Carbon Sequestration in Carbon Sequestration in crops and soil organic crops and soil organic

carboncarbonXavier Driver

Drylands in the northern Great Plains have lost 30 to 50% of their original soil organic carbon levels during the last 50 to 100 years due to continuous cultivation and summer fallowing (Upendra M. Sainju et al., 2005).

North America alone gives off 6,613Tg of CO2 each year, which is second in regions of the world to China, while the total world gives off 23,900Tg per year (Lemus, R. R., & Lal, R. R. (2005).

“Bioenergy crops have the potential to sequester approximately 318 Tg C yr in

the United States and1631 Tg C yr worldwide.“ (Lemus, R. et al 2005)

Switchgrass Switchgrass Panicam virgatumPanicam virgatum

Tall FescueTall Fescue

ElephantElephantgrassgrass

Continuous TillingNo TillingFallowingNitrogen FixationCRP LandCrop rotationCultural PracticeSoil

TillerTiller

FallowingFallowing

Cultural practiceCultural practice

Two cultural practices Regular-conventional seed rates and plant

spacing, conventional planting date, broadcast N fertilization, and reduced stubble height

Ecological-variable seed rates and plant spacing, delayed planting, banded N fertilization, and increased stubble height.

CRP programCRP programParticipants enroll in CRP contracts for 10 to 15 years.CRP protects millions of acres of American topsoil

from erosion and is designed to safeguard the Nation's natural resources. By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country.

CRP landCRP land

Green needlegrass Green needlegrass

Western wheatgrass Western wheatgrass

Slender wheatgrass Slender wheatgrass

Crop RotationsCrop Rotations

Continuous spring wheat (CW), spring wheat-fallow (W-F), spring wheat-lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) (W-L), spring wheat-spring wheat-fallow (W-W-F), and spring wheat-pea (Pisum sativum L.)-fallow (W-P-F) in Havre, MT.

Spring WheatSpring Wheat

Garden PeaGarden Pea

BarleyBarley

LentilLentil

CornCorn

Continuous Tilling to No Tilling, on land that was recently used as Conservation Reserve Program land, can sequester an average of 570±140 kg C ha−1 yr−1 (Upendra M. Sainju et al., 2005).

“Although no-tillage and ecological cultural practice increased surface residue amount and C and N contents compared with conventional tillage and regular cultural practice, they did not influence soil C and N” (Upendra M. Sainju et al 2007)

Switchgrass Switchgrass Panicam virgatumPanicam virgatum

Switch grass grown on Conservation Reserve Program land with less than 112 kg ammonium nitrate showed increased carbon sequestration at the 0-5 cm level and also at 30-90 cm levels(Lee, D. K., et al., 2007).

Soil C was sequestered at a rate of 2.4 ± 0.9 and 4.0 ± 1.0 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 at the 0- to 90-cm depth with NH4NO3-N and manure-N, respectively(Lee, D. K., et al., 2007).

Despite the differences in soil and climate among sites, the NT had a higher concentration and total mass of C and N in the surface 5 cm relative to the tilled system (Fabrizzi, K. P. et al 2009).

Microbial biomass was greater under NT than T in the Oxisol and Mollisol, but was similar among treatments in the Vertisol (Fabrizzi, K. P. et al 2009).

MollisolMollisol

OxisolOxisol

VertisolVertisol

ReferencesReferences

Lemus, R. R., & Lal, R. R. (2005). Bioenergy Crops and Carbon Sequestration. Critical Reviews In Plant Sciences, 24(1), 1-21. doi:10.1080/07352680590910393

Sainju, U. M., Lenssen, A., & Caesar-Thonthat, T. (2006). Carbon Sequestration in Dryland Soils and Plant Residue as Influenced by Tillage and Crop Rotation. Journal Of Environmental Quality, 35(4), 1341-1347

Song, Y., Ding, X. X., Zheng, D. D., & Li, Q. Q. (2007). Depiction of the Variations of Great Plains Precipitation and Its Relationship with Tropical Central-Eastern Pacific SST. Journal Of Applied Meteorology & Climatology, 46(2), 136-153. doi:10.1175/JAM2455.1

Fuhlendorf, S., Zhang, H., Tunnell, T., Engle, D., & Cross, A. (2002). Effects of Grazing on Restoration of Southern Mixed Prairie Soils. Restoration Ecology, 10(2), 401-407. doi:10.1046/j.1526-100X.2002.00013.x

Lee, D. K., Owens, V. N., & Doolittle, J. J. (2007). Switchgrass and Soil Carbon Sequestration Response to Ammonium Nitrate, Manure, and Harvest Frequency on Conservation Reserve Program Land. Agronomy Journal, 99(2), 462-468

Fabrizzi, K. P., Rice, C. W., Amado, T. C., Fiorin, J., Barbagelata, P., & Melchiori, R. (2009). Protection of soil organic C and N in temperate and tropical soils: effect of native and agroecosystems. Biogeochemistry, 92(1/2), 129-143. doi:10.1007/s

www.fsa.usda.gov Sainju, U. M., Lenssen, A. W., Caesar-TonThat, T., Jabro, J. D., Lartey, R. T., Evans, R. G., &

Allen, B. L. (2011). Dryland residue and soil organic matter as influenced by tillage, crop rotation, and cultural practice. Plant & Soil, 338(1/2), 27-41. doi:10.1007/s11104-010-0403-5