Simulation of soil organic carbon stocks in a Mediterranean olive grove under different soil-management systems using the RothC model

O. M. Nieto, J. Castro, E. Fernández, P. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

101 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Agricultural soils play a very important role in regulating the carbon dioxide (CO2) content of the atmosphere, and can behave either as carbon sources or sinks. We have simulated the dynamics of carbon in the soil under different land uses and soil-management systems in a Mediterranean olive grove with the Rothamsted carbon (RothC) model. To this end we chose patches of native vegetation (NV) and two different olive grove soils (chromic calcisols and calcic vertisols) under different soil-management systems: conventional tillage (T), and mulching with shredded olive-pruning debris and residues from olive-fruit cleaning (PD + CR). We measured the clay content, bulk density, soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) in each patch. The SOC and N values decreased by more than 30% as a result of a change in soil use from NV to T olive grove. After adding PD + CR these values rose once more, even to levels above NV. The RothC model performed well for covered soils (NV and PD + CR) but overestimated the SOC values after the soil use was changed from NV to T olive grove, probably due to high carbon losses caused by erosion, common to T soils in the Mediterranean basin. As a result of mulching the soil with only pruning debris, CO2 emitted to the atmosphere was reduced by > 55% for both soils. Associated with this decrease in the emission rate, RothC estimated a potential carbon sequestration of 0.5 and 0.6 t C/ha/yr for chromic calcisols and calcic vertisols, respectively. The reuse of organic debris generated in the olive grove, such as pruning debris and residues from olive-fruit cleaning, is an efficient way of improving soil properties, diminishing CO2 emissions and increasing the soil's capacity to store carbon.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)118-125
Number of pages8
JournalSoil Use & Management
Volume26
Issue number2
Early online date15 Mar 2010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2010

Keywords

  • olive grove
  • soil carbon sequestration
  • plant residues
  • no-tillage
  • carbon dioxide
  • long-term experiments
  • agricultural soils
  • climate-change
  • matter
  • sequestration
  • tillage
  • erosion
  • Spain
  • conservation
  • growth

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Simulation of soil organic carbon stocks in a Mediterranean olive grove under different soil-management systems using the RothC model'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this