Soil GHG Research Articles

Soil organic matter quality influences mineralization and GHG emissions in cryosols: a field‐based study of sub‐ to high Arctic

Arctic soils store large amounts of labile soil organic matter (SOM) and several studies have suggested that SOM characteristics may explain variations in SOM cycling rates across Arctic landscapes and Arctic ecosystems. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of routinely measured soil properties and SOM characteristics on soil gross N mineralization and soil GHG emissions at the landscape scale. This study was carried out in three Canadian Arctic ecosystems: Sub-Arctic (Churchill, MB), Low-Arctic (Daring Lake, NWT), and High-Arctic (Truelove Lowlands, NU). The landscapes were divided into five landform units: (1) upper slope, (2) back slope, (3) lower slope, (4) hummock, and (5) interhummock, which represented a great diversity of Static and Turbic Cryosolic soils including Brunisolic, Gleysolic, and Organic subgroups. Soil gross N mineralization was measured using the (15) N dilution technique, whereas soil GHG emissions (N2 O, CH4 , and CO2 ) were measured using a multicomponent Fourier transform infrared gas analyzer. Soil organic matter characteristics were determined by (1) water-extractable organic matter, (2) density fractionation of SOM, and (3) solid-state CPMAS (13) C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Results showed that gross N mineralization, N2 O, and CO2 emissions were affected by SOM quantity and SOM characteristics. Soil moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), light fraction (LF) of SOM, and O-Alkyl-C to Aromatic-C ratio positively influenced gross N mineralization, N2 O and CO2 emissions, whereas the relative proportion of Aromatic-C negatively influenced those N and C cycling processes. Relationships between SOM characteristics and CH4 emissions were not significant throughout all Arctic ecosystems. Furthermore, results showed that lower slope and interhummock areas store relatively more labile C than upper and back slope locations. These results are particularly important because they can be used to produce better models that evaluate SOM stocks and dynamics under several climate scenarios and across Arctic landscapes and ecosystems.

Increasing trends of soil greenhouse gas fluxes in Japanese forests from 1980 to 2009

Forest soils are a source/sink of greenhouse gases, and have significant impacts on the budget of these terrestrial greenhouse gases. Here, we show climate-driven changes in soil GHG fluxes (CO2 emission, CH4 uptake, and N2O emission) in Japanese forests from 1980 to 2009, which were estimated using a regional soil GHG model that is data-oriented. Our study reveals that the soil GHG fluxes in Japanese forests have been increasing over the past 30 years at the rate of 0.31 Tg C yr−2 for CO2 (0.23 % yr−1, relative to the average from 1980 to 2009), 0.40 Gg C yr−2 for CH4 (0.44 % yr−1), and 0.0052 Gg N yr−2 for N2O (0.27 % yr−1). Our estimates also show large interannual variations in soil GHG fluxes. The increasing trends and large interannual variations in soil GHG fluxes seem to substantially affect Japan's Kyoto accounting and future GHG mitigation strategies.

배추 밭에서의 N2O, CH4, CO2토양배출량 측정 및 특성 연구: 주요온실가스 배출량 측정 및 지표생태변화에 따른 특성 연구

From October 2009 to June 2010, major greenhouse gases (GHG: , , ) soil emission were measured from upland cabbage field at Kunsan (56`23N, 43`14E), Korea by using closed static chamber method. The measurements were conducted mostly from 10:00 to 18:00LST during field experiment days (total 28 days). After analyzing GHG concentrations inside of flux chamber by using a GC equipped with a methanizer (Varian CP3800), the GHG fluxes were calculated from a linear regression of the changes in the concentrations with time. Soil parameters (e.g. soil moisture, temperature, pH, organic C, soil N) were also measured at the sampling site. The average soil pH and soil moisture were ~pH and %WFPS (water filled pore space), respectively. The ranges of GHG flux during the experimental period were for , for , and for , respectively. It revealed that monthly means of and flux during October (fall) were positive and significantly higher than those (negative value) during January (winter) when subsoil have low temperature and relatively high moisture due to snow during the winter measurement period. Soil mean temperature and moisture during these months were , %WFPS for October; and , %WFPS for January. It may indicate that soil temperature and moisture have significant role in determining whether the and emission or uptake take place. Low temperature and high moisture above a certain optimum level during winter could weaken microbial activity and the gas diffusion in soil matrix, and then make soil GHG emission to the atmosphere decrease. Other soil parameters were also discussed with respect to GHG emissions. Both positive and negative gas fluxes in and were observed during these measurements, but not for . It is likely that and gases emanated from soil surface or up taken by the soil depending on other factors such as background concentrations and physicochemical soil conditions.

CO<sub>2</sub>, CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes from soil of a burned grassland in Central Africa

Abstract. The impact of fire on soil fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O was investigated in a tropical grassland in Congo Brazzaville during two field campaigns in 2007–2008. The first campaign was conducted in the middle of the dry season and the second at the end of the growing season, respectively one and eight months after burning. Gas fluxes and several soil parameters were measured in each campaign from burned plots and from a close-by control area preserved from fire. Rain events were simulated at each campaign to evaluate the magnitude and duration of the generated gas flux pulses. In laboratory experiments, soil samples from field plots were analysed for microbial biomass, net N mineralization, net nitrification, N2O, NO and CO2 emissions under different water and temperature soil regimes. One month after burning, field CO2 emissions were significantly lower in burned plots than in the control plots, the average daily CH4 flux shifted from net emission in the unburned area to net consumption in burned plots, no significant effect of fire was observed on soil N2O fluxes. Eight months after burning, the average daily fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O measured in control and burned plots were not significantly different. In laboratory, N2O fluxes from soil of burned plots were significantly higher than fluxes from soil of unburned plots only above 70% of maximum soil water holding capacity; this was never attained in the field even after rain simulation. Higher NO emissions were measured in the lab in soil from burned plots at both 10% and 50% of maximum soil water holding capacity. Increasing the incubation temperature from 25 °C to 37 °C negatively affected microbial growth, mineralization and nitrification activities but enhanced N2O and CO2 production. Results indicate that fire did not increase post-burning soil GHG emissions in this tropical grasslands characterized by acidic, well drained and nutrient-poor soil.

Effects of nitrogen deposition on the greenhouse gas fluxes from forest soils

Nitrogen (N) deposition can alter the rates of microbial N- and C- turnover, and thus can affect the fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHG, e.g., CO 2, CH 4, and N 2O) from forest soils. The effects of N deposition on the GHG fluxes from forest soils were reviewed in this paper. N deposition to forest soils have shown variable effects on the soil GHG fluxes from forest, including increases, decreases or unchanged rates depending on forest type, N status of the soil, and the rate and type of atmospheric N deposition. In forest ecosystems where biological processes are limited by N supply, N additions either stimulate soil respiration or have no significant effect, whereas in “N saturated” forest ecosystems, N additions decrease CO 2 emission, reduce CH 4 oxidation and elevate N 2O flux from the soil. The mechanisms and research methods about the effects of N deposition on GHG fluxes from forest soils were also reviewed in this paper. Finally, the present and future research needs about the effects of N deposition on the GHG fluxes from forest soils were discussed.

Modeling GHG emissions and carbon sequestration in Swiss agriculture: An integrated economic approach

For the economic evaluation of soil carbon sequestration and GHG mitigation in Swiss agriculture, we developed the Swiss INTegrated AGricultural ALlocation model (S_INTAGRAL). This is a recursive-dynamic linear optimization model which maximizes the aggregate annual income (labor income plus land rents) of Swiss agriculture under consideration of various constraints and dynamic properties of the system. It provides an analytical tool for economic analyses of GHG abatement strategies in the agricultural sector and to assess marginal GHG abatement costs. The model includes the most important activities of Swiss agriculture with regard to revenue, land use, livestock production and GHG emissions. It is divided into three major production zones (plains, hills and mountain area) and consists of the three production modules “livestock”, “grassland” and “cropland” that are integrated through the forage–manure cycle. With this integrated and recursive-dynamic formulation, the model does not have the extreme behavior which is characteristic for linear programming models. It provides an analytical tool for the assessment of future GHG emissions and mitigation costs from an agricultural system perspective.