Conservation agriculture’s impacts on reducing N2O emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration in soils

Authors: DRURY, CRAIG - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada; Johnson, Jane; RICE, C - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Soil Science Society of America Journal
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2021
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The guest editor’s preface is for a special issue that includes ten peer-reviewed research articles published in a special section of the Soil Science Society of America Journal. Conservation agricultural practices include conservation tillage, crop rotations, cover crops and residue management. Collectively these articles provide examples of conservation agricultural benefits related to reducing nitrous oxide emissions and increasing carbon (soil organic matter) in soils. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas that is contributing to climate change. Carbon dioxide is also a potent greenhouse gas, but when plants do photosynthesis, they transform carbon dioxide into biomass. As a portion of plant biomass is converted into soil organic matter, it is reducing carbon dioxide in the air. The goal is to find ways to keep more carbon in soil organic matter instead of as carbon dioxide. The research presented in the special issue will advance the understanding of how agriculture can play a role to protect soil and contribute to slowing human-caused changes in climate.

Technical Abstract: Greenhouse gas emissions have been and continue to increase on regional, national, and global scales; thus, mitigation practices are required to reduce and/or offset these emissions. Agriculture can be both a source (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) of emissions as well as a sink (soil organic C). Conservation agriculture (CA) is a suite of management practices that can be used to reduce emissions and/or enhance C sequestration in soils. For example, some CA practices may improve soil conditions to enhance crop growth, nutrient utilization, and soil organic carbon. Conservation Agriculture Network is a network of the Croplands Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases that identified reduced tillage, crop rotations, cover crops, residue management and improved irrigation systems as some of the management strategies which can be used to achieve these goals. This special issue will help identify and promote current research on conservation agriculture practices as it relates to GHG emissions and/or C sequestration.