1. 1 Soil Carbon Sequestration: Long-term Effect of Tillage and Rotations Charles W. Rice and Karina Fabrizzi October 28-30, 2008 Kansas State University

2. Global economic mitigation potential for different sectors at different carbon prices IPCC, 2007

3. Agriculture A large proportion of the mitigation potential of agriculture (excluding bioenergy) arises from soil C sequestration, which has strong synergies with sustainable agriculture and generally reduces vulnerability to climate change. Agricultural practices collectively can make a significant contribution at low cost –By increasing soil carbon sinks, –By reducing GHG emissions, –By contributing biomass feedstocks for energy use IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group III, 2007

4. Agriculture Cropland –Reduced tillage –Rotations –Cover crops –Fertility management –Erosion control –Irrigation management Rice paddies –Irrigation –Chemical and organic fertilizer –Plant residue management No-till seeding in USA Rice fields in The Philippines Maize / coffee fields in Mexico Agroforestry –Improved management of trees and cropland

5. Agricultural Management Strategies for C Sequestration Develop Agricultural Management Programs that:

6. Soil Microbial Activity Soil Organic Matter (C) CO 2 Harvestable Yield Sunlight Climate Soils Management

7. Potential C sequestration in U.S Lal et al., 1999, Post et al.,2004

8. 8 Corn production in NE Kansas Continuous corn 168 kg N/ha Tillage Systems –No-tillage –Conservation tillage (Chisel-disk) 15 year analysis

9. Soil C stocks after 18 years 9 * * * Nicoloso et al., 2008

10. Tillage effects on soil organic C by depth, Minnesota: 14 y continuous corn Mg C/ha/cm DepthNo-tillPlow 0.7.54.493.89** 7.5-154.944.66 15-303.513.17 30-452.451.48** 0-45 (Mg/ha)160133** 10 Huggins et al., 2007

11. E A Change in management Years of cultivation SOC levels (Mg C ha - 1 ) O

12. Soil C sequestration rates for 15 years (Mg C/ha/y) DepthFertilizer N Tilled Fertilizer N No-till Manure N Tilled Manure N No-till cm 0-50.1610.3510.3931.182 0-150.2540.4970.7921.402 0-300.3360.7170.8391.387 0-600.1461.3250.7331.141 12 NT > Tilled, but tilled had some increase Added C (manure) is less conserved in tilled What is baseline? Nicoloso et al., 2008

13. E D C A Change in management Years of cultivation SOC levels (Mg C ha - 1 ) O

14. Net effect of NT for 15 years NT (0-15y) –T (0-15y) DepthNo N 0.5 Fertilizer N 0.5 Manure NManure N cmMg/ha/y 0-50.1870.4500.1900.4680.789 0-150.1820.3710.2430.4020.610 0-300.1740.3110.3810.4170.548 0-60-0.443-0.1911.1790.9610.408 14 Nicoloso et al., 2008

15. Carbon sequestration rate (C rate) expressed in equivalent mass (Mg C/ha/y) to a 30 cm depth except for Hayes (15 cm) LocationRotationDurationCTRTNT HayesWheat-Sorg-F37 y0.0080.0200.055 ParsonSorg-Soy20 y0.2340.3700.420 AshlandAverage29 y0.2690.3460.384 TribuneWheat-Sorg-F15 y-0.570-0.503-0.392 15 Fabrizzi, 2006

16. 8/9/2015 16 1:1 Line Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): 1.1 for CT to NT West and Post (2002): 1.16 for CT to NT Fabrizzi, 2006

17. Carbon sequestration rate (C rate) expressed in equivalent mass (Mg C/ha/y) to a 15 cm depth as a function of N rate (kg N/ha/y) located Hayes, Kansas, USA RotationDuration0 N22 N45 N67 N Wheat-Sorg-F37 y0.0070.0120.0350.057 17 Fabrizzi, 2006

18. Carbon sequestration rate (C rate) expressed in equivalent mass (Mg C/ha/y) to a 30 cm depth for Manhattan, KS USA Rotation Continuous Soybean0.066 Continuous Sorghum0.292 Continuous Wheat0.487 Soybean - Wheat0.510 Soybean - Sorghum0.311 18 Fabrizzi, 2006

19. Physical Protection Chemical Microbial composition and activity Substrate quality Plant characteristics H2OH2O Temperature Clay Biological factors Organics Clay Organic C CO 2 O2O2 Disturbance Conservation of Soil Carbon Hierarchy of importance Mineralogy

20. Fungal Role (18:2w6 biomarker) Significant tillage X residue interaction (p<0.05) 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 CT + No RCT + ResidueNT + No RNT + Residue c* a b c Mole Fraction Frey et al. (1999) found greater fungal networks optically in NT as compared to CT for the same soil. White and Rice, 2007

22. Fabrizzi, 2006

23. Soil Organic Carbon Microbial Activity Nutrient Cycling Soil Structure Soil Biodiversity Water Erosion & Availability Gaseous Emissions Plant Growth Yield Environmental Services Sustainability

24. No-Tillage Cropping Systems Conservation Agriculture Restores soil carbon Conserves moisture Saves fuel Saves labor Lowers machinery costs Reduces erosion Improved soil fertility Controls weed Planting on the best date Improves wildlife habitat

25. Summary Soil C sequestrationSoil C sequestration –Need to examine the system Less disturbanceLess disturbance Organic C inputsOrganic C inputs –No-tillage must be combined with residues Residue removal in no-till may be worst than tillage with residueResidue removal in no-till may be worst than tillage with residue Agricultural soil C sequestrationAgricultural soil C sequestration –Keeps land in production in some cases –In many cases increases profitability for the farmer –Provides other environmental benefits to society Soil and Water quality (less runoff, less erosion)Soil and Water quality (less runoff, less erosion) –May help adapt to climate change as well as mitigate

26. Websites www.soilcarboncenter.k-state.edu/soilcarboncenter.k-state.edu/ K-State Research and Extension Chuck Rice Phone: 785-532-7217 Cell: 785-587-7215 cwrice@ksu.edu

27. 8/9/2015 27 TreatmentScenarioRate (Mg C/ha/y) State Eliminate summer fallow 3-year system 4-year system Continuous cropping 0.073 0.117 0.229 Eastern Colorado NT (corn)NT 150 N Fert0.80NE Kansas RotationsCT - NT wheat CT - NT sorghum CTsorg/NTwheat to NT sorg/wheat 0.764 0.605 0.624 SC KS CRP0.80NE