Swedish long-term agricultural field experiments – soil carbon stock changes are affected by management

Abstract

Long-term field experiments (LTEs) are a useful resource for quantifying changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks due to agricultural management. We present results from recent work focusing on the effect of different management practices on SOC stocks in Swedish LTEs. Application of inorganic N fertilizer increased SOC, on average, by about 1 kg C for each kg of N added. Straw incorporation affected SOC only in soils with high clay content. On average, 0.5 Mg ha-1 yr-1 more SOC was retained in soils in ley-dominated compared to exclusively annual rotations. Incorporation of ryegrass undersown in spring cereals increased SOC, on average, by 0.3 Mg ha-1 yr-1. Sewage sludge addition to soil increased SOC directly through C input and indirectly through stimulation of primary production. Between 16 and 32% of C added with sludge was retained in the topsoil after 13 to 53 years.

Keywords

Carbon sequestration; climate change mitigation; greenhouse gas; soil carbon; soil fertility

Published in

Aspects of Applied Biology
2015, volume: 128, pages: 119-124

SLU Authors

• Kätterer, Thomas

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bolinder, Martin

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Poeplau, Christopher

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Börjesson, Gunnar

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Kirchmann, Holger

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bergkvist, Göran

  • Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68119