Abstract
In agroecosystems, there is likely to be a strong interaction between global change and management that will determine whether soil will be a source or sink for atmospheric C. We conducted a simulation study of changes in soil C as a function of climate and CO2 change, for a suite of different management systems, at four locations representing a climate sequence in the central Great Plains of the US.
Climate, CO2 and management interactions were analyzed for three agroecosystems: a conventional winter wheat-summer fallow rotation, a wheat-corn-fallow rotation and continuous cropping with wheat. Model analyses included soil C responses to changes in the amount and distribution of precipitation and responses to changes in temperature, precipitation and CO2 as projected by a general circulation model for a 2 × CO2 scenario.
Overall, differences between management systems at all the sites were greater than those induced by perturbations of climate and/or CO2. Crop residue production was increased by CO2 enrichment and by a changed climate. Where the frequency of summer fallowing was reduced (wheat-corn-fallow) or eliminated (continuous wheat), soil C increased under all conditions, particularly with increased (640 μL L−1) CO2. For wheat-fallow management, the model predicted declines in soil C under both ambient conditions and with climate change alone. Increased CO2 with wheat-fallow management yielded small gains in soil C at three of the sites and reduced losses at the fourth site.
Our results illustrate the importance of considering the role of management in determining potential responses of agroecosystems to global change. Changes in climate will determine changes in management as farmers strive to maximize profitability. Therefore, changes in soil C may be a complex function of climate driving management and management driving soil C levels and not be a simple direct effect of either climate or management.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, R M, Rosenzweig, C, Peart, R M, Ritchie, J T, McCarl, B A, Glyer, J D, Curry, R B, Jones, J W, Boote, K J and Hartwell, A LJr 1990 Global climate change and US agriculture. Nature 345, 219–224.
Campbell, C A and Zentner, R P 1993 Soil organicmatter as influenced by crop rotations and fertilization. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 57, 1034–1040.
Cortufo, M F, Ineson, P and Rowland, A P 1994 Decomposition of tree leaf litters grown under elevated CO2: effect of littter quality. Plant and Soil 163, 121–130.
Cure, J D and Acock, B 1986 Crop responses to carbon dioxide doubling: a literature survey. Agric. For. Meteorol. 38, 127–145.
Elliott, E T, Burke, I C, Monz, C A, Frey, S D, Paustian, K H, Collins, H P, Paul, E A, Cole, C V, Blevins, E A, Frye, W W, Lyon, D J, Halvorson, A D, Huggins, D R, Turco, R F and Hickman, M V 1994 Terrestrial carbon pools in grasslands and agricultural soils: Preliminary data from the Corn Belt and Great Plains Regions. SSSA Special Publication 35, Defining Soil Quality for a Sustainable Environment. pp 179–192. SSSA, Madison, WI, USA.
Goudriaan, J 1992 Biosphere structure, carbon sequestering potential and the atmospheric 14C carbon record. J. Exp. Bot. 43, 111–119.
Haas, H J, Evans, C E and Miles, E F 1957 Nitrogen and carbon changes in Great Plains soils as influenced by cropping and soil treatments. Technical Bulletin No. 1164 USDA, State Agricultural Experiment Station, Washington, USA. 111 pp.
Janzen, H H 1987 Soil organic matter characteristics after long-term cropping to various spring wheat rotations. Can. J. Soil Sci. 67, 845–856.
Kemp, P R, Waldecker, D G, Owensby, C E, Reynolds, J F and Virginia, R A 1994 Effects of elevated CO2 and nitrogen fertilization pretreatments on decomposition of tallgrass prairie leaf litter. Plant and Soil 165, 115–127.
Kimball, B A 1983 Carbon dioxide and agricultural yield: An assemblage and analysis of 430 prior observations. Agron. J. 75, 779–788.
Kittel, T G F, Rosenbloom, N A, Painter, T H, Schimel, D S, and VEMAP Modeling Participants 1995 The VEMAP integrated database for modeling United States ecosystem/vegetation sensitivity to climate change. J. Biogeogr. 22, 857–862.
Leavitt, S W, Paul, E A, Kimball, B A, Hendrey, G R, Mauney, J R, Rauschkolb, R, Rogers, H, Lewin, K F, Nagy, J, Pinter, P JJr and Johnson, H B 1994 Carbon isotope dynamics of free-air CO2-enriched cotton and soils. Agric. For. Meteorol. 70, 87–101.
Lyon, D A, Monz, C A, Brown, R E and Metherell, A K 1997 Soil organic matter changes over two decades of winter wheat-fallow cropping in western Nebraska. In Soil Organic Matter in Temperate Agroecosystems: Long Term Experiments in North America. Eds. E APaul, KPaustian, E TElliott and C VCole. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA (In press).
Melillo, J M, Callahan, T V, Woodward, F I, Salati, E and Sinha, K 1990 Effects on Ecosystems. In Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Metherell A K 1992 Simulation of soil organic matter dynamics and nutrient cycling in agroecosystens. PhD. Dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA.
Metherell, A K, Harding, L A, Cole, C V and Parton, W J 1993 Century Soil Organic Matter Model Environment-Technical Documentation Agroecosystem Version 4.0. USDA/ARS Great Plains System Research Unit, Technical Report No. 4 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA.
Metherell, A K, Cambardella, C A, Parton, W J, Peterson, G A, Harding, L A and Cole, C V 1995 Simulation of soil organic matter dynamics in dryland wheat-fillow cropping systems. In Advances in Soil Science: Soil Management and Greenhouse Effect. Eds. RLal, JKimble, ELevine and B AStewart CRC Lewis pp 259–270. Publishers, London, UK.
O'Neill, E G and R JNorby 1995 Litter quality and decomposition of foliar litter produced under CO2 enrichment. In Terrestrial Ecosystem Response to Elevated CO2 Eds. G WKoch and H AMooney. pp 87–103. Academic Press, New York, USA.
Parton, W J, Schimel, D S, Cole, C V and Ojima, D S 1987 Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 51, 1173–1179.
Parton, W J, Stewart, J W B and Cole, C V 1988 Dynamics of C, N, P, and S in grassland soils: a model. Biogeochemistry 5, 109–131.
Parton, W J and Rasmussen, P E 1994 Long-term effects of crop management in wheat-fallow: II. CENTURY model simulations. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 58, 530–536.
Patterson D T and Flint E P 1990 Implications of increasing carbon dioxide and climate change for plant communities and competition in natural and managed ecosystems. In Impact of Carbon Dioxide, Trace Gases, and Climate Change on Global Agriculture. Eds. B A Kimball, N J Rosenberg and L H Allen Jr. pp 83–110. ASA Special Publication No. 53, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Paustian, K, Collins, H P and Paul, E A 1997 Management controls on soil carbon. In Soil Organic Matter in Temperate Agroecosystems: Long Term Experiments in North America. Eds. E APaul, KPaustian, E TElliott and C VCole. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA (In press)
Paustian, K, Elliott, E T, Collins, H P, Cole, C V and Paul, E A 1995 Use of a network of long-term experiments for analysis of soil carbon dynamics and global change: The North America model. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. 35, 929–939.
Paustian, K, Parton, W J and Persson, J 1992 Modeling soil organic matter in organic-amended and N-fertilized long-term plots. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56, 476–488.
Peterson, G A and Westfall, D G 1997 Management of dryland agroecosystems in the Central Great Plains of Colorado. In Soil Organic Matter in Temperate Agroecosystems: Long Term Experiments in North America. Eds. E APaul, KPaustian, E TElliott and C VCole. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA (In press).
Peterson G A, Halvorson A D, Havlin J D, Jones O R, Lyon J D and Tanaka D L 1997 Organic matter changes in the Great Plains of the United States: A site network synthesis. Soil Tillage Res. (In press).
Phillips, R E, Blevins, R L, Thomas, G W, Frye, W W, and Phillips, S H 1980 No-tillage agriculture. Science 208, 1108–1113.
Prior, S A, Rogers, H H, Sionit, N and Patterson, R P 1991 Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on water relations of soya bean. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 35, 13–25.
Reilly, J, Baethgen, W, Chege, F E, van deGeijn, S C, Erda, L, Iglesias, A, Kenny, G, Patterson, D, Rogasik, J, Rötter, R, Rosenzweig, C, Sombroek, W and Westbrook, J 1996. Agriculture in a changing climate: impacts and adaptation. In Climate Change 1995 Impacts, Adaptations and Mitigation of Climate Change: Scientific-Technical Analyses. Eds. R TWatson, M CZinyowera, R HMoss and D JDokken. pp 427–467. Cambridge University Press, New York, USA.
Ritchie, J T 1994 Classification of crop simulation models. In Crop Modeling and Related Environmental Data, A Focus on Applications for Arid and Semiarid Regions in Developing Countries. CODATA Monograph Series, Vol. 1. Eds. P FUhlir and G CCarter. pp 3–14. CODATA, Paris, France.
Rogers, H H and Dahlman, R C 1993 Crop responses to CO2 enrichment. Vegetatio 104/105, 117–131.
Rogers, H H, Runion, G B and Krupa, S V 1994 Plant responses to atmospheric CO2 enrichment with emphasis on roots and the rhizosphere. Environ. Pollut. 83, 155–189.
Rosenzweig, C 1990 Crop response to climate change in the southern Great Plains: A simulation study. Prof. Geogr. 42, 20–37.
Smika, D E 1992 Cereal systems of the North American Central Great Plains. In Ecosystems of the World: Field Crop Ecosystems. Chapter 18, Ed. C JPearson. pp 401–412. Elsevier Science Publishers. New York, USA.
Whistler, F D, Acock, B, Baker, D N, Fye, R E, Hodges, H F, Lambert, J R, Lemmon, H E, McKinion, J M and Reddy, V R 1986 Crop simulation models in agronomic systems. Adv. Agron 40, 141–207.
Wilson, C A and Mitchell, J F B 1987 A doubled CO2 climate sensitivity experiment with a global climate model including a simple ocean. J. Geophys. Res. 92, 315–343.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Paustian, K., Elliott, E.T., Peterson, G.A. et al. Modelling climate, CO2 and management impacts on soil carbon in semi-arid agroecosystems. Plant Soil 187, 351–365 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017100
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017100