Estimating the Global Influence of Cover Crops on Ecosystem Service Indicators in Croplands With the LPJ-GUESS Model
(2023) In Earth's Future 11(5).- Abstract
Cover crops (CCs) can improve soil nutrient retention and crop production while providing climate change mitigation co-benefits. However, quantifying these ecosystem services across global agricultural lands remains inadequate. Here, we assess how the use of herbaceous CCs with and without biological nitrogen (N) fixation affects agricultural soil carbon stocks, N leaching, and crop yields, using the dynamic global vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The model performance is evaluated with observations from worldwide field trials and modeled output further compared against previously published large-scale estimates. LPJ-GUESS broadly captures the enhanced soil carbon, reduced N leaching, and yield changes that are observed in the field.... (More)
Cover crops (CCs) can improve soil nutrient retention and crop production while providing climate change mitigation co-benefits. However, quantifying these ecosystem services across global agricultural lands remains inadequate. Here, we assess how the use of herbaceous CCs with and without biological nitrogen (N) fixation affects agricultural soil carbon stocks, N leaching, and crop yields, using the dynamic global vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The model performance is evaluated with observations from worldwide field trials and modeled output further compared against previously published large-scale estimates. LPJ-GUESS broadly captures the enhanced soil carbon, reduced N leaching, and yield changes that are observed in the field. Globally, we found that combining N-fixing CCs with no-tillage technique could potentially increase soil carbon levels by 7% (+0.32 Pg C yr−1 in global croplands) while reducing N leaching loss by 41% (−7.3 Tg N yr−1) compared with fallow controls after 36 years of simulation since 2015. This integrated practice is accompanied by a 2% of increase in total crop production (+37 million tonnes yr−1 including wheat, maize, rice, and soybean) in the last decade of the simulation. The identified effects of CCs on crop productivity vary widely among main crop types and N fertilizer applications, with small yield changes found in soybean systems and highly fertilized agricultural soils. Our results demonstrate the possibility of conservation agriculture when targeting long-term environmental sustainability without compromising crop production in global croplands.
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- author
- Ma, Jianyong ; Anthoni, Peter LU ; Olin, Stefan LU ; Rabin, Sam S. ; Bayer, Anita D. ; Xia, Longlong and Arneth, Almut LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- conservation agriculture, cover crops, crop yields, dynamic vegetation model, nitrogen leaching, soil carbon sequestration
- in
- Earth's Future
- volume
- 11
- issue
- 5
- article number
- e2022EF003142
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85160420012
- ISSN
- 2328-4277
- DOI
- 10.1029/2022EF003142
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1401c34e-8120-432b-9477-8ad7681a7879
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-23 13:11:04
- date last changed
- 2023-08-23 13:11:04
@article{1401c34e-8120-432b-9477-8ad7681a7879,
abstract = {{<p>Cover crops (CCs) can improve soil nutrient retention and crop production while providing climate change mitigation co-benefits. However, quantifying these ecosystem services across global agricultural lands remains inadequate. Here, we assess how the use of herbaceous CCs with and without biological nitrogen (N) fixation affects agricultural soil carbon stocks, N leaching, and crop yields, using the dynamic global vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The model performance is evaluated with observations from worldwide field trials and modeled output further compared against previously published large-scale estimates. LPJ-GUESS broadly captures the enhanced soil carbon, reduced N leaching, and yield changes that are observed in the field. Globally, we found that combining N-fixing CCs with no-tillage technique could potentially increase soil carbon levels by 7% (+0.32 Pg C yr<sup>−1</sup> in global croplands) while reducing N leaching loss by 41% (−7.3 Tg N yr<sup>−1</sup>) compared with fallow controls after 36 years of simulation since 2015. This integrated practice is accompanied by a 2% of increase in total crop production (+37 million tonnes yr<sup>−1</sup> including wheat, maize, rice, and soybean) in the last decade of the simulation. The identified effects of CCs on crop productivity vary widely among main crop types and N fertilizer applications, with small yield changes found in soybean systems and highly fertilized agricultural soils. Our results demonstrate the possibility of conservation agriculture when targeting long-term environmental sustainability without compromising crop production in global croplands.</p>}},
author = {{Ma, Jianyong and Anthoni, Peter and Olin, Stefan and Rabin, Sam S. and Bayer, Anita D. and Xia, Longlong and Arneth, Almut}},
issn = {{2328-4277}},
keywords = {{conservation agriculture; cover crops; crop yields; dynamic vegetation model; nitrogen leaching; soil carbon sequestration}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Earth's Future}},
title = {{Estimating the Global Influence of Cover Crops on Ecosystem Service Indicators in Croplands With the LPJ-GUESS Model}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003142}},
doi = {{10.1029/2022EF003142}},
volume = {{11}},
year = {{2023}},
}