Carbon emission and sequestration by agricultural land use: a model study for Europe

Abstract

A model was developed to calculate carbon fluxes from agricultural soils. The model includes the effects of crop (species, yield and rotation), climate (temperature, rainfall and evapotranspiration) and soil (carbon content and water retention capacity) on the carbon budget of agricultural land. The changes in quality of crop residues and organic material as a result of changes in CO2 concentration and changed management were not considered in this model. The model was parameterized for several arable crops and grassland. Data from agricultural, meteorological, soil, and land use databases were input to the model, and the model was used to evaluate the effects of different carbon dioxide mitigation measures on soil organic carbon in agricultural areas in Europe. Average carbon fluxes under the business as usual scenario in the 2008–2012 commitment period were estimated at 0.52 tC ha−1 y−1 in grassland and −0.84 tC ha−1 y−1 in arable land. Conversion of arable land to grassland yielded a flux of 1.44 tC ha−1 y−1. Farm management related activities aiming at carbon sequestration ranged from 0.15 tC ha−1 y−1 for the incorporating of straw to 1.50 tC ha−1 y−1 for the application of farmyard manure. Reduced tillage yields a positive flux of 0.25 tC ha−1 y−1. The indirect effect associated with climate was an order of magnitude lower. A temperature rise of 1 °C resulted in a −0.05 tC ha−1 y−1 change whereas the rising CO2 concentrations gave a 0.01 tC ha−1 y−1 change. Estimates are rendered on a 0.5 × 0.5° grid for the commitment period 2008–2012. The study reveals considerable regional differences in the effectiveness of carbon dioxide abatement measures, resulting from the interaction between crop, soil and climate. Besides, there are substantial differences between the spatial patterns of carbon fluxes that result from different measures.

Winter cover crops as green manure in a temperate region: the effect on nitrogen budget and yield of silage maize

“…Some recent studies suggest that SOC in European agricultural land is decreasing (Vleeshouwers and Verhagen, 2002;Sleutel et al, 2003). Bellamy et al (2005) used data from the National Soil Inventory of England andWales obtained between 1978 and to show that an average of 0.6% of the organic carbon content was lost per year from soils across England and Wales over that period, with some soils loosing up to 2 g kg -1 yr -1 (Fig.…”

Potential carbon sequestration of European arable soils estimated by modelling a comprehensive set of management practices

“…Although they were extensively and successfully applied to predict measured data at field level (Smith et al, 1997b), large-scale simulations are still scarce. Vleeshouwers & Verhagen (2002) developed a simple model at pan-European level (0.5 9 0.5°grid) to estimate carbon sequestration and emission in agricultural land. In their simulation, the conversion of arable to grassland yielded a sequestration of 1.44 t C ha À1 yr À1 , while incorporation of straw and reduced tillage yielded a gain of 0.15 and 0.25 t C ha À1 yr À1 in the first Kyoto commitment period (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012).…”

Meeting Cereal Demand While Protecting Natural Resources and Improving Environmental Quality

“…Several recent studies have attempted to assess current and future soil C-sequestration potential at a continental scale for Europe and North America based on ecosystem simulation models (89,94,(100)(101)(102)(103)(104)(105). Because these models are typically validated against data from long-term experiments in which net primary productivity and management follow current average practices, or even antiquated practices, their ability to simulate future scenarios outside the range of validation is questionable.…”