Updated estimate of carbon balance on Russian territory

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe land use system in Russia changed considerably after 1990: 30.2 million ha of croplands were abandoned. Based on the own field investigations that were carried out in abandoned lands of different age (Luvic Phaeozems, deciduous forest zone; Moscow region, 54 • 50 N, 37 • 37 E), it has been shown that after 4-5 yr of abandonment, the former croplands acted as a stable sink of CO 2 . The net ecosystem production (NEP) in the post-agrogenic ecosystems averaged 245 ± 73 g C m −2 yr −1 for the first 15 yr after land use change that corresponds to an estimated 74 ± 22 Tg C yr −1 for the total area of abandoned lands in Russian Federation. Currently, the Russian territory acts as an absolute sink of atmospheric CO 2 at a rate about 0.90 Pg C yr −1 . Using three different approaches, it was demonstrated that after 1990, the carbon sequestration in Russian soils (0-20 cm layer) has averaged 34 ± 2.2 Tg C yr −1 . This soil C forms net biome production (NBP) where carbon lifetime is much longer than in 'Kyoto forests'. Thus, the post-agrogenic ecosystems in Russia provide with the additional CO 2 sink in NEP and NBP that could annually compensate about 25% of the current fossil fuel emissions in the Russian Federation.

Recovery of organic matter and microbial biomass after abandonment of degraded agricultural soils: the influence of climate

“…There were also similar average rates of C org sequestration in 0‐ to 30‐cm layer in steppe and forest soils during the first 29 and 35 years after cropland abandonment (Table ). The C sequestration rates were in accordance with literature values (Kurganova et al, ; Kurganova, Kudeyarov, & Gerenyu, ; Wertebach et al, ). The remarkable increase in C org and TN contents over the post‐agricultural succession in both chronosequences mainly reflected (a) the fresh plant residues input into the topsoil and (b) the lack of soil disturbance by tillage (Paustian, Collins, & Paul, ).…”

“…There were also similar average rates of C org sequestration in 0-to 30-cm layer in steppe and forest soils during the first 29 and 35 years after cropland abandonment (Table 3). The C sequestration rates were in accordance with literature values (Kurganova et al, 2014;Kurganova, Kudeyarov, & Gerenyu, 2010;Wertebach et al, 2017). The remarkable FIGURE 4 Regressions between contents of C org , light fraction (LF), mineral-SOM, and microbial parameters (basal respiration [BR] and microbial carbon content [C mic ]) in the forest and steppe chronosequences (0-to 5-cm layer).…”

Soil carbon sequestration due to post‐Soviet cropland abandonment: estimates from a large‐scale soil organic carbon field inventory

“…As sequestration rates are highly dependent on the initial SOC stock (Kämpf et al ., ) and highest for formerly agriculturally used Chernozems (cf. Kurganova et al ., , ), high sequestration rates will be shaped by these dominating soil types. The high carbon sequestration rates for Chernozems are most likely due to the high productivity that abandoned lands show on these fertile soils after few years.…”

Impact of Siberian observations on the optimization of surface CO<sub>2</sub> flux

“…Especially Siberia is considered to be the one of the largest CO 2 uptake regions and reservoirs due to its forest area (Schulze et al, 1999;Houghton et al, 2007;Tarnocai et al, 2009;Kurganova et al, 2010;Schepaschenko et al, 2011) and the global significance of its dynamics and interactions with the climate (Quegan et al, 2011). Therefore, it is important to accurately estimate the surface CO 2 fluxes in this region.…”