Large climate mitigation potential from adding trees to agricultural lands

Chapman, Melissa; Walker, Wayne; Cook‐Patton, Susan C.; Ellis, Peter W.; Farina, Mary; Griscom, Bronson W.; Baccini, Alessandro

doi:10.1111/gcb.15121

Cited by 73 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…These different effects of different crop diversification strategies on soil carbon content may be linked with the fact that some strategies such as agroforestry, intercropping and cover crops tend to produce more above- and below-ground litter, which favors the formation and accumulation of soil organic carbon 38 (see Supplementary Materials). This is in line with other recent studies that have highlighted the promises of agroforestry or cover crops for sequestering carbon in agricultural soils 39,40 . To contribute to soil carbon sequestration and climate mitigation, such practices need, not only provide additional biomass and carbon uptake but also (i) not result in a trade-off with yields (which would result in displacement effects), (ii) not result in the increase of other GHGs like nitrous oxide (N2O) or methane or increased energy use for example for fertilizer production, and (iii) persist over long periods 41,42 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Positive but variable effects of crop diversification on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Beillouin

Ben-Ari

Malézieux

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Increasing the diversity of cultivated crops, species or cultivars is expected to help preserve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. But individual local experiments evaluating crop diversification practices and even meta-analytical synthesis of experimental studies are scattered in their scope, quality and geographical focus. In an effort to make sense of this trove of information, we integrate the results of 5,662 experiments representing more than 48,600 paired observations over 80 experimental years, through the compilation of 83 meta-analyses covering more than 120 crops and 85 countries. The diversification strategies analyzed in the literature are diverse and are here regrouped into five broad categories (i.e., agroforestry, associated plants, intercropping, crop rotation and cultivar mixture). Our exhaustive literature synthesis shows that overall, crop diversification significantly enhances crop yields (median effect +13%), associated biodiversity (+24%), and several ecosystem services including water quality (+84%), pest and disease control (+63%), and soil quality (+11%). While these aggregated global results support the many benefits of adopting more diversified cropping systems, we also identified high variability between meta-analyses for most of the diversification practices examined. This strong global heterogeneity highlights the importance of contextual information about agricultural diversification for local decision-making. Our global database provides important insights into the contextual performance of crop diversification practices that can provide this needed guidance to agricultural and environmental decision-making.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Positive but variable effects of crop diversification on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Beillouin

Ben-Ari

Malézieux

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…The MODIS data are low-resolution and may overestimate carbon stock estimates in grasslands by including different land uses like wooded areas and forest patches into grazing land pixels [23]. However, our study showed the potential of SPS to mitigate climate by sequestering more carbon in woody biomass.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Zomer et al [11,12] reported that the contribution of trees on global arable land was over 4 times higher than when estimated with IPCC default values [19]. Chapman et al [23] also reported that trees in the global crop and pasture lands store about 3.07 and 3.86 Pg carbon in their aboveground biomass, respectively. Similarly, this study found that carbon stocks in the grassland of Colombia has likely also been underestimated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Storage Potential of Silvopastoral Systems of Colombia

Aynekulu

Suber

Noordwijk

et al. 2020

Land

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Nine Latin American countries plan to use silvopastoral practices—incorporating trees into grazing lands—to mitigate climate change. However, the cumulative potential of scaling up silvopastoral systems at national levels is not well quantified. Here, we combined previously published tree cover data based on 250 m resolution MODIS satellite remote sensing imagery for 2000–2017 with ecofloristic zone carbon stock estimates to calculate historical and potential future tree biomass carbon storage in Colombian grasslands. Between 2000 and 2017, tree cover across all Colombian grasslands increased from 15% to 18%, with total biomass carbon (TBC) stocks increasing from 0.41 to 0.48 Pg. The range in 2017 carbon stock values in grasslands based on ecofloristic zones (5 to 122 Mg ha−1) suggests a potential for further increase. Increasing all carbon stocks to the current median and 75th percentile levels for the respective eco-floristic zone would increase TBC stocks by about 0.06 and 0.15 Pg, respectively. Incorporated into national C accounting, such Tier 2 estimates can set realistic targets for silvopastoral systems in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) implementation plans in Colombia and other Latin American countries with similar contexts.

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“…Adding trees to agricultural land and consequently conversion of crop-and grassland into agroforestry, a form of inter-cropping (the integration of at least two plant species in the same area), can increase aboveground biomass more than 10-fold and has been found to increase SOC stocks by 25% and 19% globally, respectively 18,19 . Cover crops (the establishment of plants for the purpose of protecting the soil) also boost aboveground carbon stocks throughout the year and can increase SOC stocks by 0.1-1 t ha -1 yr -1 Ref.…”

Section: Definitions and Key Limitations Of Individual Techniques Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biochar could be produced from biomass harvested from matured agroforestry systems, (Figure 3d), which are estimated to ultimately provide up to 10x higher biomass yields than simple cropping and pasture systems 19 . Light limitation can cause tree growth to decline with age, so that tree pruning and thinning stimulate higher growth rates 83,84 .…”

Section: Aboveground Plant Carbon Sequestration Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing Natural Cycles in Agro-Ecosystems to Boost Plant Carbon Capture and Soil Storage

Buss

Yeates

Rohling

2020

Preprint

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One of society’s greatest challenges is sequestering vast amounts of carbon to avoid dangerous climate change without driving competition for land and resources. Here we assess the potential of an integrated approach based on enhancement of natural biogeochemical cycles in agro-ecosystems that stimulate carbon capture and storage while increasing resilience and long-term productivity. The method integrates plant photosynthesis in the form of (cover) crops and agroforestry which drives carbon capture. Belowground plant-carbon is efficiently stored as stable soil organic carbon (SOC). Aboveground crop and tree residues are pyrolyzed into biochar, which is applied to the soil reducing carbon release through decomposition. Enhanced weathering of basalt powder worked into the soil further captures and stores carbon, while releasing nutrients and alkalinity. The integrated system is regenerative, through enhanced virtuous cycles that lead to improved plant capture, biomass storage and crop yield, the prerequisites for large-scale carbon sequestration along with food security.

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Large climate mitigation potential from adding trees to agricultural lands

Abstract: This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 73 publications

References 23 publications

Positive but variable effects of crop diversification on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Positive but variable effects of crop diversification on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Carbon Storage Potential of Silvopastoral Systems of Colombia

Enhancing Natural Cycles in Agro-Ecosystems to Boost Plant Carbon Capture and Soil Storage

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