Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils
There is currently a significant focus on oil organic carbon, as interest in mitigating climate change by increasing soil carbon stocks is leading to efforts to include this within carbon farming and the trade of CO<sub>2</sub> certificates. In addition, soil organic carbon controls many...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/5/1231 |
| _version_ | 1797502166652420096 |
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| author | Uwe Franko Joerg Ruehlmann |
| author_facet | Uwe Franko Joerg Ruehlmann |
| author_sort | Uwe Franko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is currently a significant focus on oil organic carbon, as interest in mitigating climate change by increasing soil carbon stocks is leading to efforts to include this within carbon farming and the trade of CO<sub>2</sub> certificates. In addition, soil organic carbon controls many other soil functions, such as soil productivity. However, results from long-term field experiments suggest that an ever-increasing carbon content in soil, at some point, will no longer increase productivity, but will cause environmental risks, especially from excess nitrogen. In Germany, the most widely recognized soil organic matter (SOM) balance method, VDLUFA (Association of German Agricultural Investigation and Research Institutions), addresses soil management only, without a relation to the soil carbon stock. To close this gap, a methodology is developed based on results from European long-term field experiments that allows for an assessment of agricultural management both in terms of the carbon input to soil and the amount of carbon stored in soil. Due to the transformation of carbon stock into carbon flux, it is possible to apply the classification scheme of the VDLUFA balance to the carbon content of topsoils. This provides information to qualify further decisions about fostering carbon accumulation. This was demonstrated on experimental results from Bad Lauchstädt, as well as on data from the German Agricultural Soil Inventory (BZE-LW) for arable soils on a regional scale. |
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d26146d55ab4e09998e868b20d7d8e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:29:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d26146d55ab4e09998e868b20d7d8e72023-11-23T09:44:53ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952022-05-01125123110.3390/agronomy12051231Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable SoilsUwe Franko0Joerg Ruehlmann1Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH—UFZ, D-06114 Halle, GermanyProgramme Area “Next-Generation Horticultural, Leibniz-Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops Systems”, D-014979 Grossbeeren, GermanyThere is currently a significant focus on oil organic carbon, as interest in mitigating climate change by increasing soil carbon stocks is leading to efforts to include this within carbon farming and the trade of CO<sub>2</sub> certificates. In addition, soil organic carbon controls many other soil functions, such as soil productivity. However, results from long-term field experiments suggest that an ever-increasing carbon content in soil, at some point, will no longer increase productivity, but will cause environmental risks, especially from excess nitrogen. In Germany, the most widely recognized soil organic matter (SOM) balance method, VDLUFA (Association of German Agricultural Investigation and Research Institutions), addresses soil management only, without a relation to the soil carbon stock. To close this gap, a methodology is developed based on results from European long-term field experiments that allows for an assessment of agricultural management both in terms of the carbon input to soil and the amount of carbon stored in soil. Due to the transformation of carbon stock into carbon flux, it is possible to apply the classification scheme of the VDLUFA balance to the carbon content of topsoils. This provides information to qualify further decisions about fostering carbon accumulation. This was demonstrated on experimental results from Bad Lauchstädt, as well as on data from the German Agricultural Soil Inventory (BZE-LW) for arable soils on a regional scale.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/5/1231soil organic matterhumus balancecarbon fluxturnover activitymodelinglong-term field experiments |
| spellingShingle | Uwe Franko Joerg Ruehlmann Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils Agronomy soil organic matter humus balance carbon flux turnover activity modeling long-term field experiments |
| title | Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils |
| title_full | Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils |
| title_fullStr | Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils |
| title_full_unstemmed | Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils |
| title_short | Novel Methodology for the Assessment of Organic Carbon Stocks in German Arable Soils |
| title_sort | novel methodology for the assessment of organic carbon stocks in german arable soils |
| topic | soil organic matter humus balance carbon flux turnover activity modeling long-term field experiments |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/5/1231 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT uwefranko novelmethodologyfortheassessmentoforganiccarbonstocksingermanarablesoils AT joergruehlmann novelmethodologyfortheassessmentoforganiccarbonstocksingermanarablesoils |