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Validation of soil organic carbon dynamics model in the semi-arid tropics in Niger, West Africa

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems volume 89, pages 375–385 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

The fertility of sandy soils in the Sahelian zone (SZ) is extremely low. This poor soil fertility is one of the limiting factors of crop production in the SZ. Therefore, it is imperative to improve or to maintain soil fertility through various agricultural management methods. Further, it is well known that soil organic matter plays an important role in improving the physico-chemical properties of these sandy infertile soils. Therefore, it is essential to develop a suitable tool for the appropriate evaluation of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in the SZ. Therefore, the Rothamsted carbon model (Roth-C) was verified in 32 treatments of two long-term field experiments with and without crop residue application. These experiments were performed by ICRISAT. The performance of the model was evaluated by statistical methods using four indices (RMSE: root mean square error, LOFIT: lack of fit, r: correlation coefficient, and M: mean difference). As a result, the predicted SOC values in the case without crop residue management decreased with time in approximately 10 cultivated years. In contrast, in the case with crop residue application, the predicted SOC remained roughly equal to the initial SOC value during the term observed. Mostly, the Roth-C-modelled values agreed well with the actual value. RMSE and LOFIT, the statistical indicators of agreement between predicted and observed values, showed a significant conformity between the predicted and observed SOC values in all the 32 treatments. This fact means that Roth-C can estimate long-term SOC dynamics of several technical options that developed with short-term trials. Moreover the annual carbon requirement for SOC maintaining can be calculate if enough number of cases was estimated. And also analysis of regional carbon dynamics was made possible with using Roth-C model. It will contribute to show the sustainable development in SZ against global warming and other climatic changes.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to M. Bachir, T. Saley, A. Abdou, and I. Oumarou for their technical assistance in sampling and analyses. Further, we greatly appreciate the entire TSBF staff for providing the datasets of the long-term experiments. We would also like to thank the entire all ICRISAT staff for their technical support. Authors appreciate two reviewers and editorial board to give us sincere discussions and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), 1-1 Ohwashi Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8686, Japan

    Satoshi Nakamura, Keiichi Hayashi, Hide Omae & Satoshi Tobita

  2. International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, West and Central Africa (ICRISAT-WCA), Niamey, B.P. 12404, Niger

    Satoshi Nakamura, Hide Omae, Tabo Ramadjita & Fatondji Dougbedji

  3. Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Hitoshi Shinjo

  4. Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), Niamey, B.P. 429, Niger

    Addam Kiari Saidou

Authors
  1. Satoshi Nakamura
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  2. Keiichi Hayashi
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  3. Hide Omae
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  4. Tabo Ramadjita
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  5. Fatondji Dougbedji
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  6. Hitoshi Shinjo
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  7. Addam Kiari Saidou
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  8. Satoshi Tobita
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Correspondence to Satoshi Nakamura.

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Nakamura, S., Hayashi, K., Omae, H. et al. Validation of soil organic carbon dynamics model in the semi-arid tropics in Niger, West Africa. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 89, 375–385 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-010-9402-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-010-9402-4

Keywords

  • Rothamsted carbon model
  • Niger
  • Soil organic carbon
  • Long-term experiment

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