Abstract
The primary objective of this research was to predict changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and total soil nitrogen (TSN) stocks as a result of land use change from prairie to agricultural land if the mesic-frigid temperature line moved north in the US and the former frigid soils were cultivated. The conversion of prairie to agricultural use, as a result of climate shift, would release SOC to atmosphere and enhance greenhouse gas emissions. The SOC and TSN differences between the prairie site and agricultural land were compared in South Dakota. The agricultural land had 18% less SOC and 16% less TSN or only half of the expected loss from prairie levels. An attempt was made to document the land use history of the prairie site to understand why SOC and TSN losses were less than anticipated. The fly ash concentration levels on prairie side slopes suggested that the prairie was historically disturbed and eroded. Intensive grazing and burning contributed to the disturbance. The SOC and TSN stock losses appear to represent the minimal change that would occur in the next 100-year time period if a prairie was shifted to agricultural use as a result of climate shift and the mesic-frigid temperature line in US was to move north.
Highlights
Conversion of prairie to agricultural use would reduce carbon stored in the soil and an increase in CO2 released to the atmosphere
A Least Significant Difference (LSD) procedure performed at the P = 0.05 level will be used to determine if there were significant soil organic carbon (SOC), total soil nitrogen (TSN) and fly ash concentration and stock differences between the prairie and agricultural land uses for the same landscape position and layer depth interval
There was a lack of reliable SOC and TSN data baseline data for current prairie lands and if future land use changes were to occur there is a need for such baseline data to determine the effects of land use change and erosion on SOC and TSN stocks and future greenhouse gas emissions
Summary
Conversion of prairie to agricultural use would reduce carbon stored in the soil and an increase in CO2 released to the atmosphere. This change would result in reduced carbon inputs to the soil and the accelerated decomposition SOC [1] [2]. Even greater SOC losses and gains may occur as a result of wind and water erosion, transport and deposition. Vanden Bygaart et al [6] suggested that past erosion, transport and deposition have resulted in redistribution of SOC in the landscape and have yet to be fully considered in the study of SOC dynamics and the potential for C sequestration in agricultural soils. Vanden Bygaart et al [8] found that climate, management history, and soil type and soil landscape process affected the SOC dynamics under NT
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