Greenhouse gas (CO2, CH4, and N2O) emissions after abandonment of agriculture

authored by
Alaa El-Hawwary, Kristof Brenzinger, Hyo Jung Lee, Annelies J. Veraart, Elly Morriën, Michael Schloter, Wim H. van der Putten, Paul L. E. Bodelier, Adrian Ho
Abstract

The GHG (CO2, CH4, N2O) emission potential along a chronosequence of former agricultural soils abandoned for 9 to 32 years were compared to an actively managed (on-going) agricultural soil (reference). The soils were incubated in mesocosms with and without manure amendment, and microbial functional groups involved in nitrous oxide emission were quantitatively assessed. Carbon dioxide emission significantly increased after agriculture abandonment (< 24 years) consistent with higher decomposition rate, but total emission decreased in the long term (> 29 years). With the cessation of agriculture, the abandoned sites generally became a net methane sink. Notably, total nitrous oxide emission showed a significant monotonic decrease over years of abandonment in response to manure amendment, possibly reflecting an altered capacity for (de)nitrification as indicated in the response of the (de)nitrifier abundance. Overall, our findings suggest that the GHG legacy of agriculture diminishes over time (> 29 years), with lowered GHG emissions and global warming potential (GWP) after abandonment of agriculture.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Microbiology
External Organisation(s)
Netherlands Institute of Ecology
Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
Kunsan National University
Radboud University Nijmegen (RU)
Wageningen University and Research
University of Amsterdam
Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health
Type
Article
Journal
Biology and Fertility of Soils
Volume
58
Pages
579-591
No. of pages
13
ISSN
0178-2762
Publication date
07.2022
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Microbiology, Agronomy and Crop Science, Soil Science
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-022-01644-x (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.15488/12874 (Access: Open)