Soil carbon sequestration potential in the Hudson Valley, New York--A pilot study utilizing COMET-VR

Abstract

M itigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the reduction of negative impacts to the environment are pertinent to long-term agricultural sustainability (Lal et al. 1999). In 2007, the agricultural sector was responsible for 6% of the total GHG emissions in the United States (413 Tg carbon dioxide equivalents [CO2e] [455 million tn CO2e]) (USEPA 2009). The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority reports that GHG emissions for the State of New York totaled 270 Tg CO2e (298 million tn CO2e) in 2005, which represented 3.8% of total GHG emissions in the United States (NYSERDA 2009). There is a paucity of recent estimates for GHG emissions from the agricultural region of New York State. However, it can be expected that the percent contribution of agriculture to total GHG emissions from the State of New York is on the same order of magnitude or slightly lower than that for the nation (≤6%). Certain management practices can reduce GHG emissions from agricultural lands by sequestering carbon (C) in the soil. Methods of agricultural C sequestration include, but are not limited to, conservation tillage and rotational grazing. Conservation tillage refers to a tillage system in which at least 30% of crop residue…