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CQESTR Simulated Changes in Soil Organic Carbon under Residue Management Practices in Continuous Corn Systems

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Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important soil property and is strongly influenced by management. Changes in SOC stocks are difficult to measure through direct sampling, requiring both long time periods and intensive sampling to detect small changes in the large, highly variable pool. Models have the potential to predict management-induced changes in SOC stocks, but require long-term data sets for validation. CQESTR is a processed-based C model that uses site weather, management, and crop data to estimate changes in SOC stocks. Crop residue removal for livestock feed or future biofuel feedstock use is a management practice that potentially affects SOC stocks. Simulated changes in SOC using CQESTR were compared to measured SOC changes over 10 years for two contrasting residue removal studies in eastern Nebraska. The rainfed study compared SOC changes in no-tillage continuous corn grown under two N fertilizer rates (120 or 180 kg N ha−1) and two residue removal rates (0 or 50 %). The irrigated study compared SOC changes in continuous corn grown under no-tillage or disk tillage and three residue removal rates (0, 35, or 70 %). After 10 years under these management scenarios, CQESTR-estimated SOC stocks agreed well with the measured SOC stocks at both sites (r 2 = 0.93 at the rainfed site and r 2 = 0.82 at the irrigated site). These results are consistent with other CQESTR validation studies and demonstrate that this process-based model can be a suitable tool for supporting current management and long-term planning decisions.

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Abbreviations

SOC:

Soil organic carbon

MSD:

Mean squared deviation

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Ethics Statement

This research was conducted using appropriated USDA-ARS funds. Authors have no conflict of interest to report. There were no human or animal subjects used in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agroecosystem Management Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Rm 137 Keim Hall UNL-East Campus, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Brian J. Wienhold, Marty R. Schmer & Virginia L. Jin

  2. Agroecosystem Management Research Unit, Retired USDA-ARS, 137 Keim Hall, East Campus, UNL, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Gary E. Varvel

  3. Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center, USDA-ARS, P.O. Box 370, Pendleton, OR, 97801, USA

    Hero Gollany

Authors
  1. Brian J. Wienhold
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  2. Marty R. Schmer
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  3. Virginia L. Jin
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  4. Gary E. Varvel
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  5. Hero Gollany
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Correspondence to Brian J. Wienhold.

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Wienhold, B.J., Schmer, M.R., Jin, V.L. et al. CQESTR Simulated Changes in Soil Organic Carbon under Residue Management Practices in Continuous Corn Systems. Bioenerg. Res. 9, 23–30 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-015-9654-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-015-9654-6

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