Carbon Sequestration

Carbon Sequestration in
crops and soil organic
carbon
Xavier Driver
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Drylands in the northern Great Plains
have lost 30 to 50% of their original soil
organic carbon levels during the last 50 to
100 years due to continuous cultivation
and summer fallowing (Upendra M. Sainju
et al., 2005).

North America alone gives off 6,613Tg of
CO2 each year, which is second in regions
of the world to China, while the total
world gives off 23,900Tg per year (Lemus,
R. R., & Lal, R. R. (2005).

“Bioenergy crops have the potential to
sequester approximately 318 Tg C yr in
the United States and1631 Tg C yr
worldwide.“ (Lemus, R. et al 2005)
Switchgrass Panicam virgatum
Tall Fescue
Elephantgrass
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Continuous Tilling
No Tilling
Fallowing
Nitrogen Fixation
CRP Land
Crop rotation
Cultural Practice
Soil
Tiller
Fallowing
Two cultural practices
 Regular-conventional seed rates and plant
spacing, conventional planting date,
broadcast N fertilization, and reduced
stubble height
 Ecological-variable seed rates and plant
spacing, delayed planting, banded N
fertilization, and increased stubble height.
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Cultural practice
CRP program
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Participants enroll in CRP contracts for 10 to 15 years.
CRP protects millions of acres of American topsoil
from erosion and is designed to safeguard the
Nation's natural resources. By reducing water runoff
and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and
helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds,
and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted
to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the
program a major contributor to increased wildlife
populations in many parts of the country.
CRP land
Green needlegrass
Western wheatgrass
Slender wheatgrass

Continuous spring wheat (CW), spring
wheat-fallow (W-F), spring wheat-lentil
(Lens culinaris Medic.) (W-L), spring
wheat-spring wheat-fallow (W-W-F), and
spring wheat-pea (Pisum sativum L.)fallow (W-P-F) in Havre, MT.
Crop Rotations
Spring Wheat
Garden Pea
Barley
Lentil
Corn
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Continuous Tilling to No Tilling, on land
that was recently used as Conservation
Reserve Program land, can sequester an
average of 570±140 kg C ha−1 yr−1
(Upendra M. Sainju et al., 2005).

“Although no-tillage and ecological
cultural practice increased surface residue
amount and C and N contents compared
with conventional tillage and regular
cultural practice, they did not influence
soil C and N” (Upendra M. Sainju et al
2007)
Switchgrass Panicam virgatum

Switch grass grown on Conservation
Reserve Program land with less than 112
kg ammonium nitrate showed increased
carbon sequestration at the 0-5 cm level
and also at 30-90 cm levels(Lee, D. K., et
al., 2007).
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Soil C was sequestered at a rate of 2.4 ±
0.9 and 4.0 ± 1.0 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 at the
0- to 90-cm depth with NH4NO3-N and
manure-N, respectively(Lee, D. K., et al.,
2007).
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Despite the differences in soil and climate
among sites, the NT had a higher
concentration and total mass of C and N
in the surface 5 cm relative to the tilled
system (Fabrizzi, K. P. et al 2009).
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Microbial biomass was greater under NT
than T in the Oxisol and Mollisol, but was
similar among treatments in the Vertisol
(Fabrizzi, K. P. et al 2009).
Mollisol
Oxisol
Vertisol
References
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Lemus, R. R., & Lal, R. R. (2005). Bioenergy Crops and Carbon Sequestration. Critical
Reviews In Plant Sciences, 24(1), 1-21. doi:10.1080/07352680590910393
Sainju, U. M., Lenssen, A., & Caesar-Thonthat, T. (2006). Carbon Sequestration in Dryland
Soils and Plant Residue as Influenced by Tillage and Crop Rotation. Journal Of
Environmental Quality, 35(4), 1341-1347
Song, Y., Ding, X. X., Zheng, D. D., & Li, Q. Q. (2007). Depiction of the Variations of Great
Plains Precipitation and Its Relationship with Tropical Central-Eastern Pacific SST. Journal Of
Applied Meteorology & Climatology, 46(2), 136-153. doi:10.1175/JAM2455.1
Fuhlendorf, S., Zhang, H., Tunnell, T., Engle, D., & Cross, A. (2002). Effects of Grazing on
Restoration of Southern Mixed Prairie Soils. Restoration Ecology, 10(2), 401-407.
doi:10.1046/j.1526-100X.2002.00013.x
Lee, D. K., Owens, V. N., & Doolittle, J. J. (2007). Switchgrass and Soil Carbon
Sequestration Response to Ammonium Nitrate, Manure, and Harvest Frequency on
Conservation Reserve Program Land. Agronomy Journal, 99(2), 462-468
Fabrizzi, K. P., Rice, C. W., Amado, T. C., Fiorin, J., Barbagelata, P., & Melchiori, R. (2009).
Protection of soil organic C and N in temperate and tropical soils: effect of native and
agroecosystems. Biogeochemistry, 92(1/2), 129-143. doi:10.1007/s
www.fsa.usda.gov
Sainju, U. M., Lenssen, A. W., Caesar-TonThat, T., Jabro, J. D., Lartey, R. T., Evans, R. G., &
Allen, B. L. (2011). Dryland residue and soil organic matter as influenced by tillage, crop
rotation, and cultural practice. Plant & Soil, 338(1/2), 27-41. doi:10.1007/s11104-0100403-5