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Soil greenhouse gas emissions from a sisal chronosequence in Kenya

Wachiye, Sheila ; Merbold, Lutz ; Vesala, Timo ; Rinne, Janne LU ; Leitner, Sonja ; Räsänen, Matti ; Vuorinne, Ilja ; Heiskanen, Janne and Pellikka, Petri (2021) In Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 307.
Abstract
Sisal (Agave sisalana) is a climate-resilient crop grown on large-scale farms in semi-arid areas. However, no studies have investigated soil greenhouse gas (GHGs: CO2, N2O and CH4) fluxes from these plantations and how they relate to other land cover types. We examined GHG fluxes (Fs) in a sisal chronosequence at Teita Sisal Estate
in southern Kenya. The effects of stand age on Fs were examined using static GHG chambers and gas chromatography for a period of one year in seven stands: young stands aged 1–3 years, mature stands aged 7–8 years, and old stands aged 13–14 years. Adjacent bushland served as a control site representing the surrounding land use type. Mean CO₂ fluxes were highest in the oldest stand (56 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1) and... (More)
Sisal (Agave sisalana) is a climate-resilient crop grown on large-scale farms in semi-arid areas. However, no studies have investigated soil greenhouse gas (GHGs: CO2, N2O and CH4) fluxes from these plantations and how they relate to other land cover types. We examined GHG fluxes (Fs) in a sisal chronosequence at Teita Sisal Estate
in southern Kenya. The effects of stand age on Fs were examined using static GHG chambers and gas chromatography for a period of one year in seven stands: young stands aged 1–3 years, mature stands aged 7–8 years, and old stands aged 13–14 years. Adjacent bushland served as a control site representing the surrounding land use type. Mean CO₂ fluxes were highest in the oldest stand (56 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1) and lowest in the 8-year old stand (38 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1), which we attribute to difference in root respiration between the stand. All stands had 13–28% higher CO₂ fluxes than bushland (32 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1). CO2 fluxes in the wet season were about 70% higher than dry season across all sites. They were influenced by soil water content (WS) and vegetation phenology. Mean N2O fluxes were very low (<5 μg N m-2 h-1) in all sites due to low soil nitrogen (N) content. About 89% of CH4 fluxes were below the detection limit (LOD ± 0.02 mg C m-2 h-1). Our results imply that sisal
plantations have higher soil CO2 emissions than the surrounding land use type, and the seasonal emissions were largely driven by WS and the vegetation status. Methane and nitrous oxide are of minor importance. Thus, soil GHG fluxes from sisal plantations are a minor contributor to agricultural GHG emissions in Kenya. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Carbon dioxide (CO2);, Static chamber, Land-use change, Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Soil moisture, Sub-Saharan Africa
in
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
volume
307
article number
108465
pages
15 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85107037009
ISSN
1873-2240
DOI
10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108465
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c066d839-185c-48f1-bcfa-23c0ebe7b1f4
date added to LUP
2021-12-01 18:13:40
date last changed
2022-04-27 06:11:16
@article{c066d839-185c-48f1-bcfa-23c0ebe7b1f4,
  abstract     = {{Sisal (Agave sisalana) is a climate-resilient crop grown on large-scale farms in semi-arid areas. However, no studies have investigated soil greenhouse gas (GHGs: CO2, N2O and CH4) fluxes from these plantations and how they relate to other land cover types. We examined GHG fluxes (Fs) in a sisal chronosequence at Teita Sisal Estate<br/>in southern Kenya. The effects of stand age on Fs were examined using static GHG chambers and gas chromatography for a period of one year in seven stands: young stands aged 1–3 years, mature stands aged 7–8 years, and old stands aged 13–14 years. Adjacent bushland served as a control site representing the surrounding land use type. Mean CO₂ fluxes were highest in the oldest stand (56 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1) and lowest in the 8-year old stand (38 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1), which we attribute to difference in root respiration between the stand. All stands had 13–28% higher CO₂ fluxes than bushland (32 ± 3 mg C m-2 h-1). CO2 fluxes in the wet season were about 70% higher than dry season across all sites. They were influenced by soil water content (WS) and vegetation phenology. Mean N2O fluxes were very low (&lt;5 μg N m-2 h-1) in all sites due to low soil nitrogen (N) content. About 89% of CH4 fluxes were below the detection limit (LOD ± 0.02 mg C m-2 h-1). Our results imply that sisal<br/>plantations have higher soil CO2 emissions than the surrounding land use type, and the seasonal emissions were largely driven by WS and the vegetation status. Methane and nitrous oxide are of minor importance. Thus, soil GHG fluxes from sisal plantations are a minor contributor to agricultural GHG emissions in Kenya.}},
  author       = {{Wachiye, Sheila and Merbold, Lutz and Vesala, Timo and Rinne, Janne and Leitner, Sonja and Räsänen, Matti and Vuorinne, Ilja and Heiskanen, Janne and Pellikka, Petri}},
  issn         = {{1873-2240}},
  keywords     = {{Carbon dioxide (CO2);; Static chamber; Land-use change; Methane (CH4); Nitrous oxide (N2O); Soil moisture; Sub-Saharan Africa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Agricultural and Forest Meteorology}},
  title        = {{Soil greenhouse gas emissions from a sisal chronosequence in Kenya}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108465}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108465}},
  volume       = {{307}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}