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Title: Ecosystem carbon exchange on conversion of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands to annual and perennial cropping systems

Journal Article · · Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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Land use changes into and out of agricultural production may substantially influence ecosystem carbon (C) balance for many years. We examined ecosystem C balances for eight years after the conversion of 22 year-old Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands and formerly tilled agricultural fields (AGR) to annual (continuous no-till corn) and perennial (switchgrass and restored prairie) cropland. An unconverted CRP field (CRP-Ref) was maintained as a historical reference. Ecosystem C balance was assessed using adjusted net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEEadj) calculated by adding C removed in harvested biomass to NEE measured using eddy covariance method. The cumulative NEEadj of the corn and perennial systems on former CRP fields showed that these systems were a net C source to the atmosphere over the 8-year period while on former AGR fields, the perennial systems were net C sinks and the corn system near-neutral. The CRP-Ref was near neutral until a drought year when it became a net source. The corn system on the CRP field will likely reach a new lower soil C equilibrium at least 14 years after conversion but will never regain the C lost upon conversion under current no-till management with residue partially removed. On the other hand, the perennial systems could fully regain in ~14 years the C lost following conversion. The cumulative NEEadj of the corn systems exhibited a higher C emission than did the perennial systems within the same land use histories, reflecting the dominant role of crop type and management in agricultural ecosystem C balance. Results suggest that converting croplands to grasslands results in immediate C gains whereas converting grasslands to croplands results in permanent (no-till corn with partial residue removal) or temporary (perennial herbaceous crops) net C loss to the atmosphere. Lastly, this has a significant implications for global climate change mitigation where biomass production from annual and perennial crops is promoted to avoid fossil-fuel C emissions (biofuel) or to remove CO2 from the atmosphere (bioenergy C capture and storage).

Research Organization:
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Contributing Organization:
NSF Long-term Ecological Research Program at the Kellogg Biological Station, and Michigan State University AgBioResearch
Grant/Contract Number:
ACO5-76RL01830; SC0018409
OSTI ID:
1437831
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1459360
Journal Information:
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Journal Name: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Vol. 253-254 Journal Issue: C; ISSN 0168-1923
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 24 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Eddy covariance
Net ecosystem exchange
Land use change
Corn
Switchgrass
Restored prairie
Climate change mitigation