Synthesis of soil carbon losses in response to conversion of grassland to agriculture land

Tang, Shiming; Guo, Jianxin; Li, Shucheng; Li, Jiahuan; Xie, Shu; Zhai, Xiajie; Wang, Chengjie; Zhang, Yujuan; Wang, Kun

doi:10.1016/j.still.2018.08.011

Cited by 45 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Higher rate of SOC stock or SOC accumulation when continuous grassland is converted to cropland has also been reported by other studies (Goodrick et al 2014;Zimmermann, Dauber, and Jones (2011). This is obviously contradictory to the generally reported depletion of SOC after conversion of grasslands to cropland (Tang et al 2019;Iwasaki et al 2018;Solomon et al 2007;Lal 2004). In our view, the primary reason for these differences is the length of the period of conversion.…”

Section: Annualized Changes In Necb and Soccontrasting

confidence: 90%

“…In our view, the primary reason for these differences is the length of the period of conversion. Most of these studies (Tang et al 2019;Iwasaki et al 2018;Solomon et al 2007;Lal 2004) look at SOC changes at decadal timescale from the time of conversion. Our study looks at the short period of 1-3 years.…”

Section: Annualized Changes In Necb and Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grassland ecosystems, which cover about 40% of land globally (Tang et al 2019), are the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon (C) (Conant et al 2017). It is widely reported that the conversion of grasslands to cropland depletes soil organic C (SOC) (Pabst et al 2016;Wright and Wimberly 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Do tillage and conversion of grassland to cropland always deplete soil organic carbon?

Mukumbuta

Hatano

2019

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

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Conversion of grassland to cropland is widely reported to deplete soil organic carbon (SOC) largely due to tillage effects on the decomposition of SOC. However, most studies report on long-term changes in SOC following the conversion and little is known about the changes in the short term. Net ecosystem carbon budget (NECB) measures the difference between total C input (i.e., manure, above-and below-ground plant residues) and C loss through heterotrophic respiration (RH). However, most studies that report temporal SOC do not report other components of the NECB like RH, total C inputs and often do not include the cumulative annualized change of these components. This review evaluated the change in C input, RH, NECB and SOC after conversion of permanent/continuous grassland to cropland within 5 years after the conversion. We also reviewed and compared no-tillage and conventional tillage on SOC storage and accumulation. Total C input was higher in grassland than cropland largely due to high root biomass, as opposed to aboveground residue, and therefore grassland tended to have higher NECB. Despite higher NECB in grassland, the SOC stocks in cropland (cornfield) converted from grassland were greater than that in continuous grassland within first 2-3 years of conversion. The combination of manure C addition and tillage in cropland showed potential to maintain NECB and increase SOC. Within the continuous grassland C addition alone increased NECB but did not result in a corresponding increase in SOC. Residue retention and manure addition are recognized as good practices for increasing SOC, this study however, shows that combining them with occasional tillage, especially in managed grasslands, could increase the rate of SOC storage in soils.

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Section: Annualized Changes In Necb and Soccontrasting

confidence: 90%

Section: Annualized Changes In Necb and Socmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do tillage and conversion of grassland to cropland always deplete soil organic carbon?

Mukumbuta

Hatano

2019

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

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“…Abandonment could be seen as a nature-based solution such as the use of straw in forest fire affected land [66,67] to the high erosion rates found in agricultural land [68], and could be used as a strategy to balance the carbon cycle [69] and rehabilitate the soils under the millennia-old use of agriculture [70]. The research carried out at the Canals Municipality shows that abandonment could be positive from an environmental point of view, but there is also the risk of a forest fire as the vegetation could be very flammable during the Mediterranean summer drought [71].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the next essential step of research is to find the optimal management of the abandoned orchards, and maybe it can be used as a recreation area for nearby urban citizens [72]. This could be a successful solution in the Mediterranean where agriculture land abandonment in the last decade also takes place in the surroundings of city areas due to the economic crisis [69] and for which similar responses have been shown in other developed countries [73]. How urban changes occur is related in one way to the environmental conditions [74] but also to the cultural impact of humans [75].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Farmland Abandonment on Water Resources and Soil Conservation in Citrus Plantations in Eastern Spain

Cerdà

Ackermann

Terol

et al. 2019

Water

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Due to the reduction in the prices of oranges on the market and social changes such as the ageing of the population, traditional orange plantation abandonment in the Mediterranean is taking place. Previous research on land abandonment impact on soil and water resources has focused on rainfed agriculture abandonment, but there is no research on irrigated land abandonment. In the Valencia Region—the largest producer of oranges in Europe—abandonment is resulting in a quick vegetation recovery and changes in soil properties, and then in water erosion. Therefore, we performed rainfall simulation experiments (0.28 m2; 38.8 mm h−1) to determine the soil losses in naveline orange plantations with different ages of abandonment (1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years of abandonment) which will allow for an understanding of the temporal changes in soil and water losses after abandonment. Moreover, these results were also compared with an active plantation (0). The results show that the soils of the active orange plantations have higher runoff discharges and higher erosion rates due to the use of herbicides than the plots after abandonment. Once the soil is abandoned for one year, the plant recovery reaches 33% of the cover and the erosion rate drops one order of magnitude. This is related to the delay in the runoff generation and the increase in infiltration rates. After 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years, the soil reduced bulk density, increase in organic matter, plant cover, and soil erosion rates were found negligible. We conclude that the abandonment of orange plantations reduces soil and water losses and can serve as a nature-based solution to restore the soil services, goods, and resources. The reduction in the soil losses was exponential (from 607.4 g m−2 in the active plot to 7.1 g m−2 in the 10-year abandoned one) but the water losses were linear (from 77.2 in active plantations till 12.8% in the 10-year abandoned ones).

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Integrated crop‐livestock effects on soil carbon and nitrogen in a semiarid region

Liebig

Faust

Archer

et al. 2020

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

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Integrated crop−livestock (ICL) system effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) are highly variable due to differences in ecoregion-specific management practices, historical land use, and inherent climatic/edaphic attributes. Few studies have evaluated ICL system effects on SOC and TN in semiarid regions, where soil attributes change slowly. This study quantified ICL system effects on SOC and TN in a long-term experiment near Mandan, ND. Effects of three residue management treatments (Grazed, Removed, Control) on SOC and TN were determined at five depths (0−0.08, 0.08−0.15, 0.15−0.31, 0.31−0.61, and 0.61−0.91 m) in 1999 and 2014. No-till practices were employed throughout the study following conversion of perennial grass pastures. A significance criterion of P ≤ .10 was used to assess treatment effects as the experimental design was constrained to two replications. Residue management affected SOC and TN in near-surface depths only, with greater concentration of SOC and TN at 0−0.08 m under Grazed compared to Removed in 2014 (P = .0844 and .0576). When expressed on an equivalent mass basis, SOC stocks were greater under Grazed and Control compared to Removed. Soil organic C and TN stocks increased over time in the Control by 11.2 Mg C ha −1 and 1.2 Mg N ha −1 , respectively (P = .0728 and .0868). Soil organic C stocks also increased over time under the Grazed treatment by 10 Mg C ha −1 (P = .0630). Study results highlighted the importance of residue retention and livestock grazing for increasing SOC and TN in ICL systems under semiarid conditions.

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Synthesis of soil carbon losses in response to conversion of grassland to agriculture land

Cited by 45 publications

References 37 publications

Do tillage and conversion of grassland to cropland always deplete soil organic carbon?

Do tillage and conversion of grassland to cropland always deplete soil organic carbon?

Impact of Farmland Abandonment on Water Resources and Soil Conservation in Citrus Plantations in Eastern Spain

Integrated crop‐livestock effects on soil carbon and nitrogen in a semiarid region

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