A new baseline of organic carbon stock in European agricultural soils using a modelling approach

Emanuele Lugato; Panos Panagos; Francesca Bampa; Arwyn Jones; Luca Montanarella

doi:10.1111/gcb.12292

journal article Aug 23, 2013

A new baseline of organic carbon stock in European agricultural soils using a modelling approach

Emanuele Lugato

Panos Panagos

Francesca Bampa Arwyn Jones

Luca Montanarella

Global Change Biology Vol. 20 No. 1 pp. 313-326 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1111/gcb.12292

Abstract

AbstractProposed European policy in the agricultural sector will place higher emphasis on soil organic carbon (SOC), both as an indicator of soil quality and as a means to offset CO2 emissions through soil carbon (C) sequestration. Despite detailed national SOC data sets in several European Union (EU) Member States, a consistent C stock estimation at EU scale remains problematic. Data are often not directly comparable, different methods have been used to obtain values (e.g. sampling, laboratory analysis) and access may be restricted. Therefore, any evolution of EU policies on C accounting and sequestration may be constrained by a lack of an accurate SOC estimation and the availability of tools to carry out scenario analysis, especially for agricultural soils. In this context, a comprehensive model platform was established at a pan‐European scale (EU + Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Norway) using the agro‐ecosystem SOC model CENTURY. Almost 164 000 combinations of soil‐climate‐land use were computed, including the main arable crops, orchards and pasture. The model was implemented with the main management practices (e.g. irrigation, mineral and organic fertilization, tillage) derived from official statistics. The model results were tested against inventories from the European Environment and Observation Network (EIONET) and approximately 20 000 soil samples from the 2009 LUCAS survey, a monitoring project aiming at producing the first coherent, comprehensive and harmonized top‐soil data set of the EU based on harmonized sampling and analytical methods. The CENTURY model estimation of the current 0–30 cm SOC stock of agricultural soils was 17.63 Gt; the model uncertainty estimation was below 36% in half of the NUTS2 regions considered. The model predicted an overall increase of this pool according to different climate‐emission scenarios up to 2100, with C loss in the south and east of the area (involving 30% of the whole simulated agricultural land) compensated by a gain in central and northern regions. Generally, higher soil respiration was offset by higher C input as a consequence of increased CO2 atmospheric concentration and favourable crop growing conditions, especially in northern Europe. Considering the importance of SOC in future EU policies, this platform of simulation appears to be a very promising tool to orient future policymaking decisions.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

70

[1]

10.1007/s11104-010-0304-7

[2]

10.1111/j.1365-2389.2011.01390.x

[3]

10.1016/j.still.2012.01.009

[4]

10.1016/j.agee.2012.04.001

[5]

10.2136/sssaj2010.0115

[6]

10.1029/2007gb003033

[7]

10.1007/s00374-011-0599-4

[8]

10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02055.x

[9]

10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02341.x

[10]

Derpsch R "Current status of adoption of no‐till farming in the world and some of its main benefits" International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (2010)

[11]

10.1016/j.agee.2007.01.004

[12]

10.1007/s10584-008-9412-2

[13]

EC (2006)

[14]

EC (2008)

[15]

EC (2009)

[16]

EC (2011)

[17]

EC (2011)

[18]

EC (2012)

[19]

EC (2012)

[20]

EEA (2003)

[21]

EUROSTAT (2011)

[22]

10.1029/2007gb003018

[23]

10.5194/bg-9-3151-2012

[24]

Grizzetti B (2007)

[25]

10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.08.011

[26]

10.2788/87286

[27]

10.1111/j.1365-2389.2011.01412.x

[28]

IPCC (2003)

[29]

IPCC (2006)

[30]

IPCC (2012)

[31]

10.1111/j.1365-2389.2005.00728.x

[32]

10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.09.028

[33]

10.1016/0341-8162(94)90030-2

[34]

10.1016/s0167-8809(03)00016-1

[35]

Kuikman PJ (2003)

[36]

10.1098/rstb.2007.2185

[37]

Sequestration of atmospheric CO2 in global carbon pools

R. Lal

Energy Environ. Sci. 10.1039/b809492f

[38]

Lantz A (2001)

[39]

10.1016/j.agee.2008.05.005

[40]

10.1016/j.geoderma.2006.01.012

[41]

10.1016/j.agee.2006.11.006

[42]

10.5194/bg-8-1053-2011

[43]

Mitchell TD (2004)

[44]

10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.01036.x

[45]

Nakicenovic N (2000)

[46]

10.4141/s04-087

[47]

10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.03.007

[48]

10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01951.x

[49]

10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.07.020

[50]

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.017

Showing 50 of 70 references

Cited By

212

Multispectral bare soil composites as a resource for SOC mapping rather than SOC monitoring: A case study in the Walloon region (Belgium)

Dries De Bièvre, Pierre Defourny · 2026

Geoderma

Soil organic carbon stocks in European croplands and grasslands: How much have we lost in the past decade?

Daniele De Rosa, Cristiano Ballabio · 2023

Global Change Biology

A Framework Combining CENTURY Modeling and Chronosequences Sampling to Estimate Soil Organic Carbon Stock in an Agricultural Region with Large Land Use Change

Xiaoyu Liu, Yang Liu · 2023

Agronomy

Long term impact of residue management on soil organic carbon stocks and nitrous oxide emissions from European croplands

Edwin Haas, Marco Carozzi · 2022

Science of The Total Environment

European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies

Panos Panagos, Marc Van Liedekerke · 2022

European Journal of Soil Science

A step towards a holistic assessment of soil degradation in Europe: Coupling on-site erosion with sediment transfer and carbon fluxes

P. Borrelli, K. Van Oost · 2018

Environmental Research

Grazing management that regenerates ecosystem function and grazingland livelihoods

Richard Teague, Matt Barnes · 2017

African Journal of Range & Fora...

Estimating the soil erosion cover-management factor at the European scale

Panos Panagos, Pasquale Borrelli · 2015

Land Use Policy

Metrics

212

Citations

70

References

Details

Published: Aug 23, 2013
Vol/Issue: 20(1)
Pages: 313-326
License: View

Authors

E

Emanuele Lugato