Changes in topsoil organic carbon content in the Swiss leman region cropland from 1993 to present. Insights from large scale on-farm study

Dupla, Xavier; Gondret, Karine; Sauzet, Ophélie; Verrecchia, Éric P.; Boivin, Pascal

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115125

Cited by 20 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…With a cropland mean SOC annual change rate increasing from −5‰ at the end of the 20th century to more than +5‰ at present, this study contradicted Keel et al (2019) findings, though performed under the same climate and soil conditions. Consequently Dupla et al (2021) concluded that LTE results cannot be extrapolated to farm fields, as already underlined by previous studies (Govaerts et al, 2009;Cook et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…A recent study performed on the Swiss long-term experiments reported negative annual change rates in SOC content of the 0-20 cm topsoil for all the LTEs regardless of the cropping system (Keel et al, 2019). Conversely, in another large scale on-farm study conducted in the Lake Geneva region, Dupla et al (2021) showed that the SOC content of the cropland 0-20 cm topsoil was increasing on average, with annual SOC change rates ranging from less than −30‰ to more than +30‰. With a cropland mean SOC annual change rate increasing from −5‰ at the end of the 20th century to more than +5‰ at present, this study contradicted Keel et al (2019) findings, though performed under the same climate and soil conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Moreover, the desirable SOC content in cropland was often related to the concept of clay complexation and saturation with organic carbon. This concept is expressed as a SOC:Clay ratio (Dexter et al, 2008;Johannes et al, 2017;Prout et al, 2020) that can be used to calculate carbon sequestration potential (Merante et al, 2017;Chen et al, 2019;Dupla et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the findings of Dupla et al (2021), this study was performed in the same geographical area, namely in the Vaud and Geneva cantons-Switzerland. Here, we explored the relationships between the observed SOC content annual change rates in the 0-20 cm topsoil and the cropping practices, over the past 10 years, for 120 fields and farms representative of the soils and cropping systems of this region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

On-Farm Relationships Between Agricultural Practices and Annual Changes in Organic Carbon Content at a Regional Scale

Dupla

Lemaître

Grand

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Both soil quality degradation and climate change mitigation issues emphasize the need to increase, or at least stabilize, the topsoil organic carbon content (wt%) in arable land. This on-farm study aimed at measuring the impact of agricultural practices on changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) content over 10 years. A total of 120 fields belonging to 120 farms representative of the cropping systems and soil properties in Western Switzerland (Lake Geneva region) was randomly selected. The field 0–20 cm topsoil was sampled at a 10-years interval, and the corresponding cropping practices were gathered using farmer’s interviews and the mandatory records of yearly practices at field level in Swiss-farms. Only 1) organic matter inputs and 2) cover-crop intensity were significantly correlated to SOC increase while 3) the soil tillage intensity and 4) the soil saturation in carbon expressed as a SOC to clay content ratio were correlated to SOC decrease. Among others, temporary meadows were not correlated to changes in SOC content mainly due to increased tillage and decreased cover-crops between meadows. Organic farming did not correlate either with SOC changes due to the large tillage intensity applied for weed control. The observed SOC content changes ranged from −56‰ to +74‰ and were well explained by a linear regression model with additive effect of the four identified SOC change factors. The additivity of these factors means that farmers can emphasize the methods of their choice when regenerating their soils. This study advocates that strict no-till is not required at low carbon saturation level (small SOC:Clay ratio). However, as carbon saturation increases, conservation tillage and then no-till practices become necessary to further increase SOC contents. These findings are in accordance with previous studies showing that since 2015 SOC is increasing at more than +4‰ on average in the region and provide practical insights to further manage the transition of farming systems towards soil regeneration.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

On-Farm Relationships Between Agricultural Practices and Annual Changes in Organic Carbon Content at a Regional Scale

Dupla

Lemaître

Grand

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This may be difficult because changes take many years to materialize. An example from Switzerland is, however, presented [52], where this has been done for a 30-year period. They report an increase in %C but only after the year 2000 when legislation was introduced requiring cover crops and minimum tillage.…”

Section: Ecosystem Services Contributing To Climate Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Role of Soils When Developing Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems Focused on Achieving the UN-SDGs and the EU Green Deal

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The general concept of sustainable development has been specified in terms of goals, targets, and indicators by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, followed by the Green Deal of the European Union in 2019. The focus on targets and indicators does, however, not address the issue as to how these goals can be achieved for land-related SDGs in the real world, and attention in this paper is therefore focused on how land management can contribute to providing ecosystem services in line with the aims of the SDGs and the Green Deal. Agricultural production systems should at least produce healthy food (SDG2 and 3), protect ground- and surface water quality (SDG6), mitigate climate change (SDG13), avoid soil degradation, and support biodiversity (SDG15). The corresponding ecosystem services are discussed with particular emphasis on the role of soils, which are characterized in terms of soil health, defined as: contributing to ecosystem services in line with the SDGs and the Green Deal. Appropriate management, as developed and proposed by researchers working jointly with farmers in living labs, can only be realized when it is part of sound long-term business plans, supported by independent advice that is focused on farmers’ concerns based on the requirements for adaptive management. The research effort in living labs, addressing “wicked” problems, needs to be judged differently from classical linear research. As the development of successful ecosystem services requires an interdisciplinary research effort based on a systems analysis, SDG-oriented soil research in the future should be focused on: (i) presenting suitable data to the interdisciplinary effort beyond standard data to be found in existing databases; (ii) using soil types as “carriers of information” to allow extrapolation of results; (iii) providing data with a comparable degree of detail when analyzing the various ecosystem services, and (iv) revisit past experiences in soil survey and soil fertility research when contact with farmers was intense, as is again needed in future to realize ecosystem services in line with the SDGs and the Green Deal.

show abstract

The role of hydropedology when aiming for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Bouma

2023

Vadose Zone Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soil physics defines soil water, air, and temperature regimes that are crucial for agricultural production, the quality of water resources, and waste management. Positioning such activities in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will provide a valuable link to the international policy arena and should also include consideration of other SDGs dealing with climate change, biodiversity preservation, and soil health, thereby covering aspects of SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG3 (good health and wellbeing), SDG6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG13 (climate action), and SDG15 (life on land). Combined expertise of soil physicists and pedologists in hydropedology offers a basic soil package, to be completed by soil chemists and biologists, to interdisciplinary teams studying ecosystem services in line with SDGs. Soils not being isotropic and homogeneous, pedology offers descriptions of soil heterogeneity, requiring innovative measuring methods. Digital mapping significantly improves the quality of traditional soil maps by being more quantitative at lower cost. Socioeconomic conditions are important elements of sustainable development as is recognized by the soil security concept, distinguishing soil connectivity with users and soil codification, linking soil with the policy arena. The latter has been successfully achieved in South Africa. Innovative, “applied” interdisciplinary research is needed to develop operational methods, assessing ecosystem services that are relatively of low cost, simple, and transparent, allowing acceptance by critical stakeholders. Modern proximal sensing techniques offer a promising perspective. An exploratory case study of a Dutch: “Living Lab” is referred to as an example of such an “applied” interdisciplinary approach.

show abstract

Changes in topsoil organic carbon content in the Swiss leman region cropland from 1993 to present. Insights from large scale on-farm study

Cited by 20 publications

References 58 publications

On-Farm Relationships Between Agricultural Practices and Annual Changes in Organic Carbon Content at a Regional Scale

On-Farm Relationships Between Agricultural Practices and Annual Changes in Organic Carbon Content at a Regional Scale

Assessing the Role of Soils When Developing Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems Focused on Achieving the UN-SDGs and the EU Green Deal

The role of hydropedology when aiming for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About