Additional carbon sequestration potential of abandoned agricultural land afforestation in the boreal zone: A modelling approach

Fradette, Olivier; Marty, Charles; Faubert, Patrick; Dessureault, Pierre-Luc; Paré, Maxime C.; Bouchard, Sylvie; Villeneuve, Claude

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119565

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…We considered the two most viable purposes of using abandoned cropland -recultivation for food production and reforestation via natural regrowth for climate change mitigation. Their feasibilities have been con rmed by studies and practices in local and regional cases 22,31,90,91 . We estimated the suitability and potential of each purpose separately.…”

Section: Modelling Suitability and Potentialmentioning

confidence: 97%

The neglected role of abandoned cropland in supporting both food security and climate change mitigation

Zheng,

Ha,

Prishchepov

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Despite the looming land scarcity for agriculture, cropland abandonment is widespread globally. Abandoned cropland can be reused to support food security and climate change mitigation. Here, we investigate the potentials and trade-offs of using global abandoned cropland for recultivation and restoring forests by natural regrowth, with spatially-explicit modelling and scenario analysis. We identify 101 Mha of abandoned cropland between 1992 and 2020, with a capability of concurrently delivering 29 to 363 Peta-calories yr− 1 of food production potential and 290 to 1,066 MtCO2 yr− 1 of net climate change mitigation potential, depending on land-use suitability and land allocation strategies. We also show that applying spatial prioritization is key to maximizing the achievable potentials of abandoned cropland and demonstrate other possible approaches to further increase these potentials. Our findings offer timely insights into the potentials of abandoned cropland and can inform sustainable land management to buttress food security and climate goals.

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Section: Modelling Suitability and Potentialmentioning

confidence: 97%

The neglected role of abandoned cropland in supporting both food security and climate change mitigation

Zheng,

Ha,

Prishchepov

et al. 2023

Preprint

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show abstract

“…On the other hand, results cannot be disaggregated by factors often deemed important in secondary forest carbon analysis, such as: harvested vs. burned stand history (McDowell et al 2020); natural vs. artificial regeneration (Paquette et al 2009) and specific accounting of carbon in afforestation projects (Fradette et al 2021). Our use of GEDI's sample is appropriate for empirically determining the central tendency of carbon gain in a given area, but exploratory comparisons are limited to variables (such as age group here) that can be mapped for purposes of establishing subsamples.…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vicarious calibration of GEDI biomass with Landsat age data for understanding secondary forest carbon dynamics

Jha,

Healey,

Yang

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The recovery of biomass in secondary forests plays a vital role in global carbon sequestration processes and carbon emission mitigation. However, accurately quantifying the accumulation rate of aboveground biomass density (AGBD) in these forests is challenging owing to limited longitudinal field data. An alternative monitoring strategy is characterizing the mean biomass at a single point in time across stands with a range of known ages. This chronosequence approach can also be used with remotely sensed data by combining biomass measured with platforms such as NASA’s GEDI mission with forest age strata provided by historic Landsat imagery. However, focusing on the low-biomass conditions common in newly regenerating forests will accentuate commonly observed over-prediction of low biomass values. We propose a vicarious calibration approach that develops a correction for GEDI’s biomass models in young forests, which may be mapped using Landsat time series, using an assumption that the aboveground biomass of newly cleared forests is zero. We tested this approach, which requires no additional local field data, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, where extensive inventory data from the USDA Forest Service are available. Our results show that the calibration did not significantly improve the fit of predicted biomass as a function of age across 12 ecoregions (one-side t-test; p = 0.20), but it did significantly reduce bias for the youngest age groups with respect to reference data. Calibrated GEDI-based biomass estimates for <20-year-old forests were more accurate than 2006 IPCC defaults in most ecoregions (with respect to authoritative inventory estimates) and may represent a basis for refining carbon storage expectations for secondary forests globally.

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“…In this context, soils are particularly important carbon sinks, as their content of C is many times higher than that in the atmosphere [5]. Moreover, it is possible to increase the soil carbon pool using proper land management strategies [6], which include afforestation [7,8]; non-tillage cultivation; organic farming; or the application of soil amendments, such as crop residues, compost, manure, or sewage sludge [9,10]. However, the long-term effect of these treatments is often debatable in terms of the amount of stored carbon and these amendments have to be applied regularly to ensure efficient soil carbon storage [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enzyme Activity and Dissolved Organic Carbon Content in Soils Amended with Different Types of Biochar and Exogenous Organic Matter

Bednik,

Medyńska-Juraszek,

Ćwieląg-Piasecka

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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Biochars are proposed as a strategy for long-term carbon sequestration. High resistance for decomposition, low decay rate and long estimated lifetime allow for stable forms of carbon to be retained in the environment. Nevertheless, the application of pyrolyzed feedstock, particularly along with exogenous organic matter, may affect carbon dynamics in soil through the introduction of labile compounds and the stimulation of extracellular enzymes. The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of biochars and unprocessed organic amendments in two agricultural soils on the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content and activity of three enzymes involved in carbon turnover. In the incubation experiment, the activity of dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, and cellulase and the DOC content were measured on days 30, 60, 90, 180, and 360. The addition of biochars stimulated dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase, while cellulase was suppressed. Fresh biomass enhanced the activity of the enzymes through a priming effect. DOC content was the highest in treatments with high enzyme activity, suggesting that it acted as a source of energy for microbes. The findings suggest that the biochar properties and the presence of exogenous organic matter affect microbial response in soil, which might be crucial for carbon sequestration. However, long-term studies are recommended to fully understand the mechanisms that determine the response of soil biota to biochar.

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Additional carbon sequestration potential of abandoned agricultural land afforestation in the boreal zone: A modelling approach

Cited by 21 publications

References 45 publications

The neglected role of abandoned cropland in supporting both food security and climate change mitigation

The neglected role of abandoned cropland in supporting both food security and climate change mitigation

Vicarious calibration of GEDI biomass with Landsat age data for understanding secondary forest carbon dynamics

Enzyme Activity and Dissolved Organic Carbon Content in Soils Amended with Different Types of Biochar and Exogenous Organic Matter

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