• Authors:
    • Paustian, K.
    • Williams, S.
    • Easter, M.
    • Breidt, F. J.
    • Ogle, S. M.
  • Source: Ecological Modelling
  • Volume: 205
  • Issue: 3-4
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Simulation modelling is used to estimate C sequestration associated with agricultural management for purposes of greenhouse gas mitigation. Models are not completely accurate or precise estimators of C pools, however, due to insufficient knowledge and imperfect conceptualizations about ecosystem processes, leading to uncertainty in the results. It can be difficult to quantify the uncertainty using traditional error propagation techniques, such as Monte Carlo Analyses, because of the structural complexity of simulation models. Empirically based methods provide an alternative to the error propagation techniques, and our objective was to apply this alternative approach. Specifically, we developed a linear mixed-effect model to quantify both bias and variance in modeled soil C stocks that were estimated using the Century ecosystem simulation model. The statistical analysis was based on measurements from 47 agricultural experiments. A significant relationship was found between model results and measurements although there were biases and imprecision in the modeled estimates. Century under-estimated soil C stocks for several management practices, including organic amendments, no-till adoption, and inclusion of hay or pasture in rotation with annual crops. Century also over-estimated the impact of N fertilization on soil C stocks. For lands set-aside from agricultural production, Century under-estimated soil C stocks on low carbon soils and over-estimated the stocks on high carbon soils. Using an empirically based approach allows for simulation model results to be adjusted for biases as well as quantify the variance associated with modeled estimates, according to the measured "reality" of management impacts from a network of experimental sites.
  • Authors:
    • MacPherson, J. I.
    • Grant, B.
    • Smith, W.
    • Pennock, D. J.
    • Desjardins, R. L.
    • Edwards, G. C.
    • Pattey, E.
  • Source: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
  • Volume: 142
  • Issue: 2-4
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: The importance of constraining the global budget of nitrous oxide (N2O) has been well established. The current global estimate of the contribution of N2O to total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is about 69%. Considerable progress has been made over the past few years in developing tools for quantifying the emissions from agricultural sources, at the local and field scale (i.e., chamber and tower-based measurements) as well as at the landscape and regional levels (i.e., aircraft-based measurement and modelling). However, aggregating these emissions over space and time remains a challenge because of the high degree of temporal and spatial variability. Emissions of N2O in temperate climate are largely event driven, e.g., in Eastern Canada, large emissions are observed right after snowmelt. The average emissions during the snowmelt period vary considerably, reflecting the influence of many controlling factors. Cumulative emissions reported here range from 0.05 kg N2O-N ha-1 in Western Canada to 1.26 kg N2O-N ha-1in Eastern Canada, values that reflect differences in climatic zones and fertilizer management practices. This paper describes the tools for refining the global N2O budget and provides examples of measurements at various scales. Tower-based and aircraft measurement platforms provide good data for quantifying the variability associated with the measurements. Chamber-based methods lack the temporal and spatial resolution required to follow the event driven nature of N2O fluxes but provide valuable information for evaluating management practices. The model DeNitrification and DeComposition is an example of a technique to estimate N2O emissions when no data is available.
  • Authors:
    • Valentini, R.
    • Tubaf, Z.
    • Sutton, M.
    • Manca, G.
    • Stefani, P.
    • Skiba, U.
    • Rees, R. M.
    • Baronti, S.
    • Raschi, A.
    • Neftel, A.
    • Nagy, Z.
    • Martin, C.
    • Kasper, G.
    • Jones, M.
    • Horvath, L.
    • Hensen, A.
    • Fuhrer, J.
    • Flechard, C.
    • Domingues, R.
    • Czobel, S.
    • Clifton-Brown, J.
    • Ceschia, E.
    • Campbell, C.
    • Amman, C.
    • Ambus, P.
    • Pilegaard, K.
    • Allard, V.
    • Soussana, J. F.
  • Source: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
  • Volume: 121
  • Issue: 1-2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: The full greenhouse gas balance of nine contrasted grassland sites covering a major climatic gradient over Europe was measured during two complete years. The sites include a wide range of management regimes (rotational grazing, continuous grazing and mowing), the three main types of managed grasslands across Europe (sown, intensive permanent and semi-natural grassland) and contrasted nitrogen fertilizer supplies. At all sites, the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 was assessed using the eddy covariance technique. N2O emissions were monitored using various techniques (GC-cuvette systems, automated chambers and tunable diode laser) and CH4 emissions resulting from enteric fermentation of the grazing cattle were measured in situ at four sites using the SF6 tracer method. Averaged over the two measurement years, net ecosystem exchange (NEE) results show that the nine grassland plots displayed a net sink for atmospheric CO2 of -240 +/- 70 g C m(-2) year(-1) (mean confidence interval at p > 0.95). Because of organic C exports (from cut and removed herbage) being usually greater than C imports (from manure spreading), the average C storage (net biome productivity, NBP) in the grassland plots was estimated at -104 +/- 73 g cm(-2) year(-1) that is 43% of the atmospheric CO2 sink. On average of the 2 years, the grassland plots displayed annual N2O and CH4 (from enteric fermentation by grazing cattle) emissions, in CO2-C equivalents, of 14 +/- 4.7 and 32 +/- 6.8 g CO2-C equiv. m(-2) year(-1), respectively. Hence, when expressed in CO2-C equivalents, emissions of N2O and CH4 resulted in a 19% offset of the NEE sink activity. An attributed GHG balance has been calculated by subtracting from the NBP: (i) N2O and CH4 emissions occurring within the grassland plot and (ii) off-site emissions of CO2 and CH4 as a result of the digestion and enteric fermentation by cattle of the cut herbage. On average of the nine sites, the attributed GHG balance was not significantly different from zero (-85 +/- 77 g CO2-C equiv. m(-2) year(-1)).
  • Authors:
    • McConkey, B. G.
    • Angers, D. A.
    • Gregorich, E. G.
    • VandenBygaart, A. J.
  • Source: Canadian Journal of Soil Science
  • Volume: 87
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Accurate predictions of changes in soil organic matter are difficult, at least in part, because of the lack of precision in measurements of soil organic carbon (SOC). This lack of precision is mostly due to the spatial variability in SOC that occurs with depth through the profile and laterally across the soil surface. The objective of this study was to assess the lateral and vertical variability of SOC in several pedologically distinct agricultural soils across Canada. Our goal was to determine the effect of different sampling methods on the precision of SOC measurements, namely: the effect of sampling either by fixed depth or by genetic soil horizon, the influence of compositing samples from different depth increments, and the number of cores required for a minimum detectable difference. Soils were sampled in increments down to 60 cm using a 4 x 3 m grid at six sites: two each from Ontario (Gleysol and Melanic Brunisol), Quebec (Humic Gleysol and Humo Ferric Podzol) and Saskatchewan (Dark Brown Chernozem). At four of the six sites, sampling by genetic soil horizon appeared to increase the precision of SOC measurements, but only when the surface 30 cm of the soil profile was considered. At the other two sites (soil types: Gleysol and Melanic Brunisol) sampling by fixed depth increments was more effective for increasing the precision of SOC measurements than sampling by genetic horizon. The effect of compositing samples from different depth increments had little influence on the precision of SOC measurements for all six soil types. These results suggest that sampling more than two depth increments per soil core has limited advantages for increasing statistical power to detect change in SOC. The high background SOC levels in the Gleysol soil would require a large number of soil cores in order to detect a small change in SOC such as that which would occur in a typical monitoring project. The Chernozem soils had lower spatial variability in SOC than the soil types in eastern Canada. Determining a statistically significant change in SOC of 5 Mg ha(-1) would be difficult with the sampling design used in this study.
  • Authors:
    • Venterea, R. T.
  • Source: Global Change Biology
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 8
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Nitrite (NO2-) can accumulate during nitrification in soil following fertilizer application. While the role of NO2- as a substrate regulating nitrous oxide (N2O) production is recognized, kinetic data are not available that allow for estimating N2O production or soil-to-atmosphere fluxes as a function of NO2- levels under aerobic conditions. The current study investigated these kinetics as influenced by soil physical and biochemical factors in soils from cultivated and uncultivated fields in Minnesota, USA. A linear response of N2O production rate (PN2O)toNO2- was observed at concentrations below 60 ugNg-1 soil in both nonsterile and sterilized soils. Rate coefficients (Kp) relating PN2O to NO2- varied over two orders of magnitude and were correlated with pH, total nitrogen, and soluble and total carbon (C). Total C explained 84% of the variance in Kp across all samples. Abiotic processes accounted for 31-75% of total N2O production. Biological reduction of NO2- was enhanced as oxygen (O2) levels were decreased from above ambient to 5%, consistent with nitrifier denitrification. In contrast, nitrate (NO3-)-reduction, and the reduction of N2O itself, were only stimulated at O2 levels below 5%. Greater temperature sensitivity was observed for biological compared with chemical N2O production. Steady-state model simulations predict that NO2 - levels often found after fertilizer applications have the potential to generate substantial N2O fluxes even at ambient O2. This potential derives in part from the production of N2O under conditions not favorable for N2O reduction, in contrast to N2O generated from NO3- reduction. These results have implications with regard to improved management to minimize agricultural N2O emissions and improved emissions assessments.
  • Authors:
    • Worth, D.
    • Desjardins, R. L.
    • Dyer, J. A.
    • VergĂ©, X. P. C.
  • Source: Agricultural Systems
  • Volume: 94
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: In order to demonstrate the impact of an increase in production efficiency on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is important to estimate the combined methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of production. In this study, we calculated the GHG emissions from the Canadian dairy industry in 2001 as a fraction of the milk production and per dairy animal. Five regions were defined according to the importance of the dairy industry. N2O and CO2 emissions are directly linked with areas allocated to the dairy crop complex which includes only the crop areas used to feed dairy cattle. The dairy crop complex was scaled down from sector-wide crop areas using the ratios of dairy diet to national crop production of each crop type. Both fertilizer application and on-farm energy consumption were similarly scaled down from sector-wide estimates to the dairy crop complex in each region. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology, adapted for Canadian conditions, was used to calculate CH4 and N2O emissions. Most of the CO2 emission estimates were derived from a Fossil Fuel for Farm Fieldwork Energy and Emissions model except for the energy used to manufacture fertilizers. Methane was estimated to be the main source of GHG, totalling 5.75 Tg CO2 eq with around 80% coming from enteric fermentation and 20% coming from manure management. Nitrous oxide emissions were equal to 3.17 Tg CO2 eq and carbon dioxide emissions were equal to 1.45 Tg. The GHG emissions per animal were 4.55 Mg CO2 eq. On an intensity basis, average GHG emissions were 1.0 kg CO2 eq/kg milk. Methane emissions per kg of milk were estimated at 19.3 l CH4/kg milk which is in agreement with Canadian field measurements.
  • Authors:
    • Adee, E. A.
    • Nafziger ,E. D.
    • Hoeft, R. G.
    • Lal, R.
    • Jagadamma, S.
  • Source: Soil & Tillage Research
  • Volume: 95
  • Issue: 1-2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Agricultural soils can be a major sink for atmospheric carbon (C) with adoption of recommended management practices (RMPs). Our objectives were to evaluate the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization and cropping systems on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N (TN) concentrations and pools. Replicated soil samples were collected in May 2004 to 90 cm depth from a 23-year-old experiment at the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center, Monmouth, IL. The SOC and TN concentrations and pools, soil bulk density (rho(b)) and soil C:N ratio were measured for five N rates [0 (N-0), 70 (N-1), 140 (N-2), 210 (N-3) and 280 (N-4) kg N ha(-1)] and two cropping systems [continuous corn (Zea mays L.) (CC), and corn-soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation (CS)]. Long-term N fertilization and cropping systems significantly influenced SOC concentrations and pools to 30 cm depth. The SOC pool in 0-30 cm depth ranged from 68.4 Mg ha(-1) for N-0 to 75.8 Mg ha(-1) for N-4. Across all N treatments, the SOC pool in 0-30 cm depth for CC was 4.7 Mg ha(-1) greater than for CS. Similarly, TN concentrations and pools were also significantly affected by N rates. The TN pool for 0-30 cm depth ranged from 5.36 Mg ha(-1) for N-0 to 6.14 Mg ha(-1) for N-4. In relation to cropping systems, the TN pool for 0-20 cm depth for CC was 0.4 Mg ha(-1) greater than for CS. The increase in SOC and TN pools with higher N rates is attributed to the increased amount of biomass production in CC and CS systems. Increasing N rates significantly decreased rho(b) for 0-30 cm and decreased the soil C:N ratio for 0-10 cm soil depth. However, none of the measured soil properties were significantly correlated with N rates and cropping systems below 30 cm, soil depth. We conclude that in the context of developing productive and environmentally sustainable agricultural systems on a site and soil specific basis, the results from this study is helpful to strengthening the database of management effects on SOC storage in the Mollisols of Midwestem U.S. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Boast, C. W.
    • Ellsworth, T. R.
    • Mulvaney, R. L.
    • Khan, S. A.
  • Source: Journal of Environmental Quality
  • Volume: 36
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Intensive use of N fertilizers in modern agriculture is motivated by the economic value of high grain yields and is generally perceived to sequester soil organic C by increasing the input of crop residues. This perception is at odds with a century of soil organic C data reported herein for Morrow Plots, the world's oldest experimental site under continuous corn (Zea mays L.). After 40 to 50 yr of synthetic fertilization that exceeded grain N removal by 60 to 190%, a net decline occurred in soil C despite increasingly massive residue C incorporation, the decline being more extensive for a corn-soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) or corn-oats (Avena sativa L.)-hay rotation than for continuous corn and of greater intensity for the profile (0-46 cm) than the surface soil. These findings implicate fertilizer N in promoting the decomposition of crop residues and soil organic matter and are consistent with data from numerous cropping experiments involving synthetic N fertilization in the USA Corn Belt and elsewhere, although not with the interpretation usually provided. These are important implications for soil C sequestration because the yield-based input of fertilizer N has commonly exceeded grain N removal for corn production on fertile soils since the 1960s. To mitigate the ongoing consequences of soil deterioration, atmospheric CO2 enrichment, and NO3- pollution of ground and surface waters, N fertilization should be managed by site-specific assessment of soil N availability. Current fertilizer N managment practices, if combined with corn stover removal for bioenergy production; exacerbate soil C loss.
  • Authors:
    • Kucharik, C. J.
  • Source: Soil Science Society of America Journal
  • Volume: 71
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) prairie restorations can sequester soil C and N, but the varied effects of soil order and ecosystem age are uncertain. Soil bulk density (Db) (0-20 cm) and soil organic C (SOC) and total N at 0 to 5, 5 to 10, and 10 to 25 cm were measured at 39 paired CRP-crop sites in Wisconsin to quantify SOC and N stock changes as a function of prairie age (4-16 yr) and soil order (Alfisols and Mollisols). Several important outcomes were found regarding land conversion to CRP: (i) soil Db decreased on Alfisols (-0.12 {+/-} 0.11 g cm-3, P < 0.0001) but not Mollisols; (ii) SOC sequestration rates were not significantly different between Mollisols (49.7 {+/-} 64 g C m-2 yr-1) and Alfisols (43.9 {+/-} 86 g C m-2 yr-1), but were only detectable (P < 0.05) in the upper 5 cm; (iii) whole SOC and N to a depth of 25 cm did not change significantly; (iv) the annual average SOC sequestration rate declined (P < 0.05) as prairie age increased (from 72 {+/-} 105 to 13 {+/-} 25 g C m-2 yr-1 for youngest to oldest age groupings); and (v) short-term SOC and N increases could be lost with time. These data suggest that there may be a discontinuity between the intensity of continuing management that is needed for sustained, long-term SOC increases in planted prairies and the resources that the CRP has available to achieve this level of ecosystem functioning.
  • Authors:
    • Paustian, K.
    • Capalbo, S.
    • Antle, J.
    • Gerow, K.
    • Mooney, S.
  • Source: Climatic Change
  • Volume: 80
  • Issue: 1-2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Several studies have suggested that geostatistical techniques could be employed to reduce overall transactions costs associated with contracting for soil C credits by increasing the efficacy of sampling protocols used to measure C-credits. In this paper, we show how information about the range of spatial autocorrelation can be used in a measurement scheme to reduce the size of the confidence intervals that bound estimates of the mean number of C-credits generated per hectare. A tighter confidence interval around the mean number of C-credits sequestered could increase producer payments for each hectare enrolled in a contract to supply C-credits. An empirical application to dry land cropping systems in three regions of Montana shows that information about the spatial autocorrelation exhibited by soil C could be extremely valuable for reducing transactions costs associated with contracts for C-credits but the benefits are not uniform across all regions or cropping systems. Accounting for spatial autocorrelation greatly reduced the standard errors and narrowed the confidence intervals associated with sample estimates of the mean number of C-credits produced per hectare. For the payment mechanism considered in this paper, tighter confidence intervals around the mean number of C-credits created per hectare enrolled could increase producer payments by more than 100 percent under a C-contract.