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
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)