this activity include the area of crop and land use types, land use changes since 1990, farm and land management practices and biomass production. The spatial framework selected for national analysis is the Soil Landscapes of Canada, and the primary existing data sources are the Census of Agriculture, sample-derived yield estimates and satellite-based land cover products. These are supplemented with detailed, multi-season, multi-year satellite image interpretations conducted at an ecologically and statistically stratified sample of sites across the country. The use of these data in preparing an account of greenhouse gas sources and sinks identified a number of gaps and problems, and a brief outline of future work designed to improve the data inputs is presented. Key words: Kyoto reporting, data integration, land use and management, greenhouse gases, carbon sequestration

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Land use change in the Ecuadorian páramo: The impact of expanding agriculture on soil carbon storage

Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research ◽

10.1080/15230430.2021.1873055 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 48-59

Author(s):

Jennifer B. Thompson ◽

Leo Zurita-Arthos ◽

Felix Müller ◽

Segundo Chimbolema ◽

Esteban Suárez

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Soil Carbon Storage ◽

The Impact

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Modelling Transport of Nitrogen Compounds in Geita Wetland along Mtakuja River

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology ◽

10.52339/tjet.v37i2.486 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 89-106

Author(s):

Ezrael J. Massawe ◽

Richard Kimwaga ◽

Fredrick Mwanuzi

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Management Practices ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Swat Model ◽

Nitrogen Loading ◽

Model Parameters ◽

Nitrogen Compounds ◽

Land Use And Management ◽

The Impact ◽

Monitoring Stations

The impacts of excessive nitrogen loading to streams in a watershed occur in the receiving waters such as rivers at the outlet of the watershed. To quantify the impacts of land use and management practices on the nitrogen loading at the watershed outlet, simulation models are needed that can both predict the nitrogen loading at the edge of individual fields and predict the fate of nitrogen as it moves through the river network to the watershed outlet. This paper presents the results of a model analysis for describing the processes governing transformations and transport of nitrogen compounds (NO3-N and NH4-N) through Mtakuja River in the Geita wetland. The model was made in Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a watershed model developed to assess the impact of land management practices on water, sediment and agricultural chemical yields with varying soils, land use and management conditions. Two monitoring stations namely MTSP1 and MTSP2 were established along Mtakuja River. A set of SWAT model inputs representative of the water conditions was collected from the established monitoring stations. The model was calibrated and validated for the prediction of flow and nitrogen compounds (NO3-N and NH4-N) transport, against a set of measured mean monthly monitoring data. Sensitive model parameters were adjusted within their feasible ranges during calibration to minimize model prediction errors. At the gauging station MTSP2, the calibration results showed that the model predicted mean monthly flow within 18% of the measured mean monthly flow with the r2 coefficient and Nash-Sutcliffe (NSE) were 0.84 and 0.82, respectively. At the water quality monitoring station MTSP2, the calibration results showed the model predicted nitrogen compounds (NO3-N and NH4-N) loadings within 21% and 23% of their respective measured mean monthly loadings. The mean monthly comparisons of r 2 values for nitrogen compounds ranged from 0.77 to 0.81 while the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) values were between 0.72 and 0.73. The model results and field measurements demonstrated that about 70% of the annual nitrogen compounds loadings which would otherwise reach Lake Victoria are retained in the wetland. The Mtakuja river model can therefore be used for prediction of nitrogen compounds (NO3-N and NH4-N) transformation processes in the Geita wetland.

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Modeling the Effects of Groundwater-Fed Irrigation on Terrestrial Hydrology over the Conterminous United States

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-13-049.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 957-972 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

Guoyong Leng ◽

Maoyi Huang ◽

Qiuhong Tang ◽

Huilin Gao ◽

L. Ruby Leung

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Surface Water ◽

Land Surface ◽

Management Practices ◽

Subsurface Water ◽

Groundwater Pumping ◽

Groundwater Exploitation ◽

Community Land Model ◽

Groundwater Aquifer ◽

The Impact

Abstract Human alteration of the land surface hydrologic cycle is substantial. Recent studies suggest that local water management practices including groundwater pumping and irrigation could significantly alter the quantity and distribution of water in the terrestrial system, with potential impacts on weather and climate through land–atmosphere feedbacks. In this study, the authors incorporated a groundwater withdrawal scheme into the Community Land Model, version 4 (CLM4). To simulate the impact of irrigation realistically, they calibrated the CLM4 simulated irrigation amount against observations from agriculture censuses at the county scale over the conterminous United States. The water used for irrigation was then removed from the surface runoff and groundwater aquifer according to a ratio determined from the county-level agricultural census data. On the basis of the simulations, the impact of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation on land surface and subsurface fluxes were investigated. The results suggest that the impacts of irrigation on latent heat flux and potential recharge when water is withdrawn from surface water alone or from both surface and groundwater are comparable and local to the irrigation areas. However, when water is withdrawn from groundwater for irrigation, greater effects on the subsurface water balance are found, leading to significant depletion of groundwater storage in regions with low recharge rate and high groundwater exploitation rate. The results underscore the importance of local hydrologic feedbacks in governing hydrologic response to anthropogenic change in CLM4 and the need to more realistically simulate the two-way interactions among surface water, groundwater, and atmosphere to better understand the impacts of groundwater pumping on irrigation efficiency and climate.

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