Hedgerows on Crop Field Edges Increase Soil Carbon to a Depth of 1 meter

Jessica L. Chiartas (), Louise E. Jackson, Rachael F. Long, Andrew J. Margenot and Anthony T. O'Geen
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Jessica L. Chiartas: Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Louise E. Jackson: Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Rachael F. Long: University of California Cooperative Extension, Woodland, CA 95695, USA
Andrew J. Margenot: Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Anthony T. O'Geen: Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: Effective incentivization of soil carbon (C) storage as a climate mitigation strategy necessitates an improved understanding of management impacts on working farms. Using a regional survey on intensively managed farms, soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations and stocks (0–100 cm) were evaluated in a pairwise comparison of long-term (10+ years) woody hedgerow plantings and adjacent crop fields in Yolo County, CA, USA. Twenty-one paired sites were selected to represent four soil types (Yolo silt loam, Brentwood clay loam, Capay silty clay, and Corning loam), with textures ranging from 16% to 51% clay. Soil C was higher in the upper 100 cm under hedgerows (14.4 kg m −2 ) relative to cultivated fields (10.6 kg m −2 ) and at all depths (0–10, 10–20, 20–50, 50–75, and 75–100 cm). The difference in SOC (3.8 kg m −2 ) did not vary by soil type, suggesting a broad potential for hedgerows to increase SOC stocks. Assuming adoption rates of 50 to 80% across California for hypothetical field edges of average-size farms, and an identical SOC sequestration potential across soil types, hedgerows could sequester 10.8 to 17.3 MMT CO 2 e, or 7 to 12% of California’s annual greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Keywords: agriculture; conservation; hedgerows; Mediterranean climate; soil carbon; woody shrubs; field borders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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