Track 2-05: Carbon Sequestration and Cycling
Description
The impacts of land intensification on carbon (C) responses are important components of soil organic carbon (SOC) management. Grazing land intensification typically involves the use of highly productive plant species that can support greater grazing pressure, removal of higher proportions of site biomass and nutrients during mechanical harvest or grazing, and increased use of fertilizers, particularly N. Current improved grazing land management strategies are aimed at increasing above-ground biomass yield, with less regard for below-ground C dynamics. Because intensive management affects above- and below-ground C inputs (Schuman et al. 1999; Liu et al. 2011a,b), it can therefore have important implications on the amount and characteristics of SOC stored in grazing lands (Franzluebbers and Stuedemann, 2003; Dubeux et al. 2006; Silveira et al. 2013). The objective of this study was to investigate the long-term impacts of converting native rangeland ecosystems into intensively managed systems on SOC dynamics in subtropical ecosystems.
Included in
Land Use Intensification Effects on Soil C Dynamics in Subtropical Grazing Land Ecosystems
The impacts of land intensification on carbon (C) responses are important components of soil organic carbon (SOC) management. Grazing land intensification typically involves the use of highly productive plant species that can support greater grazing pressure, removal of higher proportions of site biomass and nutrients during mechanical harvest or grazing, and increased use of fertilizers, particularly N. Current improved grazing land management strategies are aimed at increasing above-ground biomass yield, with less regard for below-ground C dynamics. Because intensive management affects above- and below-ground C inputs (Schuman et al. 1999; Liu et al. 2011a,b), it can therefore have important implications on the amount and characteristics of SOC stored in grazing lands (Franzluebbers and Stuedemann, 2003; Dubeux et al. 2006; Silveira et al. 2013). The objective of this study was to investigate the long-term impacts of converting native rangeland ecosystems into intensively managed systems on SOC dynamics in subtropical ecosystems.
