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Soil carbon management in large-scale Earth system modelling: implications for crop yields and nitrogen leaching

Olin, Stefan LU ; Lindeskog, Mats LU ; Pugh, T. A. M. LU ; Schurgers, G. ; Wårlind, David LU orcid ; Mishurov, Mikhail LU ; Zaehle, S. ; Stocker, B. D. ; Smith, Benjamin LU and Arneth, A. (2015) In Earth System Dynamics 6(2). p.745-768
Abstract
Croplands are vital ecosystems for human well-being and provide important ecosystem services such as crop yields, retention of nitrogen and carbon storage. On large (regional to global)-scale levels, assessment of how these different services will vary in space and time, especially in response to cropland management, are scarce. We explore cropland management alternatives and the effect these can have on future C and N pools and fluxes using the land-use-enabled dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS (Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator). Simulated crop production, cropland carbon storage, carbon sequestration and nitrogen leaching from croplands are evaluated and discussed. Compared to the version of LPJ-GUESS that does not include... (More)
Croplands are vital ecosystems for human well-being and provide important ecosystem services such as crop yields, retention of nitrogen and carbon storage. On large (regional to global)-scale levels, assessment of how these different services will vary in space and time, especially in response to cropland management, are scarce. We explore cropland management alternatives and the effect these can have on future C and N pools and fluxes using the land-use-enabled dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS (Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator). Simulated crop production, cropland carbon storage, carbon sequestration and nitrogen leaching from croplands are evaluated and discussed. Compared to the version of LPJ-GUESS that does not include land-use dynamics, estimates of soil carbon stocks and nitrogen leaching from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems were improved. Our model experiments allow us to investigate trade-offs between these ecosystem services that can be provided from agricultural fields. These trade-offs are evaluated for current land use and climate and further explored for future conditions within the two future climate change scenarios, RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 2.6 and 8.5. Our results show that the potential for carbon sequestration due to typical cropland management practices such as no-till management and cover crops proposed in previous studies is not realised, globally or over larger climatic regions. Our results highlight important considerations to be made when modelling C-N interactions in agricultural ecosystems under future environmental change and the effects these have on terrestrial biogeochemical cycles. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Earth System Dynamics
volume
6
issue
2
pages
745 - 768
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • wos:000365629400022
  • scopus:84948767348
ISSN
2190-4979
DOI
10.5194/esd-6-745-2015
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0e915f80-48ef-42e3-9b16-9cdc62914e7f (old id 8525953)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:03:14
date last changed
2023-03-09 05:17:01
@article{0e915f80-48ef-42e3-9b16-9cdc62914e7f,
  abstract     = {{Croplands are vital ecosystems for human well-being and provide important ecosystem services such as crop yields, retention of nitrogen and carbon storage. On large (regional to global)-scale levels, assessment of how these different services will vary in space and time, especially in response to cropland management, are scarce. We explore cropland management alternatives and the effect these can have on future C and N pools and fluxes using the land-use-enabled dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS (Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator). Simulated crop production, cropland carbon storage, carbon sequestration and nitrogen leaching from croplands are evaluated and discussed. Compared to the version of LPJ-GUESS that does not include land-use dynamics, estimates of soil carbon stocks and nitrogen leaching from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems were improved. Our model experiments allow us to investigate trade-offs between these ecosystem services that can be provided from agricultural fields. These trade-offs are evaluated for current land use and climate and further explored for future conditions within the two future climate change scenarios, RCP (Representative Concentration Pathway) 2.6 and 8.5. Our results show that the potential for carbon sequestration due to typical cropland management practices such as no-till management and cover crops proposed in previous studies is not realised, globally or over larger climatic regions. Our results highlight important considerations to be made when modelling C-N interactions in agricultural ecosystems under future environmental change and the effects these have on terrestrial biogeochemical cycles.}},
  author       = {{Olin, Stefan and Lindeskog, Mats and Pugh, T. A. M. and Schurgers, G. and Wårlind, David and Mishurov, Mikhail and Zaehle, S. and Stocker, B. D. and Smith, Benjamin and Arneth, A.}},
  issn         = {{2190-4979}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{745--768}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Earth System Dynamics}},
  title        = {{Soil carbon management in large-scale Earth system modelling: implications for crop yields and nitrogen leaching}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-745-2015}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/esd-6-745-2015}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}