Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Mitigation potential of soil carbon management overestimated by neglecting N2O emissions

Nature Climate Change volume 8, pages 219–223 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

International initiatives such as the ‘4 per 1000’ are promoting enhanced carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural soils as a way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions1. However, changes in soil organic C turnover feed back into the nitrogen (N) cycle2, meaning that variation in soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions may offset or enhance C sequestration actions3. Here we use a biogeochemistry model on approximately 8,000 soil sampling locations in the European Union4 to quantify the net CO2 equivalent (CO2e) fluxes associated with representative C-mitigating agricultural practices. Practices based on integrated crop residue retention and lower soil disturbance are found to not increase N2O emissions as long as C accumulation continues (until around 2040), thereafter leading to a moderate C sequestration offset mostly below 47% by 2100. The introduction of N-fixing cover crops allowed higher C accumulation over the initial 20 years, but this gain was progressively offset by higher N2O emissions over time. By 2060, around half of the sites became a net source of greenhouse gases. We conclude that significant CO2 mitigation can be achieved in the initial 20–30 years of any C management scheme, but after that N inputs should be controlled through appropriate management.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Temporal trend of cumulative CO2 sequestration in soil, N2O emissions and net GHG soil flux, under the mitigation practices in comparison with the baseline.
Fig. 2: Net soil GHG flux of mitigation practices in comparison with the baseline by 2040.
Fig. 3: Effect of mitigation practices on crop responses and relationship with N input sources.

References

  1. Paustian, K. et al. Climate-smart soils. Nature 532, 49–57 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Booth, M. S., Stark, J. M. & Rastetter, E. Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: A synthetic analysis of literature data. Ecol. Monogr. 75, 139–157 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, L. & Greaver, T. L. A review of nitrogen enrichment effects on three biogenic GHGs: The CO2 sink may be largely offset by stimulated N2O and CH4 emission. Ecol. Lett. 12, 1103–1117 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Tóth, G., Jones, A. & Montanarella, L. The LUCAS topsoil database and derived information on the regional variability of cropland topsoil properties in the European Union. Environ. Monit. Assess. 185, 7409–7425 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lal, R. Beyond COP 21: Potential and challenges of the ‘4 per Thousand’ initiative. J. Soil Water Conserv. 71, 20A–25A (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Decision No 529/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on Accounting Rules on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals Resulting from Activities Relating to Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry and on Information Concerning Actions Relating to those Activities (EU, 2013).

  7. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliment and of the Council on the Inclusion of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry into the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework and Amending Regulation No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on a Mechanism for Monitoring and Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Other Information Relevant to Climate Change (European Commission, 2016).

  8. West, T. O. & Post, W. M. Soil organic carbon sequestration rates by tillage and crop rotation: a global data analysis. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 66, 1930–1946 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Smith, P. et al. Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 363, 789–813 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Lugato, E., Bampa, F., Panagos, P., Montanarella, L. & Jones, A. Potential carbon sequestration of European arable soils estimated by modelling a comprehensive set of management practices. Glob. Change Biol. 20, 3557–3567 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Luo, Y., Field, C. B. & Jackson, R. B. Does nitrogen constrain carbon cycling, or does carbon input stimulate nitrogen cycling? Ecology 87, 3–4 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Reay, D. S. et al. Global agriculture and nitrous oxide emissions. Nat. Clim. Change 2, 410–416 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Leip, A. Quantitative quality assessment of the greenhouse gas inventory for agriculture in Europe. Clim. Change 103, 245–261 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Butterbach-Bahl, K., Baggs, E. M., Dannenmann, M., Kiese, R. & Zechmeister-Boltenstern, S. Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: how well do we understand the processes and their controls? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 368, 20130122 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Leip, A. et al. Estimation of N2O fluxes at the regional scale: data, models, challenges. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain 3, 328–338 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. West, T. O. & Six, J. Considering the influence of sequestration duration and carbon saturation on estimates of soil carbon capacity. Clim. Change 80, 25–41 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Mackey, B. et al. Untangling the confusion around land carbon science and climate change mitigation policy. Nat. Clim. Change 3, 552–557 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Parton, W. J., Hartman, M., Ojima, D. & Schimel, D. DAYCENT and its land surface submodel: description and testing. Glob. Planet. Change 19, 35–48 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Grandy, A. S. & Neff, J. C. Molecular C dynamics downstream: The biochemical decomposition sequence and its impact on soil organic matter structure and function. Sci. Total Environ. 404, 297–307 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Manzoni, S., Jackson, R. B., Trofymow, J. A. & Porporato, A. The global stoichiometry of litter nitrogen mineralization. Science 321, 684–686 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Van Groenigen, J. W., Velthof, G. L., Oenema, O., Van Groenigen, K. J. & Van Kessel, C. Towards an agronomic assessment of N2O emissions: a case study for arable crops. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 61, 903–913 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Poeplau, C. & Don, A. Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils via cultivation of cover crops – A meta-analysis. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 200, 33–41 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lugato, E., Paniagua, L., Jones, A., De Vries, W. & Leip, A. Complementing the topsoil information of the Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) with modelled N2O emissions. PLoS One 12, e0176111 (2017).

  24. Weier, K. L., Doran, J. W., Power, J. F. & Walters, D. T. Denitrification and the dinitrogen/nitrous oxide ratio as affected by soil water, available carbon, and nitrate. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 57, 66–72 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Basche, A. D., Miguez, F. E., Kaspar, T. C. & Castellano, M. J. Do cover crops increase or decrease nitrous oxide emissions? A meta-analysis. J. Soil Water Conserv. 69, 471–482 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Shcherbak, I., Millar, N. & Robertson, G. P. Global metaanalysis of the nonlinear response of soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to fertilizer nitrogen. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 9199–9204 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Tonitto, C., David, M. B. & Drinkwater, L. E. Replacing bare fallows with cover crops in fertilizer-intensive cropping systems: A meta-analysis of crop yield and N dynamics. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 112, 58–72 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Tian, H. et al. The terrestrial biosphere as a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Nature 531, 225–228 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Smith, P. et al. Towards an integrated global framework to assess the impacts of land use and management change on soil carbon: current capability and future vision. Glob. Change Biol. 18, 2089–2101 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Hungate, B. A. Nitrogen and climate change. Science 302, 1512–1513 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Wieder, W. R., Cleveland, C. C., Smith, W. K. & Todd-Brown, K. Future productivity and carbon storage limited by terrestrial nutrient availability. Nat. Geosci. 8, 441–444 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Luo, Y. et al. Toward more realistic projections of soil carbon dynamics by Earth system models. in. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 30, 40–56 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Parton, W. J., Stewart, J. W. B. & Cole, C. V. Dynamics of C, N, P and S in grassland soils: a model. Biogeochemistry 5, 109–131 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Parton, W. J. et al. Generalized model for NOx and N2O emissions from soils. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 106, 17403–17419 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Rawls, W. J., Brakensiek, D. L. & Saxton, K. E. Estimation of soil water properties. Trans. ASAE 25, 1316–1320 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Hollis, J. M., Hannam, J. & Bellamy, P. H. Empirically-derived pedotransfer functions for predicting bulkdensity in European soils. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 63, 96–109 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Lugato, E., Panagos, P., Bampa, F., Jones, A. & Montanarella, L. A new baseline of organic carbon stock in European agricultural soils using a modelling approach. Glob Change Biol. 20, 313–326 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Lugato, E., Paustian, K., Panagos, P., Jones, A. & Borrelli, P. Quantifying the erosion effect on current carbon budget of European agricultural soils at high spatial resolution. Glob Change Biol. 22, 1976–1984 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Robinson, T. P. et al. Mapping the global distribution of livestock. PLoS One 9, e96084 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Siebert, S. et al. Development and validation of the global map of irrigation areas. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 2, 1299–1327 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Voldoire, A. et al. The CNRM-CM5.1 global climate model: Description and basic evaluation. 40, 2091–2121 (2013).

  42. Simpson, D. et al. The EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model – technical description. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 12, 7825–7865 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Sacks, W. J., Deryng, D., Foley, J. A. & Ramankutty, N. Crop planting dates: An analysis of global patterns. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 19, 607–620 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The work was carried out as part of the JRC’s Institutional Work Programme under the Natural Capital Soil Project (Project 702), Work Package 5037 ‘Soil for Climate Change’. The LUCAS Survey is undertaken by the EU Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) and supported by the JRC for the soil component.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate for Sustainable Resources, Ispra, Italy

    Emanuele Lugato, Adrian Leip & Arwyn Jones

Authors
  1. Emanuele Lugato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adrian Leip
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Arwyn Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

E.L. developed the research concepts and conducted the modelling and analyses. E.L., A.L. and A.J. performed the data interpretation. E.L. took the lead on writing the paper with contributions from A.L. and A.J.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emanuele Lugato.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figures 1–11

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lugato, E., Leip, A. & Jones, A. Mitigation potential of soil carbon management overestimated by neglecting N2O emissions. Nature Clim Change 8, 219–223 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0087-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0087-z

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing