Spatial Analysis of the Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential of Crop-residue Return in China Based on Model Simulation

doi:10.5814/j.issn.1674-764X.2019.02.009

Abstract

Abstract:

Crop-residue return is a recommended practice for soil and nutrient management and is important in soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and CO₂ mitigation. We applied a process-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model to simulate the spatial pattern of topsoil organic carbon changes from 2001 to 2010 under 4 crop-residue return scenarios in China. The carbon loss (28.89 Tg yr^-1) with all crop-residue removal (CR0%) was partly reduced by 22.38 Tg C yr^-1under the status quo CR30% (30% of crop-residue return). The topsoil in cropland of China would become a net carbon sink if the crop-residue return rate was increased from 30% to 50%, or even 75%. The national SOC sequestration potential of cropland was estimated to be 25.53 Tg C yr^-1 in CR50% and 52.85 Tg C yr^-1 in CR75%, but with high spatial variability across regions. The highest rate of SOC sequestration potential in density occurred in Northwest and North China while the lowest was in East China. Croplands in North China tended to have stronger regional SOC sequestration potential in storage. During the decade, the reduced CO₂ emissions from enhanced topsoil carbon in CR50% and CR75% were equivalent to 1.4% and 2.9% of the total CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and cement production in China, respectively. In conclusion, we recommend encouraging farmers to return crop-residue instead of burning in order to improve soil properties and alleviate atmospheric CO₂ rises, especially in North China.

Key words: cropland, crop-residue return, soil carbon sequestration, spatial pattern, EPIC model

CHEN Jinghua,WANG Shaoqiang,Florian KRAXNER,Juraj BALKOVIC,XU Xiyan,SUN Leigang. Spatial Analysis of the Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential of Crop-residue Return in China Based on Model Simulation[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2019, 10(2): 184-195.

Figures/Tables 13

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Parameter	Wheat		Corn		Rice
Parameter	Default value	Optimized value	Default value	Optimized value	Default value	Optimized value
HI	0.45	0.47	0.5	0.55	0.2	0.5
DMLA	6	-	6	7	6	-
DLAI	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.6	0.8	0.9
HMX (m)	1	-	2	2.5	0.8	-
RDMX (m)	2	-	2	2.5	2	-
WYSF	0.21	0.2	0.4	-	0.25	-

Parameter	Wheat		Corn		Rice
Parameter	Default value	Optimized value	Default value	Optimized value	Default value	Optimized value
HI	0.45	0.47	0.5	0.55	0.2	0.5
DMLA	6	-	6	7	6	-
DLAI	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.6	0.8	0.9
HMX (m)	1	-	2	2.5	0.8	-
RDMX (m)	2	-	2	2.5	2	-
WYSF	0.21	0.2	0.4	-	0.25	-

Item	Date
Item	Wheat-corn rotation	Double-cropping rice
Build furrow dikes	-	20-Apr
Cultivate	-	25-Apr
Plant	24-Oct (wheat)	25-Apr
Irrigate	13-Mar	2-May
Apply pesticide	25-Mar	20-May
Harvest	15-Jun	10-Jul
Cultivate	-	31-Jul
Plant	27-Jun (corn)	1-Aug
Apply pesticide	18-Jul	20-Aug
Harvest	2-Oct	5-Nov

Item	Date
Item	Wheat-corn rotation	Double-cropping rice
Build furrow dikes	-	20-Apr
Cultivate	-	25-Apr
Plant	24-Oct (wheat)	25-Apr
Irrigate	13-Mar	2-May
Apply pesticide	25-Mar	20-May
Harvest	15-Jun	10-Jul
Cultivate	-	31-Jul
Plant	27-Jun (corn)	1-Aug
Apply pesticide	18-Jul	20-Aug
Harvest	2-Oct	5-Nov

Year	Total crop-residue (TCR, Mt)			Cultivated area (A, Mha)			Yield of crop-residue (CR, t ha^-1)
Year	Wheat	Corn	Rice	Wheat	Corn	Rice	Dryland	Paddy field
2000	136.10	211.99	117.07	26.65	23.06	29.96	7.00	3.91
2001	128.23	228.18	110.63	24.66	24.28	28.81	7.28	3.84
2002	123.34	242.62	108.74	23.91	24.63	28.20	7.54	3.86
2003	118.14	231.66	100.09	22.00	24.07	26.51	7.59	3.78
2004	125.62	260.68	111.59	21.63	25.45	28.38	8.21	3.93
2005	133.13	278.76	112.87	22.79	26.36	28.85	8.38	3.91
2006	147.45	303.27	113.58	23.61	28.46	28.94	8.65	3.92
2007	149.31	304.60	115.90	23.72	29.48	28.92	8.53	4.01
2008	153.63	331.83	119.55	23.62	29.86	29.24	9.08	4.09
2009	156.88	327.71	121.79	24.29	31.18	29.63	8.74	4.11