Modest capacity of no-till farming to offset emissions over 21st century

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dc.contributor.authorGraham, Michael W.en
dc.contributor.authorThomas, R. Quinnen
dc.contributor.authorLombardozzi, Danica L.en
dc.contributor.authorO'Rourke, Megan E.en
dc.contributor.departmentForest Resources and Environmental Conservationen
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-14T16:35:49Zen
dc.date.available2021-09-14T16:35:49Zen
dc.date.issued2021-05-01en
dc.date.updated2021-09-14T16:35:47Zen
dc.description.abstract'No-till' (NT) agriculture, which eliminates nearly all physical disturbance of the soil surface on croplands, has been widely promoted as a means of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration with the potential to mitigate climate change. Here we provide the first global estimates of the SOC sequestration potential of NT adoption using a global land surface model (LSM). We use an LSM to simulate losses of SOC due to intensive tillage (IT) over the historical time period (1850-2014), followed by future simulations (2015-2100) assessing the SOC sequestration potential of adopting NT globally. Historical losses due to simulated IT practices ranged from 6.8 to 16.8 Gt C, or roughly 5%-13% of the 133 Gt C of global cumulative SOC losses attributable to agriculture reported elsewhere. Cumulative SOC sequestration in NT simulations over the entire 21st century was equivalent to approximately one year of current fossil fuel emissions and ranged between 6.6 and 14.4 Gt C (0.08-0.17 Gt C yr-1). Modeled increases in SOC sequestration under NT were concentrated in cool, humid temperate regions, with minimal SOC gains in the tropics. These results indicate that the global potential for SOC sequestration from NT adoption may be more limited than reported in some studies and promoted by policymakers. Our incorporation of tillage practices into an LSM is a major step toward integration of soil tillage as a management practice into LSMs and associated Earth system models. Future work should focus on improving process-understanding of tillage practices and their integration into LSMs, as well as resolving modeled versus observed estimates of SOC sequestration from NT adoption, particularly in the tropics.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.extent12 page(s)en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifierARTN 054055 (Article number)en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe6c6en
dc.identifier.eissn1748-9326en
dc.identifier.issn1748-9326en
dc.identifier.issue5en
dc.identifier.orcidThomas, R. Quinn [0000-0003-1282-7825]en
dc.identifier.orcidO'Rourke, Megan [0000-0002-6538-1727]en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/104991en
dc.identifier.volume16en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherIOPen
dc.relation.urihttp://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000648118500001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=930d57c9ac61a043676db62af60056c1en
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectLife Sciences & Biomedicineen
dc.subjectPhysical Sciencesen
dc.subjectEnvironmental Sciencesen
dc.subjectMeteorology & Atmospheric Sciencesen
dc.subjectEnvironmental Sciences & Ecologyen
dc.subjectagricultureen
dc.subjecttillageen
dc.subjectsoilsen
dc.subjectclimate changeen
dc.subjectcarbonen
dc.subjectSOIL ORGANIC-CARBONen
dc.subjectCLIMATE-CHANGE MITIGATIONen
dc.subjectUS GREAT-PLAINSen
dc.subjectLAND-USE CHANGEen
dc.subjectCONSERVATION AGRICULTUREen
dc.subjectCO2 EMISSIONSen
dc.subjectMANAGEMENTen
dc.subjectSEQUESTRATIONen
dc.subjectDYNAMICSen
dc.subjectIMPACTen
dc.titleModest capacity of no-till farming to offset emissions over 21st centuryen
dc.title.serialEnvironmental Research Lettersen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherArticleen
dc.type.otherJournalen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Techen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Natural Resources & Environmenten
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Natural Resources & Environment/Forest Resources and Environmental Conservationen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/University Research Institutesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/University Research Institutes/Fralin Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Natural Resources & Environment/CNRE T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/CALS T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/University Research Institutes/Fralin Life Sciences/Durelle Scotten
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/School of Plant and Environmental Sciencesen

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