Climate drives global soil carbon sequestration and crop yield changes under conservation agriculture

Conservation agriculture has been shown to have multiple benefits for soils, crop yield and the environment, and consequently, no‐till, the central practice of conservation agriculture, has rapidly expanded. However, studies show that the potential for carbon (C) sequestration in no‐till farming som...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global change biology Vol. 26; no. 6; pp. 3325 - 3335
Main Authors: Sun, Wenjuan, Canadell, Josep G., Yu, Lijun, Yu, Lingfei, Zhang, Wen, Smith, Pete, Fischer, Tony, Huang, Yao
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2020
Subjects:
Agricultural conservation
agricultural conservation practice
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Arid regions
Arid zones
Biological Sciences
Carbon
Carbon Sequestration
Climate
Conservation
conservation agriculture
Conservation practices
conventional tillage
Crop yield
Crops
Crops, Agricultural
global change
Meta-analysis
no-tillage
Regional analysis
Soil
Soil conservation
Soil erosion
soil organic carbon
Soils
Tillage
win‐win outcome
meta-analysis
soil organic carbon
win-win outcome
climate
conservation agriculture
crop yield
ISSN:1354-1013, 1365-2486, 1365-2486
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Conservation agriculture has been shown to have multiple benefits for soils, crop yield and the environment, and consequently, no‐till, the central practice of conservation agriculture, has rapidly expanded. However, studies show that the potential for carbon (C) sequestration in no‐till farming sometimes is not realized, let alone the ability to maintain or improve crop yield. Here we present a global analysis of no‐till‐induced changes of soil C and crop yield based on 260 and 1,970 paired studies; respectively. We show that, relative to local conventional tillage, arid regions can benefit the most from conservation agriculture by achieving a win‐win outcome of enhanced C sequestration and increased crop yield. However, more humid regions are more likely to increase SOC only, while some colder regions have yield losses and soil C loss as likely as soil C gains. In addition to site‐specific characteristics and management, a careful assessment of the regional climate is needed to determine the potential benefits of adopting conservation agriculture. Global patterns of soil carbon sequestration and crop yield change due to the adoption of conservation agriculture can be associated with large climatic patterns. Relative to local conventional tillage, arid regions can benefit the most from conservation agriculture by achieving a win‐win outcome of enhanced C sequestration and increased crop yield. However, more humid regions are more likely to increase SOC only, while some colder regions have yield losses and soil C loss as likely as soil C gains. In addition to site‐specific characteristics and management, a careful assessment of the regional climate is needed to determine the potential benefits of adopting conservation agriculture.See also the Commentary on this article by Hunt et al. 26, 3188–3189
Bibliography:See also the Commentary on this article by Hunt et al. 26
3188–3189
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ISSN:1354-1013
1365-2486
1365-2486
DOI:10.1111/gcb.15001