Grassland Management and Conversion into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon

Conant, R.; Paustian, K.; Elliot, E.

doi:10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005

Title: Grassland Management and Conversion into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon

Abstract

Grasslands are heavily relied upon for food and forage production. A key component for sustaining production in grassland ecosystems is the maintenance of soil organic matter (SOM), which can be strongly influenced by management. Many management techniques intended to increase forage production may potentially increase SOM, thus sequestering atmospheric carbon (C). Further, conversion from either cultivation or native vegetation into grassland could also sequester atmospheric carbon. We reviewed studies examining the influence of improved grassland management practices and conversion into grasslands on soil C worldwide to assess the potential for C sequestration. Results from 115 studies containing over 300 data points were analyzed. Management improvements included fertilization (39%), improved grazing management (24%), conversion from cultivation (15%) and native vegetation (15%), sowing of legumes (4%) and grasses (2%), earthworm introduction (1%), and irrigation (1%). Soil C content and concentration increased with improved management in 74% of the studies, and mean soil C increased with all types of improvement. Carbon sequestration rates were highest during the first 40 y after treatments began and tended to be greatest in the top 10 cm of soil. Impacts were greater in woodland and grassland biomes than in forest, desert, rain forest, or shrubland biomes. Conversionmore »« less

Authors:

Conant, R.; Paustian, K.; Elliot, E.

Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory

Publication Date:: 1999-06-03

Other Number(s):: doi:10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005; cdiac:doi 10.3334/CDIAC/tcm.005

Research Org.:: Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem (ESS-DIVE) (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USEPA; U.S. DOE > Office of Science (SC) > Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Keywords:: cultivation; grassland management; grasslands; grazing management; pasture; soil carbon; soil organic matter; Carbon Cycle; Carbon Sequestration; Soil carbon; CARBON SEQUESTRATION-TERRESTRIAL; Citation; Management Change; Duration (years); Depth (cm); Initial soil C; Final soil C; Units^1 ; Latitude; Longitude

OSTI Identifier:: 1389522

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005

Citation Formats


                    Conant, R., Paustian, K., and Elliot, E. Grassland Management and Conversion into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon.  United States: N. p., 1999. 
        Web.  doi:10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005.

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                    Conant, R., Paustian, K., & Elliot, E. Grassland Management and Conversion into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon.  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005

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                    Conant, R., Paustian, K., and Elliot, E. 1999.  
"Grassland Management and Conversion into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon".  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1389522. Pub date:Thu Jun 03 00:00:00 EDT 1999

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@article{osti_1389522,

  title        = {Grassland Management and Conversion into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon},

  author       = {Conant, R. and Paustian, K. and Elliot, E.},

  abstractNote = {Grasslands are heavily relied upon for food and forage production. A key component for sustaining production in grassland ecosystems is the maintenance of soil organic matter (SOM), which can be strongly influenced by management. Many management techniques intended to increase forage production may potentially increase SOM, thus sequestering atmospheric carbon (C). Further, conversion from either cultivation or native vegetation into grassland could also sequester atmospheric carbon. We reviewed studies examining the influence of improved grassland management practices and conversion into grasslands on soil C worldwide to assess the potential for C sequestration. Results from 115 studies containing over 300 data points were analyzed. Management improvements included fertilization (39%), improved grazing management (24%), conversion from cultivation (15%) and native vegetation (15%), sowing of legumes (4%) and grasses (2%), earthworm introduction (1%), and irrigation (1%). Soil C content and concentration increased with improved management in 74% of the studies, and mean soil C increased with all types of improvement. Carbon sequestration rates were highest during the first 40 y after treatments began and tended to be greatest in the top 10 cm of soil. Impacts were greater in woodland and grassland biomes than in forest, desert, rain forest, or shrubland biomes. Conversion from cultivation, the introduction of earthworms, and irrigation resulted in the largest increases. Rates of C sequestration by type of improvement ranged from 0.11 to 3.04 Mg C · ha–1 y–1, with a mean of 0.54 Mg C · ha –1 · y–1, and were highly influenced by biome type and climate. We conclude that grasslands can act as a significant carbon sink with the implementation of improved management.For access to the data files, click this link to the CDIAC data transition website: http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/programs/CSEQ/terrestrial/Conant2001/conant2001.html},

  doi          = {10.3334/CDIAC/TCM.005},

  journal      = {},

  number       = ,

  volume       = ,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {1999},

  month        = {6}

}

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