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Journal Article

Management-induced changes in soil organic carbonon global croplands

Authors
/persons/resource/Karstens

Karstens,  Kristine
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Bodirsky

Bodirsky,  Benjamin Leon
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Jan.Dietrich

Dietrich,  Jan Philipp
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Dondini,  Marta
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Jens.Heinke

Heinke,  Jens
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Kuhnert,  Matthias
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Christoph.Mueller

Müller,  Christoph
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Rolinski

Rolinski,  Susanne
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Smith,  Pete
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Isabelle.Weindl

Weindl,  Isabelle
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Lotze-Campen

Lotze-Campen,  Hermann
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Alexander.Popp

Popp,  Alexander
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

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Fulltext (public)

27511oa.pdf
(Publisher version), 7MB

Supplementary Material (public)
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Citation

Karstens, K., Bodirsky, B. L., Dietrich, J. P., Dondini, M., Heinke, J., Kuhnert, M., Müller, C., Rolinski, S., Smith, P., Weindl, I., Lotze-Campen, H., Popp, A. (2022): Management-induced changes in soil organic carbonon global croplands. - Biogeosciences, 19, 21, 5125-5149.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5125-2022


Cite as: https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_27511
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC), one of the largest terrestrial carbon (C) stocks on Earth, has been depleted by anthropogenic land cover change and agricultural management. However, the latter has so far not been well represented in global C stock assessments. While SOC models often simulate detailed biochemical processes that lead to the accumulation and decay of SOC, the management decisions driving these biophysical processes are still little investigated at the global scale. Here we develop a spatially explicit data set for agricultural management on cropland, considering crop production levels, residue returning rates, manure application, and the adoption of irrigation and tillage practices. We combine it with a reduced-complexity model based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tier 2 method to create a half-degree resolution data set of SOC stocks and SOC stock changes for the first 30 cm of mineral soils. We estimate that, due to arable farming, soils have lost around 34.6 GtC relative to a counterfactual hypothetical natural state in 1975. Within the period 1975–2010, this SOC debt continued to expand by 5 GtC (0.14 GtC yr−1) to around 39.6 GtC. However, accounting for historical management led to 2.1 GtC fewer (0.06 GtC yr−1) emissions than under the assumption of constant management. We also find that management decisions have influenced the historical SOC trajectory most strongly by residue returning, indicating that SOC enhancement by biomass retention may be a promising negative emissions technique. The reduced-complexity SOC model may allow us to simulate management-induced SOC enhancement – also within computationally demanding integrated (land use) assessment modeling.