Soil carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes in permanent upslope pasture and downslope riparian buffers with varying vegetation
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Date
Authors
Dlamini, Jerry Celumusa
Tesfamariam, Eyob Habte
Dunn, R.
Evans, J.
Hawkins, Jane
Blackwell, Martin
Collins, Adrian
Cardenas, Laura
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
BACKGROUND : Riparian buffers are primarily implemented for their water quality functions
in agroecosystems. Their location in the agricultural landscape allows them to intercept
and process pollutants from immediately adjacent agricultural land. Vegetated riparian
buffers recycle soil organic matter, which elevates soil carbon (C), which upon processing,
processes and releases carbon dioxide (CO2). The elevated soil C and seasonally anoxic
environments associated with riparian buffers promote denitrification and fermentation,
further increasing soil CO2 production.
AIM : Against this context, a replicated plot-scale experiment was established at North
Wyke, UK, to measure the extent of soil CO2 emissions in permanent pasture served by
grass, willow, and woodland riparian buffers, as well as a no-buffer control.
METHODS : Soil CO2 was measured using the static chamber technique in conjunction with
soil and environmental variables between June 2018 and February 2019.
RESULTS : Cumulative soil CO2 fluxes were in the descending order: woodland riparian
buffer; 11,927.8 ± 1987.9 kg CO2 ha–1
> no-buffer control; 11,101.3 ± 3700.4 kg CO2
ha–1
>grass riparian buffer; 10,826.4±2551.8 kgCO2 ha–1
>upslope pasture; 10,554.6±
879.5 kg CO2 ha–1
> willow riparian buffer; 9294.9 ± 1549.2 5 kg CO2 ha–1. There was,
however, no evidence of significant differences among all treatments of the current study.
CONCLUSIONS : Despite the lack of significant differences, the results from our short-term
study show that the woodland riparian buffer had relatively larger soil CO2 emissions
than the remainder of the other riparian buffers and the upslope pasture it serves. Our
short-term findings may be useful in developing soil CO2 mitigation strategies through
careful selection of riparian buffer vegetation andmay be useful in calibrating mechanistic
models for simulating such emissions from similar agro systems.
Description
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Keywords
Novel grass, Permanent pasture, Riparian buffers, Willow, Woodland, SDG-15: Life on land
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-15:Life on land
Citation
Dlamini, J. C., Tesfamariam, E. H.,Dunn, R., Evans, J., Hawkins, J., Blackwell, M., Collins, A., & Cardenas, L. (2023). Soil carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes in permanent upslope pasture and downslope riparian buffers with varying vegetation. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 186, 406–416. https://DOI.org/10.1002/jpln.202100292.