Changes in soil quality and below-ground carbon storage with conversion of traditional agricultural crop lands to bioenergy crop production.

Berm-isolated (0.5 ha) plots have been used since 1995 to quantify changes in soil and water quality with conversion from agricultural to bioenergy crops. Soil quality improvements, including increases in soil carbon storage, have occurred on sites planted to woody or herbaceous species, and no-till corn compared with tilled corn or cotton. Initial increases in soil carbon occurred within the upper 10 cm of the soil profile. Soil carbon on plantings of switchgrass, no-till corn, and sweetgum with a cover crop between the rows increased over the first 3 years. Soil carbon decreased by 6% on the sweetgum plantings without a cover crop and remained lower through the fifth growing season. Overall, the greatest increases in below ground carbon storage have occurred primarily within the upper 40 cm. Former land use, growth characteristics, management practices, and soil characteristics appear to be the primary factors determining the timing, depth. and extent of changes in soil carbon storage for bioenergy and no-till crops.

[1]  K. Paustian,et al.  Soil Organic Matter in Temperate Agroecosystems , 1997 .

[2]  V. R. Tolbert,et al.  Environmental enhancement of U.S. biomass crop technologies: research results to date 1 Sponsored by , 1998 .

[3]  V. R. Tolbert,et al.  Increasing below-ground carbon sequestration with conversion of agricultural lands to production of bio-energy crops. , 2000 .

[4]  Stan D. Wullschleger,et al.  Soil carbon dynamics beneath switchgrass as indicated by stable isotope analysis. , 2000 .

[5]  D. R. Linden,et al.  Defining soil quality for a sustainable environment , 1994 .

[6]  V. R. Tolbert,et al.  Soil Sustainability in Renewable Biomass Plantings , 2000 .

[7]  Lynn L. Wright,et al.  Biomass energy production in the United States: an overview , 1994 .

[8]  J. Joslin,et al.  Measuring the environmental effects of converting cropland to short-rotation woody crops: a research approach , 1997 .

[9]  B. R. Bock,et al.  Environmental effects of growing woody crops on agricultural land: first year effects on erosion, and water quality , 1998 .

[10]  R. L. Graham,et al.  Potential supply and cost of biomass from energy crops in the TVA region , 1995 .

[11]  V. R. Tolbert,et al.  Soil and water quality implications of production of herbaceous and woody energy crops , 1997 .

[12]  G. Tuskan.  Short-rotation woody crop supply systems in the United States: what do we know and what do we need to know? , 1998 .

[13]  R. H. Dowdy,et al.  Soil organic carbon and 13C abundance as related to tillage, crop residue, and nitrogen fertilization under continuous corn management in Minnesota. , 2000 .

[14]  Claire Chenu,et al.  Relationship of soil organic matter dynamics to physical protection and tillage , 2000 .

[15]  L. Mann,et al.  CHANGES IN SOIL CARBON STORAGE AFTER CULTIVATION , 1986 .

[16]  John W. Doran,et al.  Soil health and sustainability: managing the biotic component of soil quality , 2000 .

[17]  Charles T. Garten,et al.  Soil carbon inventories under a bioenergy crop (switchgrass): measurement limitations , 1999 .

[18]  T. Green,et al.  Use of cover crops in short rotation hardwood plantations to control erosion , 2000 .

[19]  E. Vance.  Agricultural site productivity: principles derived from long-term experiments and their implications for intensively managed forests. , 2000 .

[20]  D. F. Grigal,et al.  Soil carbon changes associated with short-rotation systems , 1998 .

[21]  H. Keith,et al.  Trends in wheat yields and soil organic carbon in the Permanent Rotation Trial at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, South Australia , 1995 .

[22]  M. Chantigny,et al.  Soil Aggregation and Fungal and Bacterial Biomass under Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems , 1997 .

[23]  E. Hansen.  Soil carbon sequestration beneath hybrid poplar plantations in the North Central United States , 1993 .

[24]  M. Mausbach,et al.  Soil Quality: A Concept, Definition, and Framework for Evaluation (A Guest Editorial) , 1997 .

[25]  F. Makeschin.  Effects of energy forestry on soils , 1994 .

[26]  D. W. Reeves.  The role of soil organic matter in maintaining soil quality in continuous cropping systems , 1997 .

[27]  W. M. Post,et al.  Soil carbon sequestration and land‐use change: processes and potential , 2000 .

[28]  Charles Smith.  Environmental consequences of intensive harvesting , 1995 .