The Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating for Assessing the Quality of Global Farmland

Mueller, Lothar; Schindler, Uwe; Shepherd, T. Graham; Ball, B. C.; Smolentseva, Elena N.; Pachikin, Konstantin; Hu, Chunsheng; Hennings, Volker; Шеуджен, А. Х.; Behrendt, Axel; Eulenstein, Frank; Dannowski, Ralf

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01017-5_13

Cited by 24 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The sustainability of PECs lies in the possibility of extending the above‐mentioned benefits, allocating the cultivation of these low‐input crops on poor and marginal soils, excluding conflicts between food and energy productions and limiting the effects of indirect land use change. At a European level, 257 Mha of land has been classified as poor or very poor based on the Muencheberg soil quality rating system (SQR; Mueller et al, 2014) and approximately 58.2 Mha of these are suitable for PECs cultivation (Gerwin et al, 2018). Many studies have shown that herbaceous and woody PECs could contribute to soil carbon (C) storage through continuous addition of aboveground and belowground residues and reduced soil disturbance (Agostini et al, 2015; Chimento et al, 2016; Chimento & Amaducci, 2015; Rowe et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belowground biomass C outweighs soil organic C of perennial energy crops: Insights from a long‐term multispecies trial

et al. 2021

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The cultivation of perennial energy crops (PECs) couples the production of ligno‐cellulosic biomass to the provision of multiple ecosystem services, such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the mitigation of climate change through carbon (C) sequestration in soil. Though C sequestration in soil by PECs has been widely studied, the contribution of their belowground biomass (BGB) to soil C sequestration and their influence on soil nitrogen (N) storage potential has received very little attention. In this study, C and N stocks in soil and BGB fractions (plant belowground organs and fine roots) were measured for six PECs (Populus spp. ‘Poplar’, Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Black locust’, Salix spp. ‘Willow’, Arundo donax ‘Giant reed’, Miscanthus × giganteus ‘Miscanthus’ and Panicum virgatum ‘Switchgrass’) grown on marginal soil, 11 years after establishment. All PECs had a higher soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and soil total nitrogen (STN) stock than arable land in the top (0–10 cm) soil layer. In this same top layer, woody crops had the highest SOC stock. The increase in SOC under PECs led to increased soil porosity in the top‐soil layer. On average, 43% of the belowground C stock of PECs was allocated in the plant belowground organs (PBO; i.e. in the rhizomes of herbaceous PECs and the stump for woody PECs). Giant reed had the highest C stock in PBO, whereas switchgrass the lowest (22.7 vs. 5.9 Mg C ha−1). On the contrary, switchgrass had the highest C stock in fine roots. Giant reed had the highest belowground C stock (sum of soil and BGB contribution) and black locust the highest belowground N stock. After 11 years of PEC cultivation, 68% of the belowground C stock was allocated in the BGB, and 32% was as SOC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belowground biomass C outweighs soil organic C of perennial energy crops: Insights from a long‐term multispecies trial

et al. 2021

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“…The ES potential can be characterised by soil and climate conditions. The soil quality rating (Müller et al 2007 ) delivers an index which reflects the agronomic yield potential. The rating allows comparisons of the yield potential on a regional level.…”

Section: Development Of the Enhanced Indicator Set For Provisioning Es Of Agro-ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bünemann et al 2018 ). One example is the soil quality rating index (Müller et al 2007 : M-SQR-Index), used also as part of national natural capital accountancies (Albert et al 2016 ). Further indicators are used that report on the sensitivity and actual condition of agricultural ecosystems which can increase or reduce soil productivity, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An example for a mapped ES potential can be found in Albert et al ( 2016 ), who suggest to use the yield potential of arable soils (BGR 2013 ) based on Müller et al ( 2007 ) for national accountancies. Anthropogenic inputs are mapped mainly by intensity indicators, for example, the management intensity of grasslands (Estel et al 2018 ) or agricultural land (van der Zanden et al 2016 ) at a European scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems

Bethwell

Burkhard

Daedlow

et al. 2021

Environ Monit Assess

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Provisioning ecosystem services play a vital role in sustaining human well-being. Agro-ecosystems contribute a significant share of these services, besides food and fodder and also fuel and fibre as well as regulating and cultural ecosystem services. Until now, the indication of provisioning ecosystem services of agro-ecosystems has been based almost only on yield numbers of agricultural products. Such an indication is problematic due to several reasons which include a disregard of the role of significant anthropogenic contributions to ecosystem service co-generation, external environmental effects and strong dependence on site conditions. We argue for an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services that considers multiple aspects of their delivery. The conceptual base for such an indication has been made by prior publications which have been reviewed. Relevant points were taken up in this article and condensed into a conceptual model in order to develop a more holistic and expanded set of indictors, which was then exemplarily applied and tested in three case studies in Germany. The case studies represent different natural conditions, and the indicator set application showed that ecosystem services (ES) flow—in terms of output alone—does not characterise agro-ecosystems sufficiently. The proposed aspects of provisioning ecosystem services can give a fuller picture, for example, by input-output relationships, as it is possible by just using single indicators. Uncertainties as well as pros and cons of such an approach are elaborated. Finally, recommendations for an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems that can help to integrate agricultural principles with ideas of sustainability and site-specific land use are derived.

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“…At the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Muencheberg, the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (M-SQR) was elaborated (Mueller et al 2007a). The law of correlations between the properties of soils and the productivity of crop cultivated on them established by V. V. Dokuchayev (1951) served as a theoretical basis for this method.…”

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Soil Quality and Crop Yield Potentials of Some Soils of Eurasia

Smolentseva

Smolentsev

Pachkin

et al. 2013

Environmental Science and Engineering

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The aim of this paper was to quantify soil quality in agricultural landscapes over large regions. For this purpose, representative soil catenas and single soil pits were dug, analysed and classified on test sites in Russia, Kazakhstan and Germany. Soil quality and crop yield potentials were assessed using the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (M-SQR) method. This method is based on the rating of indicators relevant to crop yield. The results show that the estimation of all components of the site-specific water balance and drought risk assessment is key for the evaluation of soil functions in agricultural landscapes. We found close correlations between the overall soil quality rating score and grain yields of cereals. The suitability of the M-SQR approach to assess soil quality and crop yield potentials consistently over spatial scales of Eurasia has been confirmed.

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The Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating for Assessing the Quality of Global Farmland

Cited by 24 publications

References 8 publications

Belowground biomass C outweighs soil organic C of perennial energy crops: Insights from a long‐term multispecies trial

Belowground biomass C outweighs soil organic C of perennial energy crops: Insights from a long‐term multispecies trial

Towards an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems

Assessing the Soil Quality and Crop Yield Potentials of Some Soils of Eurasia

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