scholarly journals Organic carbon stocks in Mediterranean soil types under different land uses (Southern Spain)

Solid Earth ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Muñoz-Rojas ◽  
A. Jordán ◽  
L. M. Zavala ◽  
D. De la Rosa ◽  
S. K. Abd-Elmabod ◽  
...  

Abstract. Soil C sequestration through changes in land use and management is one of the sustainable and long-term strategies to mitigate climate change. This research explores and quantifies the role of soil and land use as determinants of the ability of soils to store C along Mediterranean systems. Detailed studies of soil organic C (SOC) dynamics are necessary in order to identify factors determining fluctuations and intensity of changes. In this study, SOC contents from different soil and land use types have been investigated in Andalusia (Southern Spain). We have used soil information from different databases, as well as land use digital maps, climate databases and digital elevation models. The average SOC content for each soil control section (0–25, 25–50 and 50–75 cm) was determined and SOC stocks were calculated for each combination of soil and land use type, using soil and land cover maps. The total organic C stocks in soils of Andalusia is 415 Tg for the upper 75 cm, with average values ranging from 15.9 Mg C ha−1 (Solonchaks under "arable land") to 107.6 Mg C ha−1 (Fluvisols from "wetlands"). Up to 55% of SOC accumulates in the top 25 cm of soil (229.7 Tg). This research constitutes a preliminary assessment for modelling SOC stock under scenarios of land use and climate change.

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1095-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Muñoz-Rojas ◽  
A. Jordán ◽  
L. M. Zavala ◽  
D. De la Rosa ◽  
S. K. Abd-Elmabod ◽  
...  

Abstract. Soil C sequestration through changes in land use and management is one of the sustainable and long-term strategies to mitigate climate change. This research explores and quantifies the role of soil and land use as determinants of the ability of soils to store C along Mediterranean systems. Detailed studies of soil organic C (SOC) dynamics are necessary in order to identify factors determining fluctuations and intensity of changes. In this study, SOC contents from different soil and land use types have been investigated in Andalusia (S Spain). We have used soil information from different databases, as well as land use digital maps, climate databases and digital elevation models. The average SOC content for each soil control section (0–25, 25–50 and 50–75 cm) was determined and SOC stocks were calculated for each combination of soil and land use type, using soil and land cover maps. The total organic C stock in soils of Andalusia is 415 Tg for the upper 75 cm, with average values ranging from 15.9 Mg C ha−1 (Solonchaks under "arable land") to 107.6 Mg C ha−1 (Fluvisols from "wetlands"). Up to 55% of SOC accumulates in the top 25 cm of soil (229.7 Tg). This research constitutes a preliminary assessment for modelling SOC stock under scenarios of land use and climate change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1834) ◽  
pp. 20210084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rattan Lal ◽  
Curtis Monger ◽  
Luke Nave ◽  
Pete Smith

The soil carbon (C) stock, comprising soil organic C (SOC) and soil inorganic C (SIC) and being the largest reservoir of the terrestrial biosphere, is a critical part of the global C cycle. Soil has been a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the dawn of settled agriculture about 10 millenia ago. Soils of agricultural ecosystems are depleted of their SOC stocks and the magnitude of depletion is greater in those prone to accelerated erosion by water and wind and other degradation processes. Adoption of judicious land use and science-based management practices can lead to re-carbonization of depleted soils and make them a sink for atmospheric C. Soils in humid climates have potential to increase storage of SOC and those in arid and semiarid climates have potential to store both SOC and SIC. Payments to land managers for sequestration of C in soil, based on credible measurement of changes in soil C stocks at farm or landscape levels, are also important for promoting adoption of recommended land use and management practices. In conjunction with a rapid and aggressive reduction in GHG emissions across all sectors of the economy, sequestration of C in soil (and vegetation) can be an important negative emissions method for limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2°C This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of soils in delivering Nature's Contributions to People’.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Andrea Osinaga ◽  
Carina Rosa Álvarez ◽  
Miguel Angel Taboada

Abstract. Abstract. The sub-humid Chaco region of Argentina, originally covered by dry sclerophyll forest, has been subjected to clearing since the end of the '70 and replacement of the forest by no till farming. Land use changes produced a decrease in aboveground carbon stored in forests, but little is known about the impact on soil organic C stocks. The aim of this study was to evaluate soil C stocks and C fractions up to 1 m depth in soils under different land use:  20 yr continuous cropping, warm season grass pasture and native forest in 32 sites distributed over the Chaco region. The organic C stock content up to 1 m depth expressed as equivalent mass varied as follows: forest (119.3 Mg ha−1) > pasture (87.9 Mg ha−1) > continuous cropping (71.9 and 77.3 Mg ha−1), with no impact of the number of years under cropping. The most sensitive organic carbon fraction was the coarse particle fraction (2000 μm–212 μm) at 0–5 cm and 5–20 cm depth layers. Resistant carbon (


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (11) ◽  
pp. 2776-2781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas E. Nave ◽  
Grant M. Domke ◽  
Kathryn L. Hofmeister ◽  
Umakant Mishra ◽  
Charles H. Perry ◽  
...  

Soils are Earth’s largest terrestrial carbon (C) pool, and their responsiveness to land use and management make them appealing targets for strategies to enhance C sequestration. Numerous studies have identified practices that increase soil C, but their inferences are often based on limited data extrapolated over large areas. Here, we combine 15,000 observations from two national-level databases with remote sensing information to address the impacts of reforestation on the sequestration of C in topsoils (uppermost mineral soil horizons). We quantify C stocks in cultivated, reforesting, and natural forest topsoils; rates of C accumulation in reforesting topsoils; and their contribution to the US forest C sink. Our results indicate that reforestation increases topsoil C storage, and that reforesting lands, currently occupying >500,000 km2 in the United States, will sequester a cumulative 1.3–2.1 Pg C within a century (13–21 Tg C·y−1). Annually, these C gains constitute 10% of the US forest sector C sink and offset 1% of all US greenhouse gas emissions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Abramoff ◽  
Bertrand Guenet ◽  
Haicheng Zhang ◽  
Katerina Georgiou ◽  
Xiaofeng Xu ◽  
...  

<p>Soil carbon (C) models are used to predict C sequestration responses to climate and land use change. Yet, the soil models embedded in Earth system models typically do not represent processes that reflect our current understanding of soil C cycling, such as microbial decomposition, mineral association, and aggregation. Rather, they rely on conceptual pools with turnover times that are fit to bulk C stocks and/or fluxes. As measurements of soil fractions become increasingly available, soil C models that represent these measurable quantities can be evaluated more accurately. Here we present Version 2 (V2) of the Millennial model, a soil model developed to simulate C pools that can be measured by extraction or fractionation, including particulate organic C, mineral-associated organic C, aggregate C, microbial biomass, and dissolved organic C. Model processes have been updated to reflect the current understanding of mineral-association, temperature sensitivity and reaction kinetics, and different model structures were tested within an open-source framework. We evaluated the ability of Millennial V2 to simulate total soil organic C (SOC), as well as the mineral-associated and particulate fractions, using three soil fractionation data sets spanning a range of climate and geochemistry in Australia (N=495), Europe (N=176), and across the globe (N=730). Millennial V2 (RMSE = 1.98 – 4.76 kg, AIC = 597 – 1755) generally predicts SOC content better than the widely-used Century model (RMSE = 2.23 – 4.8 kg, AIC = 584 – 2271), despite an increase in process complexity and number of parameters. Millennial V2 reproduces between-site variation in SOC across a gradient of plant productivity, and predicts SOC turnover times similar to those of a global meta-analysis. Millennial V2 updates the conceptual Century model pools and processes and represents our current understanding of the roles that microbial activity, mineral association and aggregation play in soil C sequestration.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 909-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael da Silva Teixeira ◽  
Ricardo Cardoso Fialho ◽  
Daniela Cristina Costa ◽  
Rodrigo Nogueira Sousa ◽  
Rafael Silva Santos ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengxi Tan ◽  
Shuguang Liu

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.


Soil Research ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumari Priyanka ◽  
Anshumali

Loss of labile carbon (C) fractions yields information about the impact of land-use changes on sources of C inputs, pathways of C losses and mechanisms of soil C sequestration. This study dealt with the total organic C (TOC) and labile C pools in 40 surface soil samples (0–15 cm) collected from four land-use practices: uncultivated sites and rice–wheat, maize–wheat and sugarcane agro-ecosystems. Uncultivated soils had a higher total C pool than croplands. The soil inorganic C concentrations were in the range of 0.7–1.4 g kg–1 under different land-use practices. Strong correlations were found between TOC and all organic C pools, except water-extractable organic C and mineralisable C. The sensitivity index indicated that soil organic C pools were susceptible to changes in land-use practices. Discriminant function analysis showed that the nine soil variables could distinguish the maize–wheat and rice–wheat systems from uncultivated and sugarcane systems. Finally, we recommend crop rotation practices whereby planting sugarcane replenishes TOC content in soils.


2013 ◽  
Vol 152 (5) ◽  
pp. 699-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. BUCKINGHAM ◽  
R. M. REES ◽  
C. A. WATSON

SUMMARYSoil organic carbon (C) plays a critical role in supporting the productive capacity of soils and their ability to provide a wide range of ecologically important functions including the storage of atmospherically derived carbon dioxide (CO2). The present paper collates available information on Scottish soil C stocks and C losses and reviews the potential pressures on terrestrial C, which may threaten future C stocks. Past, present and possible future land use, land management practices and land use changes (LUCs) including forestry, agriculture, nitrogen (N) additions, elevated CO2 and climate change for Scotland are discussed and evaluated in relation to the anthropogenic pressures on soil C.The review deduces that current available data show little suggestion of significant changes in C stocks of Scottish soils, although this may be due to a lack of long-term trend data. However, it can be concluded that there are many pressures, such as climate change, intensity of land use practices, scale of LUC, soil erosion and pollution, which may pose significant threats to the future of Scottish soil C if these factors are not taken into consideration in future land management decisions. In particular, this is due to the land area covered by vulnerable peats and highly organic soils in Scotland compared with other areas in the UK. It is therefore imperative that soil C stocks for different land use, management practices and LUCs are monitored in more detail to provide further insight into the potential changes in sequestered C and subsequent greenhouse gas emissions, as advised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).


2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Curtin ◽  
F. Selles ◽  
H. Wang ◽  
R. P. Zentner ◽  
C. A. Campbell

Planting of cultivated land with perennial forages may increase C sequestration in soil organic matter and contribute to atmospheric CO2 mitigation strategies. However, little is known of the effectiveness of introduced grasses in restoring organic C in cultivated soils of the Canadian prairies. Our objective was to evaluate the C sequestration potential of crested wheatgrass (CWG) (Agropyron cristatum L. Gaertn.), a widely introduced, early-season grass. In 1995 and 1996, we measured soil CO2 fluxes, C inputs in plant material and total soil C under CWG and a fallow-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-wheat rotation (F-W-W). These were two of the treatments in a replicated crop rotation experiment initiated in 1987 in southwestern Saskatchewan on a medium-textured soil that had previously been under long-term wheat production. Average to above-average growing season (1 May to 31 July) precipitation in 1995–1996 resulted in annual inputs of C in wheat residues of 3000–4500 kg ha−1. Growth of CWG, which was hayed and removed, was relatively poor in both years, but especially in 1995 when dry matter yield was only 1300 kg ha−1. For the 1988–1996 period, there was a strong correlation (R2 = 0.81; P < 0.001) between CWG yield and precipitation received in May, showing the importance of early spring rains determining CWG yield and C inputs to the soil. Carbon inputs under CWG (1200 kg ha−1 in 1995 and 2400 kg ha−1 in 1996) were less than under wheat but CO2-C emissions were similar under CWG and wheat. Soil C measurements in fall 1996 confirmed that CWG did not gain C relative to the F-W-W rotation. Although failure of CWG soil to store more C than cultivated soil may be partly because weather conditions during the experiment were more favourable for wheat than CWG, our results cast doubt on the ability of CWG to restore C stocks in prairie soils degraded by long-term cropping. Key words: Carbon sequestation, carbon dioxide emissions, wheat, crested wheatgrass, fallow


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