Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Assessing soil carbon storage rates under no-tillage: Comparing the synchronic and diachronic approaches

Full text
Author(s):
Costa Junior, C. [1] ; Corbeels, M. [2, 3] ; Bernoux, M. [4] ; Piccolo, M. C. [1] ; Siqueira Neto, M. [1] ; Feigl, B. J. [1] ; Cerri, C. E. P. [5] ; Cerri, C. C. [1] ; Scopel, E. [3] ; Lal, R. [6]
Total Authors: 10
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Biogeochem, Ctr Nucl Energy Agr, CENA, BR-13416000 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil
[2] Embrapa Cerrados, BR-73310970 Planaltina, DF - Brazil
[3] UR SCA, Ctr Cooperat Int Rech Agron Dev, Montpellier 5 - France
[4] IRD, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro, CIRAD, UMR Eco&Sols, F-34060 Montpellier 2 - France
[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Soil Sci, ESALQ, BR-13418900 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil
[6] Ohio State Univ, Carbon Management & Sequestrat Ctr, Sch Environm & Nat Resources, OARDC FAES, Columbus, OH 43210 - USA
Total Affiliations: 6
Document type: Journal article
Source: SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH; v. 134, p. 207-212, NOV 2013.
Web of Science Citations: 21
Abstract

No-tillage (NT) practices with crop residue mulching are seen as an effective way to accumulate soil carbon (C). The rate of soil C accumulation can be determined by measuring soil C stocks over time (diachronic approach) or along a chronosequence that substitutes spatial history differences for time differences (synchronic approach). The objective of this communication is to compare the diachronic and synchronic approaches for determining the rates of soil C storage under NT in the Cerrado region of Brazil. In 2003 and 2007, soil C stocks (0-20 cm) were determined in three NT fields with 5, 9 and 17 years of NT adoption in 2007 (NT-5, NT-9 and NT-17, respectively), one conventionally tilled field (CT, 30 years of tillage in 2007) and one native Cerrado plot (CE) in Rio Verde (Goias state, Brazil). Soil C accumulation rates were calculated following both the synchronic and diachronic approach. Results from the synchronic approach showed that 30 years of cropping under CT depleted the soil C stock to 34.4 Mg C ha(-1), which is a decrease of about 27% of the original levels observed under the native vegetation (CE, 47.1 and 47.3 Mg C ha(-1), respectively, in 2003 and 2007). Instead, NT adoption had been accumulating soil C through the evaluated years. Soil C stocks measured under NT areas in 2003 and 2007 were 29.9 and 31.3 Mg C ha(-1) (NT-5), 33.4 and 34.4 Mg C ha(-1) (NT-9) and 45.8 and 46.4 Mg C ha(-1) (NT-17), respectively. Much more moderate rates of soil C accumulation were observed diachronically (0.12-0.28 Mg C ha(-1) year(-1)) than with the synchronic approach (133 and 1.27 Mg C ha(-1) year(-1) in 2003 and 2007, respectively). Soil C stocks under CE between 2003 and 2007 (in the diachronic approach) did not change, indicating that diachronic measurements were accurate. Thus, it appears to be very difficult to eliminate all non-wanted sources of soil C variation (i.e. soil texture, land-use history) analysing the soil C accumulation in a chronosequence (synchronic approach). In spite of a time span of years between sampling dates, our results suggest the need for using the diachronic approach when assessing soil C changes under altering land-use or management patterns. Increasing the number of diachronic assessments may also help the parameterization of process-oriented models for exploring the effects of no-tillage systems on soil C storage rates more accurately. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 04/15538-7 - Stocks of carbon and nitrogen in Cerrado soils aimed at agricultural sustainability
Grantee:Marisa de Cassia Piccolo
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants