319 Targeted watershed program Best management practices include both urban and agricultural practices Urban examples include – Waste water – Storm water management Ag practices include: – No-till – Riparian zone management

319 Targeted watershed program The program also includes educational efforts – Lawn and landscape nutrient management – Cropland nutrient management – Etc. Water monitoring a key component of Oklahoma watershed program – State operated monitoring sites – Volunteer programs, (Blue thumb)

Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program Is voluntary The first to be run by a state agency with statutory authority to verify carbon offsets. Is developing verification protocols for grasslands, conservation tillage, rangeland, forestry, and geologic injection. – Also interested in Methane Capture, and N2O reductions Provides a mechanism for Oklahomans to take advantage of existing voluntary carbon markets and future manditory markets. Supports and promotes soil carbon research.

Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program Provides certification of Carbon Aggregators: – Promotes legitimate practices and reviews protocols – Protects credit buyers from fraud – Strengthens the value of credits generated in Oklahoma

Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program Definitions: – Aggregator: An intermediary that serves as the administrative representative for credit-generating projects on behalf of multiple and single landowners Protocol: – Process by which credits are generated – Can be practice based No-till adoption, grassland planting Simply verify that practices are implemented – Or performance based Sequestration or avoidance must be quantified Monitoring or modeling Models are used for N 2 O emission avoidance credits

Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program Why is the Water Quality Division of the OCC in charge or carbon program? Because most practices that sequester GHG’s or avoid their emissions have positive impacts on water quality! Also, provides for privatization of conservation incentive programs

Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program Currently the OCC will certify credits generated from the following: – Ag Credits: No-till conversion Grassland Planting – Forestry Credits: Reforestation Afforestation Improved forest management – Geologic injection

Oklahoma Carbon Sequestration Certification Program The OCC is reviewing/developing protocols for the following: – Rangeland carbon sequestration – N2O emissions reduction from N fertilizer – Methane capture from animal waste management

The Oklahoma Association of Conservation districts; carbon credits The OACD serves as an aggregator: – OKCarbon – Contracts with large CO2 emitters to purchase Credits from land owners – They have also created the ECOpass and Eco- bundle programs –

ECOpass New effort by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation to market the state to environmentally conscious tourists through the ECO program Gives travelers an option to offset the environmental impact of their trip They can purchase credits generated by conservation practices undertaken by farmers and ranchers on their land – Carbon credits

Eco-Bundle Program This is different than carbon credits This program is meant to generate a private funding source for wildlife habitat improvement. – Specifically the lesser prairie chicken This program is well beyond carbon credits and is an excellent example of an ecosystems service market

Ecosystems Service Markets The conservation community has been working on the development of ecosystems service markets for a while: Nutrient trading programs: – Polluters can decrease net discharge by paying landowners to implement BPM’s Wildlife habitat programs – Destruction of habitat can be offset by creation of new habitat somewhere else These concepts have not gotten off the ground until now

Nutrient Trading Concept: – An industrial or municipal source can pay a farmer to decrease N and P runoff Problem: – In general it is very difficult to quantify reduction in non-point source pollution and verify that BMP was implemented – Carbon credits have the same problem but they have been somewhat over looked

Soil Carbon Sequestration This concept has been studies for about 20 years On the surface it seams very simple? – We stop tillage and carbon will accumulate in our soils – Has a potential global impact because of the larger global pool of soil carbon However, there is much to learn about soil carbon cycling Most of the initial work was done on ≤6 inches of soil

380 ppm

What’s the Potential for Soil Sequestration of CO 2 The USDA estimates that U.S. Farms and Rangeland could sequester 12-14% of current U.S. CO 2 emission Much of this CO 2 will be sequestered through the reversal of soil carbon losses from: – Cultivation – Overgrazing

Soil Organic Carbon in Oklahoma Presettlement there were approximately 2.3 billion tons of carbon in Oklahoma Soils We have lost ~114 million tons of Carbon through cultivation: – (38% of C in top 6 in)

Why do we lose Carbon after cultivation. Cultivation aerates the soil and breaks up soil aggregates. – Aeration increases microbial respiration – Organic Carbon is utilized for energy Incorporated residue is in close proximity to soil microbes Residue on the surface is not readily decomposed.

Impact of Tillage on Soil Carbon cyclephotosynthesis PlantRespiration PlantResidue Soil Organic Carbon Carbon storage Soil respiration is equal is greater than plant residue deposition. Net loss of Carbon Living biomass Carbohydrates Atmosphere CO 2 Soil Respiration (Decomposition)

Magruder Plots, Stillwater: Soil Carbon loss after 110 years of Continuous Wheat Initial C was 1.8% Lost 46 to 70% of the initial C. ~28-42 Mt CO 2 /acre 2300 to 3400 gal of gasoline/acre!

Change in Soil Carbon Cycle when Tillage is Removedphotosynthesis PlantRespiration PlantResidue Soil Organic Carbon Carbon storage Soil Respiration (Decomposition) Soil respiration is reduced and Organic carbon accumulates. Living biomass Carbohydrates Atmosphere CO 2

Other Factors influencing soil Carbon Sequestration Crop Residue input in to soil system Crop Residue Quality

The rate of Carbon Sequestration is also Impacted by Residue Inputphotosynthesis PlantRespiration PlantResidue Soil Organic Carbon Carbon storage Soil Respiration (Decomposition) Plant residue deposition is reduced Carbon storage is reduced Living biomass Carbohydrates Atmosphere CO 2 PlantResidue

Successful practices for soil carbon sequestration Soil management must result in the same or greater input of organic residues – Inclusion of highly resistant residues in the rotation is important – No-till soybeans will not increase soil carbon – Wheat, corn sorghum, etc are more resistant to decompostion Total soil respiration must be reduced – I thought that no-till increased microbial activity?

Total Soil Respiration No-till certainly increases the base-line mircrobial activity However, it reduces the maximum rate of decomposition observed after tillage events The impact of total (annual) soil respiration will be dependent on its impact on soil moisture and temperature – Do they become more optimum for microbial activity – Likely so, but how much more optimum?

The Current State of our Understanding Removal of tillage from our cropland systems will increase soil organic carbon in the topsoil given that inputs are not reduced High level of uncertainty about what is happening in the subsoils Recently, research has suggested that no-till may cause a decline in subsoil carbon?

Problem with Using Shallow Samples  Potential errors due to deeper rooting in cultivated soils.  inch samples give sequestration rate of:  3 Mt CO 2 /acre/yr  0-20 inches gives:  2.3 Mt CO 2 acre/yr  It is important to evaluate whole soil to provide accurate estimates of sequestration Blanco-Canqui, and Lal, 2008 Central Kentucky

Whole soil Profile Assessment Potential mechanisms responsible for decrease in subsoil carbon: Decrease in transfer of carbon through tillage – We are simply changing the distribution of carbon Decreased rooting depth Decrease subsoil moisture resulting in increased microbial activity (improved aeration)

Whole soil Profile Assessment Whole profile assessment is very important but very difficult Analysis of profile carbon results in an assessment of a very small change in a very large carbon pool. Therefore, it will take many years to fully understand the impacts of management on whole soil carbon

Simple Difference in Carbon Stocks Among No- till and Conventional Tillage Difference 2.4 Mton Difference 1.7 Mton Difference 2.0 Mtons *** (p<0.05) NS Average of all Soils collected 20 Mton acre-1 70 Mton acre Mton acre Mton acre-1 38 Mton acre-1