1. Croplands Research Group Meeting
MAGGnet Update
Mark A. Liebig
USDA-ARS
Croplands Research Group Meeting
Phoenix, AZ
10 November 2016

2. What is MAGGnet? Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Network
MAGGnet represents a coordinated, multi-national approach for inventory and analysis of greenhouse gas mitigation research.
Project seeks to compile metadata from experimental sites* throughout the world where greenhouse gas fluxes and soil carbon dynamics are monitored *[Sites with published data]
Initiated February 2012.
Overarching Purpose:
MAGGnet Timeline:
2012
First metadata call to GRA contacts (February)
Synopsis presented to GRA Croplands Group (July)
Expanded data entry spreadsheet (Aug-Dec)
2013
Second metadata call (June)
Submitted funding proposal to FACCE-JPI (September)
Synopsis presented to GRA Croplands Group (November)
2014
Notification of funding for FACCE-JPI proposal (January)
Formal initiation of FACCE-JPI project (April)
MAGGnet reviews at GRA Workshops: Paris (March), Warsaw (April), Tunis (May), Debrecen (August), Long Beach (November)
2015
MAGGnet presentations at scientific meetings: Tsukuba (February), Minneapolis (November)
MAGGnet reviews at GRA Workshops: Brazilia (July)

3. MAGGnet Metadata Entry Template
Worksheet Tabs
Experiment description
Experiment location
Experiment duration
Climate attributes
Soil and drainage attributes
Data type
Treatments
Key Findings
Journal citations
Primary contact
v. 1.2 also includes an instruction tab.

4. MAGGnet – November 2016
23 countries
337 experiments

5. MAGGnet Contributions
Site identification for model inter-comparison exercise (INRA, France): 2014-present
MAGGnet used to help identify sites for international modeling effort.
Template used by GRA Paddy Rice Research Group (NIAES, Japan): 2014-present
MAGGnet metadata template adapted for rice production in Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Improved availability of metadata template, map, and sharing agreement: 2015-present
Online access to MAGGnet information through GRA and GRAMP websites (
Manuscript published: 2016
MAGGnet overview paper published in Carbon Management (
GRA Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling Cross-cutting Group (currently Integrative Research Group)
Effort led by Japan with site contributions from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam (13 sites) - National Institute for Agro-Environmental Science (NIAES)
Template and metadata sharing agreement posted online

6. Challenges Efforts to include response data ‘flare out’
Attempted twice (September 2012, March 2016) by adapting a simplified GRACEnet data entry template.
Finding consensus on units seems difficult.
Mixed progress on FACCE-JPI effort
Problems with personnel recruitment (ARS) stymied efforts early on.
Preliminary outcomes not novel or inconclusive. Limited number of experimental sites an issue.
Provided travel support for networking purposes.
Lack of open access of metadata
Metadata availability limited by the absence of an online home.

7. Proposed GRA Priority (submitted 8 August 2016)
Create a searchable, online meta-database for MAGGnet experimental sites
Adapt within established webpages (GRA, GRAMP) or create anew.
Develop searchable interface to allow users to download metadata based on specific search criteria (e.g., geographical region, crop, soil type, input use, etc.).
Initial start-up design costs, followed by recurring support for project updates and metadata input activities.
Included among nine flagship proposals, but not supported
What is the role of the GRA in maintaining/supporting/ populating databases?
Access to long-term resources needed.