A new methodology for organic soils in national greenhouse gas inventories: Data synthesis, derivation and application

Tiemeyer, Bärbel; Freibauer, Annette; Borraz, Elisa Albiac; Augustin, Jürgen; Bechtold, Michel; Beetz, Sascha; Beyer, Colja; Ebli, Martin; Eickenscheidt, Tim; Fiedler, Sabine; Förster, Christoph; Gensior, Andreas; Giebels, Michael; Glatzel, Stephan; Heinichen, Jan; Hoffmann, Mathias; Höper, Heinrich; Jurasinski, Gerald; Laggner, Andreas; Leiber-Sauheitl, Katharina; Peichl-Brak, Mandy; Drösler, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105838

Cited by 121 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…At present, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 1 emissions inventory reporting methods (IPCC, 2014) provide only a single set of 'emission factors' for tropical peatlands under oil palm plantation, and another set of emission factors for tropical peatlands under all cropland other than paddy rice. In accordance with assessments of CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes from high-latitude peatlands (Couwenberg et al, 2011;Tiemeyer et al, 2020), as well as analyses of long-term subsidence from tropical peatlands (Hooijer et al, 2012;Evans et al, 2019) our analysis suggests that both subsidence and GHG emissions vary greatly within each land-use category, depending on the water management. This is important, as it suggests that measures aimed at raising water levels or increasing near-surface soil moisture levels could-while unlikely to halt emissions entirely-generate substantial climate change mitigation benefits via reduced CO 2 emissions, which cannot currently be captured via IPCC Tier 1 inventory reporting methods.…”

Section: Implications For Tropical Peatland Management and Climate Chsupporting

confidence: 86%

A Novel Low-Cost, High-Resolution Camera System for Measuring Peat Subsidence and Water Table Dynamics

Evans

Callaghan

Jaya

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Peatlands are highly dynamic systems, able to accumulate carbon over millennia under natural conditions, but susceptible to rapid subsidence and carbon loss when drained. Short-term, seasonal and long-term peat surface elevation changes are closely linked to key peatland attributes such as water table depth (WTD) and carbon balance, and may be measured remotely using satellite radar and LiDAR methods. However, field measurements of peat elevation change are spatially and temporally sparse, reliant on low-resolution manual subsidence pole measurements, or expensive sensor systems. Here we describe a novel, simple and low-cost image-based method for measuring peat surface motion and WTD using commercially available time-lapse cameras and image processing methods. Based on almost two years’ deployment of peat cameras across contrasting forested, burned, agricultural and oil palm plantation sites in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, we show that the method can capture extremely high resolution (sub-mm) and high-frequency (sub-daily) changes in peat surface elevation over extended periods and under challenging environmental conditions. WTD measurements were of similar quality to commercially available pressure transducers. Results reveal dynamic peat elevation response to individual rain events, consistent with variations in WTD. Over the course of the relatively severe 2019 dry season, cameras in deep-drained peatlands recorded maximum peat shrinkage of over 8 cm, followed by partial rebound, leading to net annual subsidence of up to 5 cm. Sites with higher water tables, and where borehole irrigation was used to maintain soil moisture, had lower subsidence, suggesting potential to reduce subsidence through altered land-management. Given the established link between subsidence and CO2 emissions, these results have direct implications for the management of peatlands to reduce high current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Camera-based sensors provide a simple, low-cost alternative to commercial elevation, WTD and GHG flux monitoring systems, suitable for deployment at scale, and in areas where existing approaches are impractical or unaffordable. If ground-based observations of peat motion can be linked to measured GHG fluxes and with satellite-based monitoring tools, this approach offers the potential for a large-scale peatland monitoring tool, suitable for identifying areas of active carbon loss, targeting climate change mitigation interventions, and evaluating intervention outcomes.

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Section: Implications For Tropical Peatland Management and Climate Chsupporting

confidence: 86%

A Novel Low-Cost, High-Resolution Camera System for Measuring Peat Subsidence and Water Table Dynamics

Evans

Callaghan

Jaya

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…With an average SOC stock of 528 ± 201 Mg ha −1 , German organic soils are hot spots of SOC stocks and of SOC losses ( German Environment Agency , 2019). Under agricultural land use, they are drained, which promotes rapid mineralization ( Tiemeyer et al, 2020). Although a relatively low proportion of agriculture is taking place on organic soils in Germany, these soils constitute a considerable carbon source emitting more than 35 million tons of CO 2 per year ( German Environment Agency , 2019) and thus around one third of the total agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stocks of organic carbon in German agricultural soils—Key results of the first comprehensive inventory

Poeplau

Jacobs

Don

et al. 2020

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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Background: There is considerable uncertainty about the actual size of the global soil organic carbon (SOC) pool and its spatial distribution due to insufficient and heterogeneous data coverage.Aims: We aimed to assess the size of the German agricultural SOC stock and develop a stratification approach that could be used in national greenhouse gas reporting.Methods: Soils from a total of 3104 sites, comprising 2234 croplands, 820 permanent grasslands and 50 sites with permanent crops (vineyards, orchards) were sampled in a grid of 8 × 8 km to a depth of 100 cm in fixed depth increments. In addition, a decade of management data was recorded in a questionnaire completed by farmers. Two different approaches were used to stratify cropland and grassland mineral soils and derive homogeneous groups: stratification via soil type (pedogenesis) and via SOC‐relevant soil properties.Results: A total of 146 soils were identified as organic soils, which stored by far the highest average SOC stock of 528 ± 201 Mg ha−1 in 0–100 cm depth. Of the mineral soils, croplands and permanent crops stored on average 61 ± 25 and 62 ± 25 Mg ha−1 in 0–30 cm (topsoil) and 35 ± 30 and 44 ± 28 Mg ha−1 in 30–100 cm (subsoil), while permanent grasslands stored significantly more SOC (88 ± 32 and 47 ± 50 Mg ha−1 in topsoil and subsoil). Overall, topsoils stored 67 ± 14% and subsoils 33 ± 14% of total SOC stocks. Soil C:N ratio, clay content and groundwater level were major factors that explained the spatial variability of SOC stocks in mineral soils. Accordingly, Podzols, Gleysols and Vertisols were found to have the highest SOC stocks.Conclusions: Stratification via soil properties yielded the most comparable cropland and grassland strata and is thus preferable for estimating land‐use change effects, e.g., for greenhouse gas inventories.In total, 2.5 Pg C are stored in the upper 100 cm of German agricultural soils, making them the largest organic carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems of Germany. This bares a large responsibility for the agricultural sector and society as a whole to maintain and, if possible, enhance this pool.

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“…In Europe, <1% of the drained peatland has been rewetted over the past decades 31 . Peatland rewetting is an effective measure to rehabilitate ecosystem functions and can reduce soil subsidence and greenhouse gas emissions (CO 2 and N 2 O) [32][33][34][35] . However, little information is available on how to best prioritize drained peatlands for rewetting, to maximize the reduction of N 2 O emissions.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rewetting strategies to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from European peatlands

Liu

Wrage‐Mönnig

Lennartz

2020

Commun Earth Environ

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Nitrous oxide (N2O) is approximately 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) in atmospheric warming. Degraded peatlands are important sources of N2O. The more a peat soil is degraded, the higher the N2O-N emissions from peat. In this study, soil bulk density was used as a proxy for peat degradation to predict N2O-N emissions. Here we report that the annual N2O-N emissions from European managed peatlands (EU-28) sum up to approximately 145 Gg N year−1. From the viewpoint of greenhouse gas emissions, highly degraded agriculturally used peatlands should be rewetted first to optimally reduce cumulative N2O-N emissions. Compared to a business-as-usual scenario (no peatland rewetting), rewetting of all drained European peatlands until 2050 using the suggested strategy reduces the cumulative N2O-N emissions by 70%. In conclusion, the status of peat degradation should be made a pivotal criterion in prioritising peatlands for restoration.

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A new methodology for organic soils in national greenhouse gas inventories: Data synthesis, derivation and application

Cited by 121 publications

References 39 publications

A Novel Low-Cost, High-Resolution Camera System for Measuring Peat Subsidence and Water Table Dynamics

A Novel Low-Cost, High-Resolution Camera System for Measuring Peat Subsidence and Water Table Dynamics

Stocks of organic carbon in German agricultural soils—Key results of the first comprehensive inventory

Rewetting strategies to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from European peatlands

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