After effects of historical grassland on soil organic carbon content and plant growth in croplands in southern Germany determined using satellite data.
Sci Total Environ
; 947: 174507, 2024 Oct 15.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38971254
ABSTRACT
Numerous studies have reported that grasslands harbor higher soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks compared with arable land; however, the relevant carbon dynamics and sink persistence remain unclear. Herein, arable fields characterized by historical grassland zones (h_GL; grassland use decades ago) and permanent arable land zones (h_CL) were examined. The h_GL zones were determined using historical maps. The change in land use from grassland to cropland occurred 30-50 years ago. In eight arable fields, SOC and total nitrogen (TN) stocks in the topsoil were analyzed at a high spatial resolution. Additionally, remote sensing via satellites was employed to determine the biomass yield at a high spatial resolution using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). In all the fields, the mean SOC content of the h_GL zones (1.81 %, n = 97 measuring points) was higher than the mean SOC content of the h_CL zones (1.52 %, n = 220). Furthermore, the mean relative NDVI was higher in the h_GL zones than in the h_CL zones. SOC and NDVI were positively correlated (up to r = 0.79), as well as TN and NDVI (up to r = 0.72). To evaluate the first dataset, zonal soil samples were collected from the h_GL and h_CL zones from 14 arable fields to determine the SOC and TN content. The mean SOC content of the h_GL zones was 1.92 % and that of the h_CL zones was 1.39 %-a difference of absolute SOC stocks in the topsoil of 23.8 t ha-1 (bulk density 1.5 g cm-3). The work combines the knowledge of historical soil maps, remote sensing applications and georeferenced soil sampling and shows that SOC stocks in grassland have a high persistence and can have positive impact on yields even decades after a land use change. Historical land use proved to be a major factor for spatial SOC variability at the study site.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Total Environ
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos