The fluvial flux of particulate organic matter from the UK: the emission factor of soil erosion

Worrall, Fred; Burt, Tim; Howden, Nicholas J K

doi:10.1002/esp.3795

Cited by 26 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…The particulate organic C (POC) is removed preferentially by inter-rill erosion (Wang et al, 2013;Wang, Cammeraat, Cerli, & Kalbitz, 2014), whereas the mineral-bound organic C (MOC) is relatively protected (see Table 2). Worrall, Burt, and Howden (2016) observed that soil erosion is a source of GHGs and has emission factors of 5.5, 4.4, and 0.3 Mg CO 2 eq/year for one Mg of fluvial C, gross C erosion, and gross soil erosion, respectively. Olson, Gennadiyev, Zhidkin, and Markelov (2012) observed that soil erosion and transport of C-rich sediments causes release of SOC to streams and to the atmosphere.…”

Section: Soil Erosion and Soc Dyn Amicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems

Lal

2018

Global Change Biology

531

239

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The global magnitude (Pg) of soil organic carbon (SOC) is 677 to 0.3-m, 993 to 0.5-m, and 1,505 to 1-m depth. Thus, ~55% of SOC to 1-m lies below 0.3-m depth. Soils of agroecosystems are depleted of their SOC stock and have a low use efficiency of inputs of agronomic yield. This review is a collation and synthesis of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The rates of SOC sequestration are scaled up to the global level by linear extrapolation. Soil C sink capacity depends on depth, clay content and mineralogy, plant available water holding capacity, nutrient reserves, landscape position, and the antecedent SOC stock. Estimates of the historic depletion of SOC in world soils, 115-154 (average of 135) Pg C and equivalent to the technical potential or the maximum soil C sink capacity, need to be improved. A positive soil C budget is created by increasing the input of biomass-C to exceed the SOC losses by erosion and mineralization. The global hotspots of SOC sequestration, soils which are farther from C saturation, include eroded, degraded, desertified, and depleted soils. Ecosystems where SOC sequestration is feasible include 4,900 Mha of agricultural land including 332 Mha equipped for irrigation, 400 Mha of urban lands, and ~2,000 Mha of degraded lands. The rate of SOC sequestration (Mg C ha year ) is 0.25-1.0 in croplands, 0.10-0.175 in pastures, 0.5-1.0 in permanent crops and urban lands, 0.3-0.7 in salt-affected and chemically degraded soils, 0.2-0.5 in physically degraded and prone to water erosion, and 0.05-0.2 for those susceptible to wind erosion. Global technical potential of SOC sequestration is 1.45-3.44 Pg C/year (2.45 Pg C/year).

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Section: Soil Erosion and Soc Dyn Amicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems

Lal

2018

Global Change Biology

531

239

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“…On eroding sites, soil erosion keeps the SOC stocks below a steady state and can lead to substantial CO 2 emissions in certain regions (Billings et al, 2010;Worrall et al, 2016;Lal, 2003). CO 2 emission from soil erosion can take place during the breakdown of soil aggregates by erosion and during the transport of the eroded SOC by runoff and later also by streams and rivers.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global soil organic carbon removal by water erosion under climate change and land use change during AD 1850–2005

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Erosion is an Earth system process that transports carbon laterally across the land surface and is currently accelerated by anthropogenic activities. Anthropogenic land cover change has accelerated soil erosion rates by rainfall and runoff substantially, mobilizing vast quantities of soil organic carbon (SOC) globally. At timescales of decennia to millennia this mobilized SOC can significantly alter previously estimated carbon emissions from land use change (LUC). However, a full understanding of the impact of erosion on land-atmosphere carbon exchange is still missing. The aim of this study is to better constrain the terrestrial carbon fluxes by developing methods compatible with land surface models (LSMs) in order to explicitly represent the links between soil erosion by rainfall and runoff and carbon dynamics. For this we use an emulator that represents the carbon cycle of a LSM, in combination with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. We applied this modeling framework at the global scale to evaluate the effects of potential soil erosion (soil removal only) in the presence of other perturbations of the carbon cycle: elevated atmospheric CO 2 , climate variability, and LUC. We find that over the period AD 1850-2005 acceleration of soil erosion leads to a total potential SOC removal flux of 74 ± 18 Pg C, of which 79 %-85 % occurs on agricultural land and grassland. Using our best estimates for soil erosion we find that including soil erosion in the SOC-dynamics scheme results in an increase of 62 % of the cumulative loss of SOC over 1850-2005 due to the combined effects of climate variability, increasing atmospheric CO 2 and LUC. This additional erosional loss decreases the cumulative global carbon sink on land by 2 Pg of carbon for this specific period, with the largest effects found for the tropics, where deforestation and agricultural expansion increased soil erosion rates significantly. We conclude that the potential effect of soil erosion on the global SOC stock is comparable to the effects of climate or LUC. It is thus necessary to include soil erosion in assessments of LUC and evaluations of the terrestrial carbon cycle.

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“…The flux of DOC and POM is not the flux of DON or PON. Worrall et al (2016) used POM data collected as part of the LOIS project (Neal 2003 (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998) and 16 sites across 13 rivers. The median POC/PON C/N ratio was 11.5 with an interquartile range of 9.2 to 14.3.…”

Section: N Outputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The UK’s total nitrogen budget from 1990 to 2020: a transition from source to sink?

et al. 2016

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This study estimates the annual total nitrogen balance of the UK from 1990 to 2020. The following inputs of nitrogen are considered: inorganic fertilizer, atmospheric deposition; food and feed imports; and biological nitrogen fixation. The outputs considered compose: atmospheric emissions; direct losses of sewage and industrial effluent to the sea; fluvial losses at source; food and feed exports; and terrestrial denitrification. It is shown that: (1) Inputs of inorganic fertilizer declined significantly over the study period with both atmospheric deposition and food and feed imports significantly increasing. (2) Outputs of total N also significantly declined with all output pathways decreasing except for atmospheric emissions and terrestrial denitrification to N 2 .

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The fluvial flux of particulate organic matter from the UK: the emission factor of soil erosion

Cited by 26 publications

References 80 publications

Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems

Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems

Global soil organic carbon removal by water erosion under climate change and land use change during AD 1850–2005

The UK’s total nitrogen budget from 1990 to 2020: a transition from source to sink?

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