scholarly journals Climate and Land-Use Change Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks over 150 Years in Wisconsin, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Huang ◽  
Alfred E. Hartemink ◽  
Yakun Zhang

Soil organic carbon is a sink for mitigating increased atmospheric carbon. The international initiative “4 per 1000” aims at implementing practical actions on increasing soil carbon storage in soils under agriculture. This requires a fundamental understanding of the soil carbon changes across the globe. Several studies have suggested that the global soil organic carbon stocks (SOCS) have decreased due to global warming and land cover change, while others reported SOCS may increase under climate change and improved soil management. To better understand how a changing climate, land cover, and agricultural activities influence SOCS across large extents and long periods, the spatial and temporal variations of SOCS were estimated using a modified space-for-time substitution method over a 150-year period in the state of Wisconsin, USA. We used legacy soil datasets and environmental factors collected and estimated at different times across the state (169,639 km2) coupled with a machine-learning algorithm. The legacy soil datasets were collected from 1980 to 2002 from 550 soil profiles and harmonized to 0.30 m depth. The environmental factors consisted of 100-m soil property maps, 1-km annual temperature and precipitation maps, 250-m remote-sensing (i.e., Landsat)-derived yearly land cover maps and a 30-m digital elevation model. The model performance was moderate but can provide insights on understanding the impacts of different factors on SOCS changes across a large spatial and temporal extent. SOCS at the 0–0.30 m decreased at a rate of 0.1 ton ha−1 year−1 between 1850 and 1938 and increased at 0.2 ton ha−1 year−1 between 1980 and 2002. The spatial variation in SOCS at 0–0.30 m was mainly affected by land cover and soil types with the largest SOCS found in forest and wetland and Spodosols. The loss between 1850 and 1980 was most likely due to land cover change while the increase between 1980 and 2002 was due to best soil management practices (e.g., decreased erosion, reduced tillage, crop rotation and use of legume and cover crops).

2008 ◽  
Vol 91 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 317-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Eaton ◽  
Nicola M. McGoff ◽  
Kenneth A. Byrne ◽  
Paul Leahy ◽  
Ger Kiely

CATENA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Bouchoms ◽  
Zhengang Wang ◽  
Veerle Vanacker ◽  
Sebastian Doetterl ◽  
Kristof Van Oost

2012 ◽  
Vol 72 (3 suppl) ◽  
pp. 673-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
VD Pillar ◽  
CG Tornquist ◽  
C Bayer

The southern Brazilian grassland biome contains highly diverse natural ecosystems that have been used for centuries for grazing livestock and that also provide other important environmental services. Here we outline the main factors controlling ecosystem processes, review and discuss the available data on soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gases emissions from soils, and suggest opportunities for mitigation of climatic change. The research on carbon and greenhouse gases emissions in these ecosystems is recent and the results are still fragmented. The available data indicate that the southern Brazilian natural grassland ecosystems under adequate management contain important stocks of organic carbon in the soil, and therefore their conservation is relevant for the mitigation of climate change. Furthermore, these ecosystems show a great and rapid loss of soil organic carbon when converted to crops based on conventional tillage practices. However, in the already converted areas there is potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by using cropping systems based on no soil tillage and cover-crops, and the effect is mainly related to the potential of these crop systems to accumulate soil organic carbon in the soil at rates that surpass the increased soil nitrous oxide emissions. Further modelling with these results associated with geographic information systems could generate regional estimates of carbon balance.


2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. Roxburgh ◽  
B. G. Mackey ◽  
C. Dean ◽  
L. Randall ◽  
A. Lee ◽  
...  

A woodland–open forest landscape within the Brigalow Belt South bioregion of Queensland, Australia, was surveyed for soil organic carbon, soil bulk density and soil-surface fine-litter carbon. Soil carbon stocks to 30 cm depth across 14 sites, spanning a range of soil and vegetation complexes, ranged from 10.7 to 61.8 t C/ha, with an overall mean of 36.2 t C/ha. Soil carbon stocks to 100 cm depth ranged from 19.4 to 150.5 t C/ha, with an overall mean of 72.9 t C/ha. The standing stock of fine litter ranged from 1.0 to 7.0 t C/ha, with a mean of 2.6 t C/ha, and soil bulk density averaged 1.4 g/cm3 at the soil surface, and 1.6 g/cm3 at 1 m depth. These results contribute to the currently sparse database of soil organic carbon and bulk density measurements in uncultivated soils within Australian open forests and woodlands. The estimates of total soil organic carbon stock calculated to 30 cm depth were further partitioned into resistant plant material (RPM), humus (HUM), and inert organic matter (IOM) pools using diffuse mid-infrared (MIR) analysis. Prediction of the HUM and RPM pools using the RothC soil carbon model agreed well with the MIR measurements, confirming the suitability of RothC for modelling soil organic carbon in these soils. Methods for quantifying soil organic carbon at landscape scales were also explored, and a new regression-based technique for estimating soil carbon stocks from simple field-measured soil attributes has been proposed. The results of this study are discussed with particular reference to the difficulties encountered in the collection of the data, their limitations, and opportunities for the further development of methods for quantifying soil organic carbon at landscape scales.


Soil Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 615 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Cotching ◽  
G. Oliver ◽  
M. Downie ◽  
R. Corkrey ◽  
R. B. Doyle

The effects of environmental parameters, land-use history, and management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations, nitrogen, and bulk density were determined in agricultural soils of four soil types in Tasmania. The sites sampled were Dermosols, Vertosols, Ferrosols, and a group of texture-contrast soils (Chromosol and Sodosol) each with a 10-year management history ranging from permanent perennial pasture to continuous cropping. Rainfall, Soil Order, and land use were all strong explanatory variables for differences in SOC, soil carbon stock, total nitrogen, and bulk density. Cropping sites had 29–35% less SOC in surface soils (0–0.1 m) than pasture sites as well as greater bulk densities. Clay-rich soils contained the greatest carbon stocks to 0.3 m depth under pasture, with Ferrosols containing a mean of 158 Mg C ha–1, Vertosols 112 Mg C ha–1, and Dermosols 107 Mg C ha–1. Texture-contrast soils with sandier textured topsoils under pasture had a mean of 69 Mg C ha–1. The range of values in soil carbon stocks indicates considerable uncertainty in baseline values for use in soil carbon accounting. Farmers can influence SOC more by their choice of land use than their day-to-day soil management. Although the influence of management is not as great as other inherent site variables, farmers can still select practices for their ability to retain more SOC.


Author(s):  
Mieja Razafindrakoto ◽  
Andry Andriamananjara ◽  
Tantely Razafimbelo ◽  
Jennifer Hewson ◽  
Riana H. Andrisoa ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Don ◽  
Christina Hagen ◽  
Erik Grüneberg ◽  
Cora Vos

<p>Soil disturbance and disruption is assumed to enhance mineralisation and cause losses of soil organic carbon. Therefore, no tillage is promoted as soil carbon sequestration measure. However, the experimental evidence of enhanced carbon turnover due to soil disturbance is rare.  We investigated soil disturbance in forest ecosystems with simulated bioturbation of wild boar. Wild boar are effective at mixing and grubbing in the soil and wild boar populations are increasing dramatically in many parts of the world. In a six-year field study, we investigated the effect of wild boar bioturbation on the stocks and stability of soil organic carbon in two forest areas at 23 plots. The organic layer and mineral soil down to 15 cm depth were sampled in the disturbed plots and adjacent undisturbed reference plots.</p><p>No significant changes in soil organic carbon stocks were detected in the bioturbation plots compared with non-disturbed reference plots. However, around 50% of forest floor carbon was transferred with bioturbation to mineral soil carbon and the stock of stabilised mineral-associated carbon increased by 28%. Thus, a large proportion of the labile carbon in the forest floor was transformed into more stable carbon. Carbon saturation of mineral surfaces was not detected, but carbon loading per unit mineral surface increased by on average 66% due to bioturbation. This indicates that mineral forest soils have non-used capacity to stabilise and store more carbon.</p><p>Our results indicate that soil disturbance and bioturbation alone does not affect soil carbon turnover and stocks, but only change the distribution of carbon in the soil profile. This is in line with results from no-tillage experiments. The prevailing effect is a redistribution of carbon in the soil profile with no changes in total soil carbon stocks. We discuss these findings in the light of soils as potential sinks for carbon.</p><p> </p>


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