Caricamento
Trova il tuo prossimo book preferito
Abbonati oggi e leggi gratis per 30 giorniInizia la tua prova gratuita di 30 giorniInformazioni sul libro
Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Azioni libro
Inizia a leggereLunghezza: 912 pagine9 ore
- Editore:
- Academic Press
- Pubblicato:
- Oct 16, 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780128121290
- Formato:
- Libro
Descrizione
Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions provides a state of the art overview of recent findings and future research challenges regarding physical, chemical and biological processes controlling soil carbon, nitrogen dynamic and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. This book is for students and academics in soil science and environmental science, land managers, public administrators and legislators, and will increase understanding of organic matter preservation in soil and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Given the central role soil plays on the global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, there is an urgent need to increase our common understanding about sources, mechanisms and processes that regulate organic matter mineralization and stabilization, and to identify those management practices and processes which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, helping increase organic matter stabilization with suitable supplies of available N.
Provides the latest findings about soil organic matter stabilization and greenhouse gas emissions Covers the effect of practices and management on soil organic matter stabilization Includes information for readers to select the most suitable management practices to increase soil organic matter stabilizationInformazioni sul libro
Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Lunghezza: 912 pagine9 ore
Descrizione
Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions provides a state of the art overview of recent findings and future research challenges regarding physical, chemical and biological processes controlling soil carbon, nitrogen dynamic and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. This book is for students and academics in soil science and environmental science, land managers, public administrators and legislators, and will increase understanding of organic matter preservation in soil and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Given the central role soil plays on the global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, there is an urgent need to increase our common understanding about sources, mechanisms and processes that regulate organic matter mineralization and stabilization, and to identify those management practices and processes which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, helping increase organic matter stabilization with suitable supplies of available N.
Provides the latest findings about soil organic matter stabilization and greenhouse gas emissions Covers the effect of practices and management on soil organic matter stabilization Includes information for readers to select the most suitable management practices to increase soil organic matter stabilization- Editore:
- Academic Press
- Pubblicato:
- Oct 16, 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780128121290
- Formato:
- Libro
Correlati a Soil Management and Climate Change
Anteprima del libro
Soil Management and Climate Change
States
Chapter 1
Decreased Organic Carbon Associated With Land Management in Mediterranean Environments
Javier Jerez Escolano*; J. Navarro Pedreño*; I. Gomez Lucas*; María B. Almendro Candel*; Antonis A. Zorpas† * Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Alicante, Spain
† Cyprus Open University, Nicosia, Cyprus
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) depends on land management and land use. Land planning policy determines land use and management, therefore changes in both can produce a decrease of SOC. This is especially important in Mediterranean environments due to the scarcity of organic matter in soil. Climate change is associated with the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and with the low organic matter in soil. Therefore strategies that reduce SOC also promote climate change. Moreover, soil resources in many parts of Europe are being overexploited, degraded, and irreversibly lost due to inappropriate land management practices, industrial activities, and land use changes that lead to soil sealing, erosion, contamination, and loss of organic carbon. This chapter focuses on changes that reduce SOC and increase greenhouse gas emissions or inhibit the possibility of carbon sequestration by soil.
Keywords
Climate change; Land planning; Land use; Organic matter; Soil sealing
Introduction
Soil organic matter is a key element for soil quality and productivity (Karlen et al., 1994). Land management and land use are closely related to climate change and both determine the ability of an ecosystem to reduce the emissions and negative effects of climate change for the earth. Moreover, carbon soil sequestration is considered to be one of the main sustainable, valuable, and long-term strategies to mitigate climate change through changes in land use (Muñoz-Rojas et al., 2012). An increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks indicates the removal of atmospheric CO2 through the fixation of this CO2 during the procedure of photosynthesis and the integration of this atmospheric C into the soil as crop residues; this is known as the sequestration process (Morel Soler, 2012).
Instead of maintaining and enhancing the capacity of carbon capture and storage, the world’s ecosystems are being depleted at an alarming rate. About 20% of the emissions of greenhouse gases come from the clearing and burning of forests; the large store of peatlands and tundra is threatened by drainage and thawing, including the degradation of agricultural soil (Trumper et al., 2009). Planning policies, land use, and management are key factors in global warming, and they are responsible for the land cover, as indicated in Fig. 1. Soil is related to all of these factors: planning policies, land use, land management, and land cover.
Fig. 1 Relation among planning, land use and management, and land cover.
SOC plays an important role in the global C cycle. It is generally assumed that soils are the largest C sinks in terrestrial ecosystems (Lal, 2004; IPCC, 2007). Half of all soil carbon in managed ecosystems has been lost to the atmosphere during the past two centuries due to cultivation (McCarl et al., 2007). The global soil carbon (C) pool is comprised of 2500 gigatonnes (Gt), including about 1550 Gt of SOC and 950 Gt of soil inorganic carbon (SIC). The soil C pool is 3.3 times the size of the atmospheric pool (760 Gt) and 4.5 times the size of the biotic pool (560 Gt), which shows the potential for C sequestration of the soil (Lal, 2004). Therefore the presence of organic carbon in soil is a critical factor when considering climate change as well as land use and management. Furthermore, soil has the ability and the capacity to store C for long periods; thus variations in the size of the soil C pools could significantly adjust and modify the concentration of CO2 that exists in the atmosphere (Muñoz-Rojas et al., 2012; Lal, 2004). Moreover, SOC has the ability to minimize degradation risk and soil erosion, as well as increase the capacity to hold water and nutrients and generally improve soil structure (Lal, 2004).
Under this perspective, soil is a natural resource that needs deep reflection on its role in climate change and its use in proper planning and land management. For instance, safeguarding and restoring carbon in three systems (forests, peatlands, and agriculture) might reduce well over 50 gigatonnes of carbon emissions over the coming decades that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. Grasslands and coastal systems such as mangroves are also capable of playing their parts (Trumper et al., 2009).
Soil and Land Planning in the European Union
Soil is a key environmental factor recognized in Europe since 1972 by the resolution 72(19) of the Council of Europe (1972, 1983) European Soil Charter and is considered to be at the same level of air and water. Later in 1983, the European Regional/spatial Planning Charter associating land planning with environment indicated the need of a critical review of the principles governing the organization of space to avoid their being wholly determined by short-term economic objectives without taking into consideration social, cultural and environmental aspects.
Environmental aspects have to drive the administrative and political decisions for land planning. Moreover, the 2004/35/EC Directive for the protection of soil includes some main principles, which are:
a. Soil is essentially a nonrenewable resource and a very dynamic system which performs many functions and delivers services vital to human activities and ecosystems survival.
b. Soil is a natural resource of common interest which is under increasing environmental pressure and is to be protected from degradation in its own right.
c. Soil should be used in a sustainable manner which preserves its capacity to deliver ecological, economic and social services, while maintaining its functions so that future generations can meet their needs.
From the above principles, The Soil Thematic Strategy in the European Union
promotes the sustainable use of soil. The report focuses on The State of Soil in Europe
of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (2012), which provides a comprehensive overview of the present understanding of soil resources and degradation processes. The previous reasons lead to a focus on the objectives of regional/spatial planning and new criteria for the orientation of land use/land management and their changes to favor SOC maintenance and carbon sequestration by soil.
Land use changes and management often modify and change soil and do not favor the objective to combat climate change. Therefore given that soil is a limited resource and in considering its importance in global warming, it is necessary to define strategies for sustainable management and planning. In the European Union, more than 1000 km² of land are held every year for housing, industry, roads, or recreational purposes (European Commission, 2011). This situation motivates EU policies to consider their direct and indirect impacts on land use; the goal is to reach zero land use in 2050. However, zero land use is not the only possible strategy; it is important for soil management, to recover organic carbon-reducing climate change effects.
Referring to land planning and land management, two interlinked concepts should be taken into account:
a. Land cover, which refers to the biophysical coverage of land (e.g., crops, grass, broad-leaved forests, or built-up areas). It is mainly the result of land management after regional planning.
b. Land use, which indicates the socioeconomic use of land (for example, agriculture, forestry, recreation, or residential use). It is a result of the decisions about policy planning and it is closely related to land management.
Land cover and land use data form the basis for spatial and territorial analyses, which are increasingly important for the planning and management of agricultural, forest, wetland, water, urban areas, nature, biodiversity and soil protection, as well as the prevention and mitigation of natural hazards and climate change. Both concepts are connected; the planning policy decides on land use, soil management, and land cover. However, land use is the key factor due to the political reasons leading to the use of the space and the effects on soil. Furthermore, soil management has a crucial role and definitively determines the ability of soil for carbon sequestration. Land-use planning and management are to better reconcile land use with environmental concerns (European Environment Agency, 2008). Despite the implementation of suitable land management procedures, more frequent and more severe droughts will cause the soil water retention mechanism to collapse, resulting to the onset of erosion and desertification (JRC, 2012). It is very important to mention that the comparison of carbon stocks should always take into consideration the soil type and land management practices.
Land Use Changes and Soil Carbon
Land use changes can affect several soil properties. Depending on the intensity and type of use, soil may be modified in some of its physical properties (e.g., structure, consistency, and density) or chemical (e.g., cation exchange capacity, pH, soil salinity, soil sodicity, etc.). Conversely, it may not be significant in the case of bacteria and fungi populations, whose composition is more strongly correlated with specific soil properties if there is no chemical contamination (Paz González et al., 2014).
Deforestation (as a result of land use changes and management) is mainly caused by an increase in land farming areas or soil sealing for urban areas and infrastructures. Moreover, deforestation determines different territorial scenes and their effects on climate change. The use of soil for agriculture instead of keeping them naturally, creates changes in soil properties. Land management determines if those changes are negative or positive for SOC. However, soil sealing implies the disruption of soil functions; for instance, building roads or streets, which most of the time are either irreversible or the cost could be high in the case that the soil must be recovered.
Due to the relation of SOC to global climate changes, the effects of land management and land use changes on soil carbon stock can produce an increment or decrement of SOC. Guo and Gifford (2002) analyzed several publications focused on the influences of land use changes on the soil C stocks, and they found that they decline after the land use changes from pasture to plantation (− 10%), native forest to plantation (− 13%), native forest to crop (− 42%), and pasture to crop (− 59%). Soil C stocks increase after the land use changes from native forest to pasture (+ 8%), crop to pasture (+ 19%), crop to plantation (+ 18%), and crop to secondary forest (+ 53%). Positive or negative effects on SOC can be found, which means that adequate land management must be taken into account, especially in agriculture, for increasing carbon stock and considering soil not only as the physical support of natural and human habitats. Carbon sequestration in soil improves productivity and sustainability (Rusu et al., 2013) and combats global warming.
Soil Carbon in Mediterranean Environments
The contents of soil carbon in Mediterranean areas are usually lower than in temperate regions because of the particular climate features of these regions, such as seasonal dryness (Jones et al., 2005). Mediterranean ecosystems are particularly sensitive to climate change because of both the limitation of available water and an increase in desertification risk (IPCC, 2007). These factors could lead to a decrease of plant productivity and a lower C input to the soil. As a significant consequence, most Mediterranean soils would be depleted of SOC, and it might be said that soil fertility is minimized (Aguilera et al., 2013).
Global projection models used to determine the effects of climate change in SOC suggest an overall global increase in stocks by 2100 under all scenarios, but with a different extent of increase among the climate model and emissions scenarios (Gottschalk et al., 2012). However, these authors indicated that the spatial heterogeneity in the response of SOC to changing climate shows how delicately balanced the competing gain and loss processes are, with subtle changes in temperature, moisture, soil type, and land use interacting to determine whether SOC increases or decreases in the future. Moreover, the prediction model accuracy depends much on the method used (Suuster et al., 2012). Under this situation, our efforts should be focused in land management practices that can be implemented to protect and enhance SOC stocks (Smith, 2008).
According to Toth et al. (2013), there are many differences among regions and type of land cover regarding the carbon content in Europe. The highest average SOC contents were found in the wetland areas, while agricultural areas have a much lower SOC content than forest and seminatural areas. Ireland, Sweden, and Finland have the highest SOC, while Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Spain, and Italy have the lowest values with an average of 3% (Aksoy et al., 2016). The effects of climate change on the SOC contents of different land use and soil types of Mediterranean areas, in order to prevent SOC decreases by adequate land planning and adoption of management practices, are considered to be a very interesting research area and crucial for the near future.
The prediction models for Europe indicate that the SOC will be increased. According to Yigini and Panagos (2016), the total amount of soil carbon in Europe (EU26) for 2050 will be increased (using SOC data from 0 to 20 cm depth). Gottschalk et al. (2012) indicated a moderate increment in the whole of Europe for 2100 (their models considered only the topsoil 0–30 cm). There is a great uncertainty due to the diversity of results obtained by the models applied; however for Europe, a moderate or slight increment has been reported.
Nevertheless, there are many reasons related to land management that can produce an increment or decrement of organic carbon. Aside from the rapid removal of SOC by erosion and landslides, changes in SOC levels as a result of the intensification of agricultural, deforestation, or conversion of grassland to arable land (and vice versa) are considered to be very slow processes (JRC, 2012). Yigini and Panagos (2016) argue that changes in the net primary production will change the carbon input to the soil. According to Gottschalk et al. (2012), decomposition usually increases with warmer temperatures, but it can also be slowed by decreases in soil moisture. The underlying global trend of increasing SOC for future climate scenery is a complex pattern of regional SOC change. Mediterranean regions, as a general rule, are presented with the lowest values of SOC. Data obtained from LUCAS Topsoil Survey show important differences between crops and areas (e.g., suboceanic, temperate mountains, Mediterranean semiarid, and Mediterranean mountainous regions), indicating that agricultural management is very important (Toth et al., 2013). Moreover, according to Vleeshouwers and Verhagen (2002), SOC in European agricultural land is decreasing. Furthermore, Bellamy et al. (2005), in using data from 1978 to 2003, found out that 0.6% (on average) of SOC was lost every year from soils in England and Wales.
Many studies focused on SOC are restricted to the topsoil (0–30 cm), although vertical processes have a considerable effect on SOC variability (Vanden Bygaart, 2006). Organic carbon content in topsoil is included in most of the studies of the Mediterranean regions, where low SOC is critical (Jones et al., 2004). Fig. 2 presents data from the Mediterranean biogeographical regions of Europe (European Environment Agency, 2016a,b) and the carbon content of selected sampled sites. According to Toth et al. (2013), more than 90% of the soil have SOC values less than 32 g/kg.
Fig. 2 Organic carbon in soils in Mediterranean biogeographical regions of Europe. Figure elaborated by authors from The LUCAS topsoil dataset used in this work was made available by the European Commission through the European Soil Data Centre managed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), http://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.
Organic carbon contents in Mediterranean soils points out the critical situation of several areas. Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus present critical values from 1 to 6 g/kg, though the mean contents of SOC in these countries are 20, 26, and 21 g/kg, respectively.
However, the stored of organic carbon in topsoil (20 cm) are 2.47 gigatonnes in Spain, 1.78 in Italy, and 0.6 in Greece (Toth et al., 2013). The loss of this stored carbon due to negative land management could produce a harmful situation for EU concerning climate change.
The Mediterranean regions of Europe are defined by their distinct climate, with cold, humid winters and warm, dry summers. Fantappiè et al. (2008) consider that there is a marked interdependence between SOC and climate. SOC increases with the rise in precipitation and decreases with the rise of temperature. It is well known that land use and management have a greater significance on SOC than climate. Moreover, Gottschalk et al. (2012) indicate that we should stop looking for a single answer as to whether SOC stocks will increase or decrease under future climates. Instead, we should focus on ways to improve our prediction of the factors that determine the size and direction of change, as well as the land management practices that can be implemented to protect and enhance SOC stocks. Therefore, many different situations can be found in Mediterranean regions and local land use. Soil management should be the key to understanding SOC variation and carbon sequestration.
Under all of those considerations, land management and land use changes can positively or negatively affect organic matter content in soil depending on the practices, except for severe changes like soil sealing.
It is known that land management based on the addition of organic wastes could be considered an adequate strategy to improve the content of soil carbon at mining sites, for instance (Jordán et al., 2009). In general, land management has either positive or negative effects, depending on land planning. Considering the environmental concerns related to climate change, the key factors in achieving adequate soil functions are the interaction between soil and atmosphere, maintaining healthy soil with good structure, and maintaining biodiversity and suitable management practices. Mediterranean environments as well as mostly arid and semiarid areas have generally low SOC. Land use and land management are the tools needed to combat desertification and climate change.
Soil Sealing
One of the most important changes that affects SOC is soil sealing. Sealed soil can be defined as the destruction or covering of soil by buildings, constructions, and layers of partly impermeable artificial material (e.g., asphalt, concrete, etc.). It is the most intense form of land take and is essentially an irreversible process. Sealing also occurs within existing urban areas construction on residual inner city green zones (JRC, 2012). According to Prokop et al. (2011), the EU member states with high sealing rates over the period 2000–06 exceeding 5% of the national territory are Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg. The European Environmental Agency has produced a high-resolution, soil-sealing layer map for 2006 for the whole European Union based on the analysis of satellite images. Urban sprawl is most pronounced in wide rings around city centers, along large transport corridors, and along many coastlines (particularly in the Mediterranean countries). Conversely, the lowest levels of urban sprawl are mainly associated with mountain ranges or remote areas. Mediterranean coasts are suffering from the pressure of human activities and soil sealing, which are among the most important environmental concerns today.
The level of sprawl, as measured by WUP (i.e., the metric used to quantify urban sprawl that is measured in urban permeation units, UPU, per square meter of landscape), increased in all European countries between 2006 and 2009. The overall WUP value for Europe (all 32 countries combined) increased from 1.56 UPU/m² in 2006 to 1.64 UPU/m² in 2009 (European Environment Agency, 2016a,b). According to the European Environment Agency (2016a,b), Soil sealing often affects fertile agricultural land, puts biodiversity at risk, increases the risk of flooding and water scarcity and contributes to global warming. Since the mid-1950s the total surface area of cities in the EU has increased by 78%, whereas the population has grown by only 33%.
Remote sensing is a tool used to study land cover changes in Europe. The CORINE program (Coordination of Information of the Environment) is an experimental project to coordinate information regarding the environmental state and natural resources of the EU. Inside this program, the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) project is under the responsibility of the European Environment Agency since 1995 and gives free information. It is a very useful tool to study changes in land cover. These changes reflect soil use and management and help us to understand the main changes that are produced and how the soil is affected.
The new soil sealed in Europe was about 687,996 ha from 2000 to 2006, as Table 1 shows; forest and agricultural soils were the major land cover affected. After the last revision of CLC from 2006 to 2012 (provisional data), we have estimated that the total amount of new soil sealed was about 625,000 ha, which was not so different from the previous period. Land use changes affected agricultural soil and natural and seminatural areas again (> 95%). It is obvious that these changes hinder the fight against global warming in the European Union, so developing a strategy towards zero land use is needed. Between 1990 and 2000, the sealed area increased by 6% in the EU-15. At least 275 ha of soil were lost per day, totaling 1000 km²/y (Prokop et al., 2011; JRC, 2012). Moreover, from 2000 to 2006, the EU average of soil lost increased by 3%; it increased in Ireland and Cyprus by 14% and in Spain by 15%.
Table 1
Estimated Soil Sealing in Europe 2000–06
Source: data calculated based on CLC.
Moreover, for the same period (2000–06) agricultural soil, natural and seminatural areas were the most affected in the Mediterranean biogeographical area. These environments followed the same pattern of the rest of the EU countries. However, the low SOC in Mediterranean soil should be considered a critical factor, and more attention must be paid to land management in this European region. Table 2 indicates the results from the CORINE Land Cover project.
Table 2
Soil Sealing in Mediterranean Biogeographical Regions of EU 2000–06
Source: data calculated based on CLC.
Analyzing the provisional data facilitated for 2012, the new surface sealed from 2006 to 2012 was estimated as 210,000 ha, with agricultural and forest soils being the most affected. Because of the data supported by the European Environment Agency, it can be seen that the major changes and soil-sealing effects are located close to coastal, urban, and periurban areas, as indicated in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3 Soil-sealed estimation in the Mediterranean environment of the European Union (2012). Figure elaborated by authors from The LUCAS topsoil dataset used in this work was made available by the European Commission through the European Soil Data Centre managed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), http://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.
According to Navarro-Pedreño et al. (2012a,b,c), the case of Spain and, more specifically the East and Southeast coastal areas, presents interest, as does the municipality of Elche. This Mediterranean area has dramatically changed between 1978 and 2005 due to soil sealing and the metabolism of the urban area as several infrastructures developed. The sealed soil increased from 711.5 ha in 1978 to 3292.2 ha in 2005, counting an increased rate up to 462%. At the same period the population was increased from 150,000 to 210,000 habitants, which does not justify the increments of soil sealing and urban growth. Soil sealing increased nearly five times while the population only augmented 1.4 times. In this example, it is important to notice that urban growth and soil sealing appeared in alluvial plains and had a large impact on agricultural soil and coastal areas on dune ecosystems. This is the same pattern in many Mediterranean coastal municipalities. The consequences are the reduction of soil functionality and the loss of ecosystems, which affect global warming by soil sealing.
Soil sealing definitively contributes to an increase in climate change because soil is not able to develop environmental functions and are only the support of an inert surface, therefore reducing or canceling any possibility for carbon sequestration.
Other Changes in Land Use and Management
Land management and use changes could promote the organic carbon loss of soil and therefore increment greenhouse gases emissions. However, some changes can improve SOC stocks. The main land use changes affecting global warming are the transformation of natural and seminatural areas (mainly forest and wetlands) in agricultural zones, as well as agricultural areas transformation into urban sprawl (soil sealing). The FAO report conducted on the State of the World's Forests (FAO, 2016) points out that large-scale commercial agriculture causes approximately 40% of deforestation in the tropics and subtropics, 33% in local subsistence agriculture, 10% in infrastructure, 10% in urban sprawl, and 7% in mining, with significant variations by region. There was a net forest loss of 7 million hectares per year in tropical countries in 2000–10 and a net gain of 6 million hectares per year in agricultural land. Table 3 shows an example of land use changes and their impact on SOC based on Guo and Gifford (2002) and FAO (2016).
Table 3
Impact of Land Use/Management Changes in SOC (+ Positive, − Negative)
The most common land use changes observed in Mediterranean EU countries increase the greenhouse gas emissions, and make carbon sequestration difficult for soil. Agriculture soil management is without a doubt one of the most important factors causing global warming. On the other hand, the implementation of effective land/agriculture management practices, such as soil conservation, increases wetlands reserves, favors forestry incentive and conservation tillage, and improves organic carbon stocks in soil (Navarro-Pedreño et al., 2012a,b,c). Opposite to this sustainable land management, the planning policy and land use changes causes SOC reduction and soil sealing. Land management is of great importance in agriculture, and a zero-soil consumption strategy is necessary to prevent the soil-sealing effects.
One of the most important strategies of soil management to increase the carbon pool in soil is the addition of organic matter. The increment of SOC in agricultural soil can be achieved by adding organic wastes. Soriano-Disla et al. (2010) analyzed the effect of adding sewage sludge to 60 Mediterranean soils in Spain. They found that this practice contributed positively to enhancing the short-term SOC pool. However, in some soils with high initial SOC levels, the absence or decrease of SOC was not detected. Moreover, carbon sequestration after the sewage sludge application was conditioned by an initial SOC. Caution is required for sewage sludge applications and land management practices because native C can be degraded in soils with high organic matter content in Mediterranean environments (Navarro-Pedreño et al., 2012a,b,c).
Another example is the changes around wetlands. Wetlands are ecosystems that can be easily altered. The type of land cover is the consequence of land management of wetlands. Moreover, land cover determines the possibilities of carbon losses and carbon sequestration in these areas. For instance, soil under reeds (Phragmites australis) in wetlands keep a great carbon stock in comparison to soils that have changed into agricultural soil and abandoned after a short period of cultivation (i.e., the cultivation of Medicago sativa). This land use change provokes an estimated SOC reduction from 45 to 18 g/kg (Córdoba et al., 2010). Land management in wetlands that eliminates reeds by burning, for instance, does not contribute to the retention of carbon in soil because of the emission of CO2. However, cutting reeds and adding them into soil can improve SOC. This is the example of the Ramsar wetland of el Hondo
in the Southeast of Spain, where the election of one of those practices minimizes emission and increases retention of carbon. As a result of the above, specific attention must focus on natural areas and agricultural management. Land use changes can increment global warming effects.
Conclusions
The degradation of soil ability for carbon sequestration due to land use and management is a general problem that is especially significant in Mediterranean environments. The scarcity of organic matter in soil in environments such as the South of Europe is of great concern. Land use changes and land management practices are expected to facilitate carbon sequestration by soil. Nowadays, land use and management do not promote the reduction of greenhouse gases as soil sealing in Europe.
Three important factors should be considered for adequate planning: reduction of soil sealing, conservation of natural spaces, and the use of organic amendments in agriculture/urban areas. In the first case, soil sealing conducting to a situation without possibility of carbon sequestration. In the second one, ecosystems can act as carbon sink areas. In the third one, native C and the level of soil organic matter may be known and considered before using strategies to improve SOC by adding organic wastes. Nevertheless, adding organic matter to soil is a good practice to combat global warming and increase SOC, therefore reducing the presence of carbon in the atmosphere. Soil is one of our major friends
in combating climate change, and a zero-soil consumption strategy is the best way to stop negative effects, although it is not the only one that should be applied.
References
Aguilera E., Lassaletta L., Gattinger A., Gimeno B.S. Managing soil carbon for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Mediterranean cropping systems: a meta-analysis. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 2013;168:25–36.
Aksoy E., Yigini Y., Montanarella L. Combining soil databases for topsoil organic carbon mapping in Europe. PLoS ONE. 2016;11(3):e0152098.
Bellamy P.H., Loveland P.J., Bradley R.I., Lark R.M., Kirk G.J.D. Carbon losses from all soils across England and Wales 1978–2003. Nature. 2005;437(8):245–248.
Córdoba P., Meléndez I., Navarro-Pedreño J., Almendro M.B., Mataix J. Dinámica de materia orgánica en el Parque Natural El Hondo de Elche-Crevillente (España). Rev. Ciênc. Agron. 2010;33:163–170.
Council of Europe, 1972. European Soil Charter. Resolution adopted on 30 May 1972 at Strasbourg (France).
Council of Europe, 1983. European regional/spatial planning Charter. Resolution adopted on 20 May 1983 at Torremolinos (Spain).
European Commission. Roadmap to a resource efficient EuropeReport From the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council. Brussels: The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions; 2011.
European Commission. The implementation of the soil thematic strategy and ongoing activitiesReport from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council. Brussels: The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions; 2012.
European Environment Agency. Land Use. Copenhagen: European Environment Agency; 2008.
European Environment Agency. Urban Sprawl in Europe. Copenhagen: European Environment Agency; 2016a.
European Environment Agency. Biogeographical Regions. Copenhagen: Council of Europe (CoE), Database from Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV); 2016b.
European Union. Guidelines on Best Practice to Limit, Mitigate or Compensate Soil Sealing. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2012.
Fantappiè M., L’Abate G., Costantini E.A.C. The influence of climate change on the soil organic carbon content in Italy from 1961 to 2008. Geomorphology. 2008;135:343–352.
FAO. State of the World’s Forests 2016. Forests and agriculture: land-use challenges and opportunities. Rome: FAO; 2016.
Gottschalk P., Smith J.U., Wattenbach M., Bellarby J., Stehfest E., Arnell N., Osborn T.J., Jones C., Smith P. How will organic carbon stocks in mineral soils evolve under future climate? Global projections using RothC for a range of climate change scenarios. Biogeosciences. 2012;9:3151–3171.
Guo L.B., Gifford R.M. Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta analysis. Glob. Chang. Biol. 2002;8:345–360.
IPCC. Climate Change 2007, The Physical Science Basis. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press; 2007.
Jones, R.J.A., Hiederer, R., Rusco, E., Loveland, P.J., Montanarella, L., 2004. The Map of Organic Carbon in Topsoils in Europe, Version 1.2, September 2003: Explanation of Special Publication Ispra 2004 No.72 (S.P.I.04.72). European Soil Bureau Research Report No. 17, Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.
Jones C., McConnell C., Coleman K., Cox P., Falloon P., Jenkinson D., Powlson D. Global climate change and soil carbon stocks; predictions from two contrasting models for the turnover of organic carbon in soil. Glob. Chang. Biol. 2005;11:154–166.
Jordán M.M., García-Sánchez E., Almendro-Candel M.B., Navarro-Pedreño J., Gómez-Lucas I., Melendez I. Geological and environmental implications in the reclamation of limestone quarries in Sierra de Callosa (Alicante, Spain). Environ. Earth Sci. 2009;59:687–694.
JRC, 2012. The state of soil in Europe. A contribution of the JRC to the European Environment Agency’s. Environment State and Outlook report—SOER 2010. European Environmental Agency.
Karlen D.L., Wollenhaupt N.C., Erbach D.C., Berry E.C., Swan J.B., Eash N.S., Jordahl J.L. Long-term tillage effects on soil quality. Soil Tillage Res. 1994;32:313–327.
Lal R. Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food security. Science. 2004;304:1623–1626.
McCarl B.A., Blaine-Metting F., Rice C. Soil carbon sequestration. Clim. Chang. 2007;80:1–3.
Morel Soler J. Soil organic carbon dynamics and carbon sequestration in a semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystem: effects of conservation tillage and nitrogen fertilization. Thesis Doctoral Universitat de Lleida; 2012.
Muñoz-Rojas M., Jordan A., Zavala M.L., De la Rosa D., Abd-Emabod K.S., Anaya-Romero M. Organic carbon stocks in Mediterranean soil under different land uses (Southern Spain). Solid Earth. 2012;3:375–386.
Navarro-Pedreño J., Meléndez-Pastor I., Gómez I. Impact of three decades of urban growth on soil resources in Elche (Alicante, Spain). Spanish J. Soil Sci. 2012a;2:55–69.
Navarro-Pedreño J., Soriano-Disla J.M., Gómez I. Sewage sludge and global change. In: Zorpas A.A., Inglezakis V.J., eds. Sewage Sludge Management. New York: Nova Science; 2012b:63–72.
Navarro-Pedreño J., Soriano-Disla J.M., Gómez I. Global change and soil carbon. In: Zorpas A.A., Inglezakis V.J., eds. Sewage Sludge Management. New York: Nova Science;
Hai raggiunto la fine di questa anteprima. Registrati per continuare a leggere!
Pagina 1 di 1
Recensioni
Recensioni
Cosa pensano gli utenti di Soil Management and Climate Change
0Valutazione: 0 su 5 stelle
0 valutazioni / 0 recensioni
Cosa ne pensi?
Valutazione: su 5 stelle