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

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.

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.


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.


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’.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Tan ◽  
L. L. Tieszen ◽  
E. Tachie-Obeng ◽  
S. Liu ◽  
A. M. Dieye

Abstract. We used the General Ensemble biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS) to simulate responses of natural and managed ecosystems to changes in land use and land cover, management, and climate for a forest/savanna transitional zone in central Ghana. Model results show that deforestation for crop production during the 20th century resulted in a substantial reduction in ecosystem carbon (C) stock from 135.4 Mg C ha−1 in 1900 to 77.0 Mg C ha−1 in 2000, and in soil organic C stock within the top 20 cm of soil from 26.6 Mg C ha−1 to 21.2 Mg C ha−1. If no land use change takes place from 2000 through 2100, low and high climate change scenarios (increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation over time) will result in losses of soil organic C stock by 16% and 20%, respectively. A low nitrogen (N) fertilization rate is the principal constraint on current crop production. An increase in N fertilization under the low climate change scenario would lead to an increase in the average crop yield by 21% with 30 kg N ha−1 and by 42% with 60 kg N ha−1 (varying with crop species), accordingly, the average soil C stock would decrease by 2% and increase by 17%, in all cropping systems by 2100. The results suggest that a reasonable N fertilization rate is critical to achieve food security and agricultural sustainability in the study area through the 21st century. Adaptation strategies for climate change in this study area require national plans to support policies and practices that provide adequate N fertilizers to sustain soil C and crop yields and to consider high temperature tolerant crop species if these temperature projections are exceeded.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Rolinski ◽  
Alexander V. Prishchepov ◽  
Georg Guggenberger ◽  
Norbert Bischoff ◽  
Irina Kurganova ◽  
...  

AbstractChanges in land use and climate are the main drivers of change in soil organic matter contents. We investigated the impact of the largest policy-induced land conversion to arable land, the Virgin Lands Campaign (VLC), from 1954 to 1963, of the massive cropland abandonment after 1990 and of climate change on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in steppes of Russia and Kazakhstan. We simulated carbon budgets from the pre-VLC period (1900) until 2100 using a dynamic vegetation model to assess the impacts of observed land-use change as well as future climate and land-use change scenarios. The simulations suggest for the entire VLC region (266 million hectares) that the historic cropland expansion resulted in emissions of 1.6⋅ 1015 g (= 1.6 Pg) carbon between 1950 and 1965 compared to 0.6 Pg in a scenario without the expansion. From 1990 to 2100, climate change alone is projected to cause emissions of about 1.8 (± 1.1) Pg carbon. Hypothetical recultivation of the cropland that has been abandoned after the fall of the Soviet Union until 2050 may cause emissions of 3.5 (± 0.9) Pg carbon until 2100, whereas the abandonment of all cropland until 2050 would lead to sequestration of 1.8 (± 1.2) Pg carbon. For the climate scenarios based on SRES (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) emission pathways, SOC declined only moderately for constant land use but substantially with further cropland expansion. The variation of SOC in response to the climate scenarios was smaller than that in response to the land-use scenarios. This suggests that the effects of land-use change on SOC dynamics may become as relevant as those of future climate change in the Eurasian steppes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 1025-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Walley ◽  
A. W. Gillespie ◽  
Adekunbi B. Adetona ◽  
J. J. Germida ◽  
R. E. Farrell

Walley, F. L., Gillespie, A. W., Adetona, A. B., Germida, J. J. and Farrell, R. E. 2014. Manipulation of rhizosphere organisms to enhance glomalin production and C-sequestration: Pitfalls and promises. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 1025–1032. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) reportedly produce glomalin, a glycoprotein that has the potential to increase soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage. We hypothesized that interactions between rhizosphere microorganisms, such as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), and AMF, would influence glomalin production. Our objectives were to determine the effects of AMF/PGPR interactions on plant growth and glomalin production in the rhizosphere of pea (Pisum sativum L.) with the goal of enhancing C and N storage in the rhizosphere. One component of the study focussed on the molecular characterization of glomalin and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) using complementary synchrotron-based N and C X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, pyrolysis field ionization mass spectrometry (Py-FIMS), and proteomics techniques to characterize specific organic C and N fractions associated with glomalin production. Our research ultimately led us to conclude that the proteinaceous material extracted, and characterized in the literature, as GRSP is not exclusively of AMF origin. Our research supports the established concept that GRSP is important to soil quality, and C and N storage, irrespective of origin. However, efforts to manipulate this important soil C pool will remain compromised until we more clearly elucidate the chemical nature and origin of this resource.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajishnu Roy ◽  
Kousik Pramanick

AbstractAgriculture, along with industry and household sector are three major sectors of human consumption. Agriculture has proved to be a major contributor to exceeding planetary boundaries. Here, we have explored the impact of agriculture in the Earth system processes, through eight dimensions of planetary boundaries or safe operating spaces: climate change (10.73%), freshwater use (91.56%), arable land use (37.27%), nitrogen use (95.77%), phosphorus use (87.28%), ecological footprint (19.42%), atmospheric pollution (2.52% - 38.08%) and novel entities. In this work, we have also shown role of agriculture to the socio-economic development dimensions: gender equality, employment and economic growth. We have shown that the safe operating limits for agriculture are going to decline by almost 55% (climate change), 300% (freshwater use), 50-55% (arable land use), 180% (nitrogen use), 265% (phosphorus use) and 20% (ecological footprint) in 2050, if the most inefficient way of consumption is chosen and continued. To alleviate the role of agriculture in transgressing planetary boundaries, it is indispensable to comprehend how many roles of agriculture is playing and where which target should be set to framework the national agricultural policies in coherence with attaining sustainable development goals of UN by 2030.


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 (


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