Journal article
An Analysis of the Climate Change Mitigation Potential through Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in a Corn Belt Watershed
Environmental management (New York), Vol.59(1), pp.77-86
01/2017
DOI: 10.1007/s00267-016-0771-6
PMID: 27730286
Abstract
Land-based carbon sequestration constitutes a major low cost and immediately viable option in climate change mitigation. Using downscaled data from eight atmosphere-ocean general circulation models for a simulation period between 2015 and 2099, we examine the carbon sequestration potential of alternative agricultural land uses in an intensively farmed Corn Belt watershed and the impact of climate change on crop yields. Our results show that switching from conventional tillage continuous corn to no-till corn-soybean can sequester the equivalent of 192.1 MtCO eq of soil organic carbon per hectare with a sequestration rate of 2.26 MtCO eq ha yr . Our results also indicate that switchgrass can sequester the equivalent of 310.7 MtCO eq of soil organic carbon per hectare with a sequestration rate of 3.65 MtCO eq ha yr . Our findings suggest that, unlike for corn and soybean yields, climate change does not have a significant effect on switchgrass yields, possibly due to the carbon fertilization effect.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- An Analysis of the Climate Change Mitigation Potential through Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in a Corn Belt Watershed
- Creators
- Mukesh Dev Bhattarai - Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, USA. mdbhattarai@siu.eduSilvia Secchi - Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, USAJustin Schoof - Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Environmental management (New York), Vol.59(1), pp.77-86
- Publisher
- United States
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00267-016-0771-6
- PMID
- 27730286
- ISSN
- 0364-152X
- eISSN
- 1432-1009
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2017
- Academic Unit
- Public Policy Center (Archive); Geographical and Sustainability Sciences; University College Courses
- Record Identifier
- 9983917691702771
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