Effect of Water and Rice Straw Management Practices on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks in a Double-Cropped Paddy Field

ABSTRACT

Water and rice straw (RS) management practices can potentially affect the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural soils. Field experiments were conducted in two consecutive rice-growing seasons (wet and dry) to evaluate SOC stocks under different water (continuous flooding [CF], alternate wetting and drying [AWD]) and RS management practices (RS incorporation [RS-I], RS burning [RS-B], without RS incorporation and burning [WRS]) in a double-cropped paddy field. RS-I under AWD had higher volumetric water content than the same RS management under CF at tillering in both growing seasons. Total SOC was significantly higher under AWD at tillering in both wet and dry seasons and after harvesting in the dry season compared with CF. The same trend was also observed for C:N ratio at tillering and after harvesting in the dry season. RS-B plots had lower SOC stocks than RS-I and WRS plots across most of the measuring periods regardless of the growing seasons. SOC stocks were 33.09 and 39.31 Mg/ha at RS-B and RS-I plots, respectively, in the wet season, whereas the respective values were 21.45 and 24.55 Mg/ha in the dry season. Incorporation of RS enhanced SOC stocks under AWD irrigation, especially in the dry season before planting. Soil incorporation of RS in combination with AWD could be a viable option to increase SOC stocks in the double-cropped rice production region as it is strongly linked with soil fertility and productivity. However, the environmental consequences of RS incorporation in irrigated lowland rice production system should be taken into consideration before its recommendation for paddy field on a large scale.     

Potential carbon stock in Japanese forest soils – simulated impact of forest management and climate change using the CENTURY model

Forest management and climate change may have a substantial impact on future soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks at the country scale. Potential SOC in Japanese forest soils was regionally estimated under nine forest managements and a climate change scenario using the CENTURY ecosystem model. Three rotations (30, 50, 100 yr) and three thinning regimes were tested: no‐thinning; 30% of the trees cut in the middle of the rotation (e.g. 15 year in a 30‐yr rotation) and thinned trees all left as litter or slash (ThinLef) and the trees from thinning removed from the forest (ThinRem). A climate change scenario was tested (ca. 3 °C increase in air temperature and 9% increase in precipitation). The model was run at 1 km resolution using climate, vegetation and soil databases. The estimated SOC stock ranged from 1600 to 1830 TgC (from 6800 to 7800 gC/m²), and the SOC stock was largest with the longest rotation and was largest under ThinLef with all three rotations. Despite an increase in net primary production, the SOC stock decreased by 5% under the climate change scenario.     

Effects of shade,altitude and management on multiple ecosystem services in coffee agroecosystems

Agroforestry systems provide diverse ecosystem services that contribute to farmer livelihoods and the conservation of natural resources. Despite these known benefits, there is still limited understanding on how shade trees affect the provision of multiple ecosystem services at the same time and the potential trade-offs or synergies among them. To fill this knowledge gap, we quantified four major ecosystem services (regulation of pests and diseases; provisioning of agroforestry products; maintenance of soil fertility; and carbon sequestration) in 69 coffee agroecosystems belonging to smallholder farmers under a range of altitudes (as representative of environmental conditions) and management conditions, in the region of Turrialba, Costa Rica. We first analyzed the individual effects of altitude, types of shade and management intensity and their interactions on the provision of ecosystem services. In order to identify potential trade-offs and synergies, we then analyzed bivariate relationships between different ecosystem services, and between individual ecosystem services and plant biodiversity. We also explored which types of shade provided better levels of ecosystem services. The effectiveness of different types of shade in providing ecosystem services depended on their interactions with altitude and coffee management, with different ecosystem services responding differently to these factors. No trade-offs were found among the different ecosystem services studied or between ecosystem services and biodiversity, suggesting that it is possible to increase the provision of multiple ecosystem services at the same time. Overall, both low and highly diversified coffee agroforestry systems had better ability to provide ecosystem services than coffee monocultures in full sun. Based on our findings, we suggest that coffee agroforestry systems should be designed with diversified, productive shade canopies and managed with a medium intensity of cropping practices, with the aim of ensuring the continued provision of multiple ecosystem services.     

Three decades following afforestation are sufficient to yield δ13C depth profiles

Vertical gradients in stable carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) in soil profiles can serve to approximate decomposition of organic matter under field conditions. This study tested the time (0, 30, and ≥ 150 y) required for the development of vertical δ¹³C profiles in topsoil by comparing arable, afforested and continuously forested sites, and showed that three decades following afforestation of former cropland are sufficient to develop distinct δ¹³C depth profiles.     

Stability of co‐composted hydrochar and biochar under field conditions in a temperate soil

Hydrothermally converted biomass (hydrochar) is evaluated as a carbon‐rich soil amendment in addition to pyrogenic biochar. After assessing the suitability of hydrochar for use in agriculture, its environmental safety and comparing its chemistry with that of biochar, we describe a field trial established at Halle (Germany) under natural conditions for a temperate climate and without further external management practices. The main objective of our study was to analyse the stability and hence the C sequestration potential of composted chars over a period of 2 years. Four treatments (no amendment control, compost, co‐composted hydrochar and co‐composted biochar) in fourfold field replication were chosen to make a direct comparison of biochar and hydrochar under field conditions. The total organic carbon and total N increased in all treatments in comparison with the control but only in biochar‐amended treatments were N concentrations more stable. Composted biochar showed significantly more black carbon content in topsoil, sampled some months after application, compared with all other treatments. We show that hydrochar is less suitable for long‐term C sequestration in comparison with biochar but has potential for soil amelioration because it delivers essential nutrients. On the other hand, biochar is richer in polyaromatic C than hydrochar and therefore is more stable in the long term. We assessed biochar stability using the black carbon analysis of the different soil samples.     

Efficiently mapping an appropriate thinning schedule for optimum carbon sequestration: An application of multi-segment goal programming

Thinning is an important strategy for carbon sequestration in forest management. Linear programming (LP) and goal programming (GP) can only set fixed parameters for the left hand side constraints, which are incapable of simulating different thinning intensities at thinned stands to map an appropriate thinning schedule for optimum carbon sequestration efficiently. However, multi-segment goal programming (MSGP) with the flexibility to set multi-level parameters can be applied by forest managers to quickly choose an appropriate level from different thinning intensities.The purpose of this study was to combine MSGP with LP to efficiently adopt thinned area and thinning intensity together as decision variables. In a demonstrated case, an appropriate thinning schedule for three age-classes was chosen from 768 combinations of thinning intensity in just one step. Each age-class was allocated well such as practicing medium thinning intensity on young age-class and strong thinning intensity on the old age-class. Totally 1379643.03 tons of carbon sequestration was obtained after two planning horizons, which was 34.75% higher than no thinning. Besides, a stable supply of wood form thinning is made for carbon sequestration in each period and the stocking of each age-class is also improved.     

草地对全球气候变化的响应及其碳汇潜势研究

 本研究用综合顺序分类法（ＣＳＣＳ）分析了１９５０－２０００年和２００１－２０５０年期间的草原类型演替及碳汇动态。证明中国草地的碳汇主体依次是冻原和高山草地、温带湿润草地、斯泰普草地和半荒漠草地大类,占中国潜在草地总面积的８５．５２％,年碳汇潜力占中国潜在草地年碳汇潜力的９３．２９％。全球草地的碳汇主体是萨王纳、冻原和高山草地大类,两者的面积和占全球潜在草地总面积的４８．５０％,年碳汇潜力占全球潜在草地年碳汇潜力的７２．２２％。在全球气候暖干化的强（Ａ２ａ）、弱（Ｂ２ａ）情景下,与当前（１９５０－２０００年）情景相比,中国将呈现草地面积减少,林地面积增加的态势;与中国的趋势相反,全球将呈现草地面积增加,林地面积减少的态势。在全球暖干化的Ａ２ａ和Ｂ２ａ模式下,草地年碳汇潜力,中国将分别提升１４．６％和１８．５％,全球将分别提升１７．３％ 和１６．８％。但两者的增长方式不同,全球是以温带湿润草地大类年碳汇潜力大幅增加为特征,而中国是以负增长为特征。我国的暖干化趋势在草地年碳汇潜力上的反映较之全球更强烈。尽管造成全球气候暖干化的自然因素远非人力所能控制,但系统问题只能靠系统综合的办法治理。这是草地工作者当前的使命。     

半干旱区县域农田土壤有机碳固存速率及影响因素——以甘肃庄浪县为例

通过对甘肃省庄浪县梯田土壤采样分析,结合第二次土壤普查及庄浪县耕地质量评价数据,估算梯田土壤固碳速率并分析其影响因素。结果表明: 1）该县农田土壤沟谷台地的有机碳含量最高,沟谷、 梁峁坡地次之,沟谷川坪地有机碳最低,不同地形有机碳含量差异显著（P0.05）; 2）80% 的样点土壤有机碳含量在6.0~11.0 g/kg之间,总体上020 cm农田土壤有机碳含量呈现正态分布,剖面有机碳含量从上至下呈逐渐递减规律; 3）现阶段庄浪县020 cm农田土壤有机碳密度为20.02 t/hm2,低于全国耕层土壤有机碳密度平均水平（33.45 t/hm2）,近30年020 cm 土壤固碳速率为C 63 kg /(hm2a),近5年固碳速率为 C 26 kg /(hm2a); 4）在半干旱区县域尺度上,地形部位可解释43%的有机碳变异性,有机肥、 坡向和田面坡度三者之和可解释47.1% 的有机碳变异性,土壤类型可解释9.9% 的有机碳变异性。综合分析表明,庄浪县农田土壤有机碳密度在过去30年间呈增加趋势,可能与庄浪县在60年代开始的大规模梯田建设和水土流失治理有关。     

施肥对喀斯特地区植草土壤活性有机碳组分和牧草固碳的影响

通过盆栽试验,研究施肥对喀斯特地区植草土壤不同活性有机碳组分和牧草固碳的影响。试验处理包括CK（不施肥）、 N1 （N 150 mg/kg）、 N2 （N 250 mg/kg）、 N1P1 （P2O5100 mg/kg）、 N2P2 （P2O5150 mg/kg）、 N1P1K1 （K2O 70 mg/kg）、 N1P1K2 （K2O 105 mg/kg）和N2P2K1和N2P2K2。结果表明,与对照（不施肥）相比,施肥处理增加植草土壤有机碳、 微生物量碳和易氧化碳,有机碳日矿化量和累积矿化量以及牧草固碳量。其中N1P1K1处理土壤有机碳和易氧化碳最高,N1P1处理土壤微生物量碳最高,N2P2K1处理土壤可溶性碳最高,N2P2K2处理牧草地上部及根系固碳量、 有机碳日矿化量和累积矿化量均最高。综上,低量氮磷钾肥配施有利于土壤活性有机碳的积累,高量氮磷钾平衡配施牧草固碳效果最佳。     

Long‐term cropping systems and tillage management effects on soil organic carbon stock and steady state level of C sequestration rates in a semiarid environment

A calcareous and clayey xeric Chromic Haploxerept of a long‐term experimental site in Sicily (Italy) was sampled (0–15 cm depth) under different land use management and cropping systems (CSs) to study their effect on soil aggregate stability and organic carbon (SOC). The experimental site had three tillage managements (no till [NT], dual‐layer [DL] and conventional tillage [CT]) and two CSs (durum wheat monocropping [W] and durum wheat/faba bean rotation [WB]). The annually sequestered SOC with W was 2·75‐times higher than with WB. SOC concentrations were also higher. Both NT and CT management systems were the most effective in SOC sequestration whereas with DL system no C was sequestered. The differences in SOC concentrations between NT and CT were surprisingly small. Cumulative C input of all cropping and tillage systems and the annually sequestered SOC indicated that a steady state occurred at a sequestration rate of 7·4 Mg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. Independent of the CSs, most of the SOC was stored in the silt and clay fraction. This fraction had a high N content which is typical for organic matter interacting with minerals. Macroaggregates (>250 µm) and large microaggregates (75–250 µm) were influenced by the treatments whereas the finest fractions were not. DL reduced the SOC in macroaggregates while NT and CT gave rise to higher SOC contents. In Mediterranean areas with Vertisols, agricultural strategies aimed at increasing the SOC contents should probably consider enhancing the proportion of coarser soil fractions so that, in the short‐term, organic C can be accumulated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.