Soil organic carbon dynamics in typical durum wheat-based crop rotations of Southern Italy

Abstract

Mediterranean agricultural areas are dominated by cropping systems based on winter cereals crops, summer irrigated crops, foragebased systems, and mixed succession with bare fallow. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is widely used to assess the environmental performance of these cropping systems, since it is strongly influenced by management practices and environmental conditions. This study evaluates the sustainability of representative intensive cropping systems of Southern Italy, in terms of SOC stock changes and CO2 emissions in the long-term perspective, using a process-based model (RothC10N) combined with a GIS-based spatialization procedure. On the basis of SOC modelling, results showed that crop management practices currently adopted by farmers did not guarantee SOC sequestration in all the rotations (-4.29 Mg C ha -1 ). The sustainability of cropping systems can be improved through management practices such as the retention of crop residues into the field and/or the rational use of irrigation for the summer crop (6.73 Mg C ha -1 ). This finding could help policy makers to provide suggestions for a more effective local implementation of agro-environmental measures. IntroductionIn the last decades, Mediterranean cropping systems have undergone strong variations due to the intensification of agricultural activities in the most productive plains (Serra et al., 2008), and the extensification of land uses in less fertile zones (Bindi and Olesen, 2011;Nainggolan et al., 2012). Frequently, these changes may cause a simplification of agricultural production systems with significant consequences on environmental impacts and agroecosystem services. It is well-established that in conventional agronomic schemes, unsuitable agricultural practices, such as deep tillage, reduction in crop rotation length, and the removal of crop residues may have negative implications on soil organic carbon (SOC) pool (Le Gal et al., 2010;Álvaro-Fuentes et al., 2011;Martiniello, 2011;Pisante, 2013). So far, semi-arid areas of Southern Italy are dominated by cropping systems mostly oriented on winter cereals-based rotations, such as continuous durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), durum wheat-summer irrigated crops, forage-based systems, and mixed succession with bare fallow (Borrelli et al., 2011;Martiniello, 2011). In these agroecosystems, SOC level is quite low due to soil degradation processes. Thus, conservative farmlands can act as potential C sink, although the possibilities of SOC sequestration are quite site specific and strongly influenced by soil management and environmental factors (VandenBygaart et al., 2002;Rodríguez Martín et al., 2016). SOC is normally considered an indicator of soil quality, and soil can accumulate C for decades (Ruiz Sinoga et al., 2012). It is widely known the crucial role of SOC to maintain soil fertility, crop production potential, and prevent soil quality deterioration thanks to its filtering and buffering capacity (Kirchmann and Andersson, 2001). However, the studies of SOC dynamics based on field e...

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