CO 2 Flux and C Balance due to the Replacement of Bare Soil with Agro-Ecological Service Crops in Mediterranean Environment

Emanuele Radicetti, O. Adewale Osipitan, Ali Reza Safahani Langeroodi, Sara Marinari and Roberto Mancinelli
Additional contact information
Emanuele Radicetti: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc., 01100 Viterbo, Italy
O. Adewale Osipitan: Northeast Research and Extension Center, Haskell Agricultural Laboratory, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Concord, NE 68728, USA
Ali Reza Safahani Langeroodi: Department of Agronomy, Payame Noor University, Tehran 19569, Iran
Sara Marinari: Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-Food and Forest System (DIBAF), University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo de Lelli ssnc., 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Roberto Mancinelli: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo de Lellis snc., 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Agriculture, 2019, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Intensive agriculture practices often results in decomposition of organic matter, thus causing soil CO 2 emissions. Agro-ecological service crop could be profitably cultivated to improve soil characteristics and reduce CO 2 emissions under Mediterranean environment. Two-year field trials were conducted in central Italy. The treatments were three agro-ecological service crops (hairy vetch, oat, and oilseed rape) and a no-service cover. Plant development, soil characteristics, and CO 2 emissions were measured. Oat and oilseed rape showed a rapid growth, while hairy vetch started to grow rapidly only after the cold period. Soil CO 2 emissions trend was similar among the agro-ecological service crops and tended to decrease during the cold period, then gradually increased until April when warm temperatures were observed. The high soil CO 2 emissions and respiration index observed in hairy vetch probably stimulated mineral nutrients, especially nitrogen, to become more available in the soil compared to oat and oilseed rape throughout the decomposition of soil organic matter. These results confirmed that the cultivation of agro-ecological service crops, especially hairy vetch, could represent a suitable strategy for enhancing carbon sequestration and lead to a mitigation of CO 2 emissions during the fallow period and could thus contribute to the climate change mitigation.

Keywords: cover crop; crop rotation; carbon sequestration; soil respiration index; biomass production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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