Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a vital role in determining soil fertility, water holding capacity and susceptibility to land degradation. On the Chinese Loess Plateau, a large amount of crop residues is regularly removed; therefore, this agricultural area mainly depends on fertilizer inputs to maintain crop yields. This paper aims to use a computer simulation model (DeNitrification and DeComposition, or DNDC) to estimate the changes of SOC content and crop yield from 1998 to 2047 under different cropping systems, providing some strategies to maintain the SOC in balance and to increase crop yields. The results demonstrated that: (i) single manure application or combined with nitrogen fertilizer could significantly enhance the SOC content and crop yield on the sloped land, terraced field and flat land; and (ⅱ) in contrast to sloped land and terraced field, the SOC content and crop yield both continuously increased in flat fields, indicating that the flat field in this region is a good soil surface for carbon sequestration. These results emphasize that application of manure combined with nitrogen fertilizer would be a better management practice to achieve a goal of increasing soil carbon sequestration and food security.
Highlights
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a role in improving soil and water quality and sustains food production (Han et al, 2010)
The results demonstrated that: (i) single manure application or combined with nitrogen fertilizer could significantly enhance the SOC content and crop yield on the sloped land, terraced field and flat land; and (ii) in contrast to sloped land and terraced field, the SOC content and crop yield both continuously increased in flat fields, indicating that the flat field in this region is a good soil surface for carbon sequestration
The SOC contents for the surface layer (0-30 cm) and crop yields were measured under different fertilization treatments from 1998 to 2007 for the three sites of croplands
Summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a role in improving soil and water quality and sustains food production (Han et al, 2010). In farming systems the SOC content may be increased by agricultural practices such as reduced tillage, improved fertilization management, irrigation, and increased vegetation covers (Entry et al, 2002; Fortuna et al, 2003; Ratnayake et al, 2011). These measures can be important means to achieve both high rates of C sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems and sustainable agricultural development (Smith, 2004; Moshki & Lamersdorf, 2011). Understanding SOC contents and changes is necessary to further understanding of C cycling in productive soils, to assess the responses of agroecosystems to fertilizer management and to aid policy makers in making land use management decisions
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