Projection of corn production and stover-harvesting impacts on soil organic carbon dynamics in the U.S. Temperate Prairies

Terrestrial carbon sequestration potential is widely considered as a realistic option for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, this potential may be threatened by global changes including climate, land use and management changes such as increased corn stover harvesting for rising production...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2015-06, Vol.5 (1), p.10830-10830, Article 10830
Main Authors: Wu, Yiping, Liu, Shuguang, Young, Claudia J., Dahal, Devendra, Sohl, Terry L., Davis, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/158/1144
704/158/47
Agriculture
Biodiesel fuels
Biofuels
Biomass
Carbon
Carbon - chemistry
Carbon sequestration
Climate
Corn
Crop Production
Geography
Greenhouse gases
Harvesting
Humanities and Social Sciences
Land use
Models, Theoretical
multidisciplinary
Organic carbon
Organic soils
Prairies
Science
Soil - chemistry
Soil dynamics
Soil fertility
Stover
Sustainable development
United States
Vegetables
Zea mays
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Summary:Terrestrial carbon sequestration potential is widely considered as a realistic option for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, this potential may be threatened by global changes including climate, land use and management changes such as increased corn stover harvesting for rising production of cellulosic biofuel. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) at regional or global scale. This study simulated the corn production and spatiotemporal changes of SOC in the U.S. Temperate Prairies, which covers over one-third of the U.S. corn acreage, using a biogeochemical model with multiple climate and land-use change projections. The corn production (either grain yield or stover biomass) could reach 88.7–104.7 TgC as of 2050, 70–101% increase when compared to the base year of 2010. A removal of 50% stover at the regional scale could be a reasonable cap in view of maintaining SOC content and soil fertility especially in the beginning years. The projected SOC dynamics indicated that the average carbon sequestration potential across the entire region may vary from 12.7 to 19.6 g C/m 2 /yr (i.e., 6.6–10.2 g TgC/yr). This study not only helps understand SOC dynamics but also provides decision support for sustainable biofuel development.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep10830