Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Different Land-Use Systems: A Case Study of CO₂ in the Southern Zone of Ghana

Abstract

The emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) results in global warming and climate change. The extent to which developing countries contribute to GHG emissions is not well known. This study reports findings on the effects of different land-use systems on GHG emissions (CO2 in this case) from two locations in the southern zone of Ghana, West Africa. Site one (located at Kpong) contained a heavy clay soil while site two (located at Legon) contained a light-textured sandy soil. Land-use systems include cattle kraals, natural forests, cultivated maize fields, and rice paddy fields at site one, and natural forest, woodlots, and cultivated soya bean fields at site two. CO2 emissions were measured using the gas entrapment method (PVC chambers). Trapping solutions were changed every 12–48 h and measurement lasted 9 to 15 days depending on the site. We found that, for the same land-use, CO2 emissions were higher on the clay soil (Kpong) than the sandy soil (Legon). In the clay soil environment, the highest average CO2 emission was observed from the cattle kraal (256.7 mg·m−2·h−1), followed by the forest (146.0 mg·m−2·h−1) and rice paddy (140.6 mg·m−2·h−1) field. The lowest average emission was observed for maize cropped land (112.0 mg·m−2·h−1). In the sandy soil environment, the highest average CO2 emission was observed from soya cropped land (52.5 mg·m−2·h−1), followed by the forest (47.4 mg·m−2·h−1) and woodlot (33.7 mg·m−2·h−1). Several factors influenced CO2 emissions from the different land-use systems. These include the inherent properties of the soils such as texture, temperature, and moisture content, which influenced CO2 production through their effect on soil microbial activity and root respiration. Practices that reduce CO2 emissions are likely to promote carbon sequestration, which will consequently maintain or increase crop productivity and thereby improve global or regional food security.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Land‐use and Land‐cover Dynamics of Adama District, Ethiopia and Its Implication to Greenhouse Gas Emissions

“…In this case, it is logical to indicate that when afforestation and reforestation practices are coupled with various climate change adaptation activities, they significantly enhance sinks of greenhouse gases and management of C in the terrestrial biosphere. In line with this, the findings of the study conducted by MacCarthy et al (2018) reveal that covering the area with trees would play a large role in C capture and sequestration. From this, one can understand that if this practice is widely employed and protected in a sustainable way, it could reverse the current situations of land-use patterns and reduce the impacts of climate change in the long run, thereby increasing C sequestration.…”

Quantifying the Impacts of Land-Use and Climate on Carbon Fluxes Using Satellite Data across Texas, U.S.

“…Carbon sequestration potential of an ecosystem is a function of climate, land management practices, land-use patterns, soil types and soil characteristics, and topographic heterogeneity [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Some studies concurred that any ecosystem site could either be a carbon sink (negative flux) or a carbon source (positive flux) depending on the weather patterns [11,12].…”

A Descriptive Time Series Analysis Applied to the Fit of Carbon-Dioxide (CO₂)

“…Atmospheric Carbon-dioxide (CO2)is one of the greenhouse gasesand it is known for its heat absorption and sunlight warming. In addition to this, CO2 in particular dissolves into the ocean thereby producing carbon acid and lowering the ocean's pHvalue [1]. It has been reported that higher concentration of CO2 increases the growth of cereal crops but reduces the nutritional value of key staple crops [2].…”

“…Its occurrence has been traced to some socio-economic characteristics, income, car ownership [2], poor rail accessibility and urban density [3], human activity and natural system [4]. The impact has been projected to be greater in the southern Asia and African region [1,5] and may likely result to inability to keep global average temperature increase below 2 o c [6]. With these in view, it suffices to consider the fundamental processes that are believed to generate the subject matter and then build a detailed model that can be used for control and also make predictions.…”