A ‘debt’ based approach to land degradation as an indicator of global change

Wuepper, David; Borrelli, Pasquale; Panagos, Panos; Lauber, T. Bruce; Crowther, Thomas W.; Thomas, Amy; Robinson, David A.

doi:10.1111/gcb.15830

Cited by 20 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This goal is often implied rather than stated explicitly. A recent example is inclusion of an estimate of soil carbon loss compared to an assumed value under “natural” conditions in the “debt based approach to land degradation as an indicator of global change” proposed by Wuepper et al (2021). It also sometimes implied in discussions of soil health or quality or topics such as ‘regenerative agriculture’ and ‘carbon farming’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?

et al. 2022

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Clearing natural vegetation to establish arable agriculture (cropland) almost invariably causes a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). Is it possible to restore soil that continues in arable agriculture to the pre-clearance SOC level through modified management practices? To address this question we reviewed evidence from long-term experiments at Rothamsted Research, UK, Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, Sanborn Field, USA and Brazil and both experiments and surveys of farmers’ fields in Ethiopia, Australia, Zimbabwe, UK and Chile. In most cases SOC content in soil under arable cropping was in the range 38–67% of pre-clearance values. Returning crop residues, adding manures or including periods of pasture within arable rotations increased this, often to 60–70% of initial values. Under tropical climatic conditions SOC loss after clearance was particularly rapid, e.g. a loss of >50% in less than 10 years in smallholder farmers’ fields in Zimbabwe. If larger yielding crops were grown, using fertilizers, and maize stover returned instead of being grazed by cattle, the loss was reduced. An important exception to the general trend of SOC loss after clearance was clearing Cerrado vegetation on highly weathered acidic soils in Brazil and conversion to cropping with maize and soybean. Other exceptions were unrealistically large annual applications of manure and including long periods of pasture in a highly SOC-retentive volcanic soil. Also, introducing irrigated agriculture in a low rainfall region can increase SOC beyond the natural value due to increased plant biomass production. For reasons of sustainability and soil health it is important to maintain SOC as high as practically possible in arable soils, but we conclude that in the vast majority of situations it is unrealistic to expect to maintain pre-clearance values. To maintain global SOC stocks at we consider it is more important to reduce current rates of land clearance and sustainably produce necessary food on existing agricultural land.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?

et al. 2022

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“…The global erosivity dataset (Figure 4c) include the first assessment of the R‐factor at global scale using measured rainfall erosivity data from 3625 precipitation stations in 63 countries (Panagos et al, 2017). The land degradation debt (Figure 4g) estimates the “environmental debts” (difference between natural potential and actual) for (a) tree cover, (b) soil erosion, (c) above ground carbon, and (d) below ground carbon (Wuepper et al, 2021). The global spatial layers for estimating soil GHG emissions from Indirect Land Use Changes (ILUC) due to the Production of Biofuels (Figure 4f) include a group of datasets such as GHG emissions from changes in soil C‐stocks, global land cover, ecological zones, crop surfaces, and carbon stocks (Hiederer et al, 2010).…”

Section: Esdac Data Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

European Soil Data Centre 2.0: Soil data and knowledge in support of the EU policies

Panagos

Liedekerke

Borrelli

et al. 2022

European J Soil Science

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The European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), hosted by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), is the focal point for soil data, support to policy making and awareness raising for the European Union (EU). Established in 2006 to provide harmonised soil‐related information for the EU Member States, and ESDAC currently hosts 88 datasets, 6000 maps, six atlases, 500 scientific publications, and a copious amount of soil‐related material. Through its data repository publishing activity, ESDAC has licensed over 50,000 datasets during the past 15 years; 8500 of them in 2021 alone. It has published 140 monthly newsletters and is followed by more than 12,000 subscribed users, which receive regular updates. This article addresses the use, usability, and usefulness of ESDAC. About 75% of the ESDAC users come from academia and the research community while the remaining 25% includes public administration (at EU, national, regional, and local level) and the private sector. In addition, we provide some insights of the datasets evaluation and how they have been developed. The general ESDAC vision is to provide evidence underlying EU soil‐relevant policies and to facilitate the access to relevant data for research. ESDAC is an integral part of the recently established European Union Soil Observatory (EUSO), with a target to have an even stronger role in supporting EU and regional policies. Highlights ESDAC is a central place from where to find European wide relevant soil data. ESDAC is an integral part of the EU Soil Observatory in creating data and knowledge for policy support. The ESDAC website shows a high volume of traffic; 10,000 of user licenses are granted per year. ESDAC key success: open access data policy, documentation, operational helpdesk and regular updates.

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“…Land degradation is driven by many causes, and different ecosystems face diverse challenges (Wuepper et al, 2021). This special issue includes eight studies that consider the impact of land degradation on diverse ecosystems across the globe, from the Amazonian jungle in Brazil to the grasslands of Africa.…”

Section: Restoration Of Degraded Terrestrial Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%