Managing soil carbon for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Mediterranean cropping systems: A meta-analysis

Aguilera, Eduardo; Lassaletta, Luis; Gattinger, Andreas; Gimeno, B.S.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2013.02.003

Cited by 382 publications

(312 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…1), which results in turn in greater biomass production and higher C protection within soil aggregates (Aguilera et al 2013a). Significant rates of C sequestration have been reported in different dryland cropping systems when using no-tillage.…”

Section: Adoption Of More Efficient Water Management Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

Plaza‐Bonilla¹,

Arrúe

Cantero‐Martínez

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

131

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Section: Adoption Of More Efficient Water Management Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

Plaza‐Bonilla¹,

Arrúe

Cantero‐Martínez

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

131

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“…Soil carbon balance was modeled based on the results of the meta-analysis on carbon sequestration under Mediterranean conditions by Aguilera et al (2013a), including some unpublished data from the same study and some data from other references. Soil carbon was assumed to be in equilibrium under conventional tillage with no organic inputs.…”

Section: Carbon Sequestrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…80 % of total fuelwood consumed in Spain in the year 2000 (Infante-Amate et al 2014). In addition, cover crops can be established below the trees protecting the soil from erosion, contributing to soil carbon sequestration (González-Sánchez et al 2012;Aguilera et al 2013a) and potentially serving as animal feed (Ramos et al 2011). In spite of these promising features, there is some concern about the temporal limitation of soil carbon sequestration, which would only occur until a new equilibrium is reached.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reduced fossil energy consumption in organic orchards (Guzmán and Alonso 2008;Alonso and Guzmán 2010) suggests that there may also exist greenhouse gas emissions savings in these systems, taking into account the high importance of energy-related emissions in the carbon footprint of herbaceous Spanish cropping systems . At the soil level, evidence suggests low N 2 O emissions associated to organic fertilizers (Aguilera et al 2013b) and higher soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in organically managed soils under Mediterranean climate (Aguilera et al 2013a). All these features point to a large mitigation potential of Mediterranean fruit tree orchards and particularly of organic agro-ecosystems, but comprehensive assessments of their global warming potential are very scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Greenhouse gas emissions from conventional and organic cropping systems in Spain. II. Fruit tree orchards

Aguilera

Guzmán

Alonso

2014

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

Self Cite

142

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Fruit tree orchards have a historical and economic importance for Mediterranean agriculture, notably in Spain. Fruit tree orchards have the potential to mitigate global warming by sequestrating carbon (C) and providing renewable fuels. Actually, there is few information on the benefits of organic practices. Therefore, we analyzed the greenhouse gas contribution of 42 pairs of organic and conventional perennial cropping systems, including citrus, subtropical trees, other fruit trees, treenuts, vineyards, and olives, using life-cycle assessment (LCA). The assessment was based on management information from interviews and involved the estimation of soil carbon sequestration, specific Mediterranean N 2 O emission factors, and the consideration of coproducts. Results show on average a 56 % decrease of greenhouse gas emissions under organic versus conventional cropping, on an area basis. On a product basis, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 39 % on average. These findings are explained mainly by C sequestration in soils, which is due in turn to higher C inputs by cover cropping and incorporation of pruning residues.

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“…higher soil temperature, heavy rainfall leading to anoxic soil conditions; Schönthaler et al 2015) the circumstances for N 2 O production in soils after fertilizer application are more favourable leading to increased N 2 O fluxes (Jambert et al 1997, Hao et al 2001, Scheer et al 2008, Aguilera et al 2013a. Therefore, it might be even more important to use stabilized nitrogen fertilizer products to avoid undesirable gaseous or leaching losses to the environment.…”

Section: Studied Eco-innovationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco-innovations in the German fertilizer supply chain: Impact on the carbon footprint of fertilizers

Hasler¹,

Bröring²,

Omta³

et al. 2017

Plant Soil Environ.

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The aim of this paper is to analyse to what extent the existing eco-innovations in the German fertilizer domain might reduce the fertilizer carbon footprint without compromising on crop productivity. The continuously growing demand for agricultural products will require a further increase in agricultural production mostly achieved with additional external inputs (fossil energy, pesticides, irrigation water and fertilizers). Fertilizer in general and nitrogen fertilizers in particular are major factors for yield increases in crop production. On the other hand, emissions of greenhouse gases play a dominant role in the debate on the environmental burden of fertilizers. Typical mineral fertilizers were compared with so-called stabilized nitrogen fertilizers and secondary raw material fertilizers in this study. Additionally, an effect of the combination of irrigation with fertilization (i.e. fertigation) was investigated. With an adopted life cycle assessment approach focusing on CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O emission, the carbon footprints of the different fertilizer options were considered. The calculations showed that especially the use of stabilized nitrogen fertilizer reduced the fertilization-related carbon footprint up to 13%. However, because of higher costs or incomplete supply chain relationships, adoption of these innovations is expected to be rather limited in the near future. Fertilizers made from secondary raw materials resulted in similar carbon footprints as mineral ones, but they can help to close nutrient cycles and use by-products of other production processes.

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Managing soil carbon for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Mediterranean cropping systems: A meta-analysis

Cited by 382 publications

References 89 publications

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

Greenhouse gas emissions from conventional and organic cropping systems in Spain. II. Fruit tree orchards

Eco-innovations in the German fertilizer supply chain: Impact on the carbon footprint of fertilizers

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