Tag: soil carbon sequestration

Helena Soinne, Matti Hyyrynen, Medilė Jokubė, Riikka Keskinen, Jari Hyväluoma, Sampo Pihlainen, Kari Hyytiäinen, Arttu Miettinen, Kimmo Rasa, Riitta Lemola, Eetu Virtanen, Jussi Heinonsalo, Jaakko Heikkinen IN: Journal of Environmental Management, 352, 119945, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119945

The authors used agronomic soil test results representing c. 95% of the farmed land area in Finland to estimate the potential of the uppermost 15 cm soil layer of mineral agricultural soils to sequester organic carbon (OC) and to contribute to the mitigation of climate change. The estimation of the maximum capacity of mineral matter to protect OC in stable mineral-associated form was based on the theory that clay and fine-sized (fines = clay + silt) particles have a limited capacity to protect OC. In addition, they used the clay/OC and fines/OC ratios to identify areas with a risk of erosion and reduced productivity, thus indicating priority areas potentially benefitting from the increased soil OC contents. 

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Zongwei Zhang, Junqi Li, Zihan Wang, Haonan Liu, Keheng Wei IN: Water, Air & Soil Pollution 235, 47, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06832-5

The sustainable aviation fuel raw material planting process will inevitably cause carbon emissions from induced land use change. However, limited by the regional specificity of energy plants, the ILUC emissions value of SAF is less considerable in the case of soil carbon sequestration during the raw material planting process. Therefore, this study used the CENTURY model to predict the carbon sequestration of soil in Jatropha plantations and compared it with the preparation of aviation fuel from soybean oil. 

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Zhuoxi Chen, Shuo Han, Zhijie Dong, Hongbo Li, Aiping Zhang IN: GCB-Bioenergy, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.13116

Here, the life cycle assessment method was used to quantify the carbon footprint (CF) and net ecosystem economic benefits (NEEB) of paddy fields under different biochar and nitrogen fertilizer application rates in 7 years. Three biochar rates of 0 (B0), 4.5 (B1) and 13.5 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ (B2) and two nitrogen fertilizer rates of 0 (N0) and 300 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ (N) were set.

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Sonja G. Keel, Daniel Bretscher, Jens Leifeld, Albert von Ow, Chloé Wüst-Galley IN: Carbon Management, 14, https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2244456

Improving soil management to enhance soil carbon sequestration (SCS)—a cost-efficient carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal approach—can result in co-benefits or trade-offs. Here the authors address this issue by setting up a modeling framework for Switzerland that combines soil carbon (C) storage, food production and agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The link to food production is crucial because crop types and livestock numbers influence soil organic C (SOC) stocks, through soil C inputs from plants and manure. They estimated SCS rates for the years 2020–2050 for three scenarios, each with two variants for biochar: cover cropping, biochar addition and agroforestry-biochar addition.

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Meine van Noordwijk, Ermias Aynekulu, Renske Hijbeek, Eleanor Milne, Budiman Minasny, Danny Dwi Saputra IN: Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 48, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112621-083121

The few percent of soil organic carbon (SOC) among mineral components form the interface of climate, plant growth, soil biological processes, physical transport infrastructure, and chemical transformations. The authors explore maps, models, myths, motivation, means of implementation, and modalities for transformation. Theories of place relate geographic variation in SOC to climate, soil types, land cover, and profile depth. Process-level theories of biophysical change and socioeconomic theories of induced change explain SOC transitions that follow from land use change when a declining curve is bent and recovery toward SOC saturation starts.

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Morgan J. Schmidt, Samuel L. Goldberg, Michael Heckenberger, Carlos Fausto, Bruna Franchetto, Jennifer Watling, Helena Lima, Bruno Moraes, Wetherbee B. Dorshow, Joshua Toney, Yamalui Kuikuro, Kumessi Waura, Huke Kuikuro, Taku Wate Kuikuro, Takumã Kuikuro, Yahila Kuikuro, Afukaka Kuikuro, Wenceslau Teixeira, Bruna Rocha, Vinicius Honorato, Hugo Tavares, Marcos Magalhães, Carlos Augusto Barbosa, João Aires da Fonseca, Kelton Mendes, Luís Reynaldo Ferracciú Alleoni, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri, Manuel Arroyo-Kalin, Eduardo Neves, Taylor Perron IN: Science Advances 9 (38), DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh8499

Fertile soil known as Amazonian dark earth is central to the debate over the size and ecological impact of ancient human populations in the Amazon. Dark earth may also be a substantial carbon sink, but its spatial extent and carbon inventory are unknown. The authors demonstrate spatial and compositional similarities between ancient and modern dark earth and document modern Indigenous practices that enrich soil, which the authors use to propose a model for the formation of ancient dark earth. These practices also sequestered and stored carbon in the soil for centuries, and the authors show that some ancient sites contain as much carbon as the above-ground rainforest biomass.

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