Session at EGU jointly organized by TRUESOIL as well as other EJP SOIL projects leading with trade-offs between C sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions at the EGU General Assembly 2023 in Vienna., Austria.
Session SSS9.13: Trade-offs between soil carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas fluxes and N and P losses: implications for agriculture management
Measures for increasing soil organic carbon in agricultural soils are becoming increasingly popular as part of the global efforts to mitigate climate change. A large range of management strategies (e.g. minimizing soil disturbance, diversification of crop rotations, use of cover crops, incorporation of crop residues, addition of organic amendments, rewetting organic soils) are investigated in a range of socio-ecological contexts to evaluate their role of sequestering carbon in the soil.
Increasing organic carbon content in soils has several co-benefits, beyond climate change mitigation, including improvement of soil health, fertility and water holding capacity. On the other hand, agricultural strategies aimed at increasing carbon sequestration may affect other element cycles, with implications for greenhouse gas fluxes (N2O and CH4) fluxes, and losses of C, N and P to ground- and surface waters. Thus, the overall effect of these management practices needs to be evaluated to appropriately quantify their environmental impact.
In this session, we welcome contributions that give insights into the effects of agricultural management practices, aimed at improving carbon sequestration, on the greenhouse gas balance and on element losses to ground and surface waters. We welcome experimental, modelling or synthesis approaches, but a special focus will be given to studies trying to understand the causes and mechanisms of the observed trade-offs and/or synergies.
Convener: Eugenio Diaz Pines | Co-conveners: Tuula Larmola, Cristina Aponte, Mart Ros, Ana Meijide