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Title: ENHANCING CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN CRP-MANAGED LAND

Author
item HUGGINS, DAVID - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item ALLAN, DEBORAH - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item GARDNER, JOHN - NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV.
item Karlen, Douglas
item BEZDICEK, DAVID - WASHINGTON STATE UNIV.
item ROSEK, MARTIN - TOP-SOIL PRECISION AG.
item ALMS, MAGGIE - BLUE EARTH AGRONOMICS
item FLOCK, MARK - BROOKSIDE LAB,COLUMBUS,OH
item MILLER, BRADLEY - NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV.
item STABEN, MARY - NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV.

Submitted to: Carbon Sequestration In Soil An International Symposium
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/26/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was designed to help landowners conserve and improve soil and water quality by removing highly erodible land from production. Soil quality was expected to improve in CRP-land primarily from increased sequestration of soil C. This study demonstrated that after 7 to 8 years of CRP, increases in soil organic carbon (SOC) were detectable in the surface 0 to 7.5 cm, but not in the upper 20 cm of soil. Adding fertilizer or manure could have increased C inputs, potentially doubling sequestration. Changes were most apparent in labile C fractions such as microbial biomass C or particulate organic C, and in macro-aggregation. Conversion of CRP-land to annual cropping with intensive tillage will quickly exhaust labile C storage and reduce macro-aggregation. Use of conservation tillage practices would reduce the rate of decline in labile C fractions and macro-aggregation.