Medium-Term Effect of Perennial Energy Crops on Soil Organic Carbon Storage
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The scope of this study was to evaluate the effect of perennial energy crops on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. A field experiment was undertaken in 2002 at Anzola dell’Emilia in the lower Po Valley, Northern Italy. Five perennial energy crops were established on a land area which had been previously cultivated with arable crops for at least 20 years. The compared crops are: the herbaceous perennials giant reed and miscanthus, and the woody species poplar, willow and black locust, managed as short rotation coppice (SRC). SOC was measured in 2009, seven years after the start of the experiment, on an upper soil layer of 0.0-0.2 m and a lower soil layer of 0.2-0.4 m. The study aimed to compare the SOC storage of energy crops with alternative land use. Therefore, two adjacent areas were sampled in the same soil layers: i) arable land in steady state, cultivated with rainfed annual crops; ii) natural meadow established at the start of the experiment. The conversion of arable land into perennial energy crops resulted in SOC storage, in the upper soil layer (0.0-0.2 m) ranging from 1150 to 1950 kg C ha-1 year-1 during the 7-year period. No significant differences were detected in SOC among crop species. We found no relationship between the harvested dry matter and the SOC storage. The conversion of arable land into perennial energy crops provides a substantial SOC sequestration benefit even when the hidden C cost of N industrial fertilizers is taken into account. While the SOC increased, the total N content in the soil remained fairly constant. This is probably due to the low rate of nitrogen applied to the perennial crops. However, our data are preliminary and the number of years in which the SOC continues to increase needs to be quantified, especially for the herbaceous species giant reed and miscanthus, with a supposedly long duration of the useful cropping cycle of 20 years or longer.
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Miscanthus results found in this study are partially in agreement with those reported by Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011).
“Regarding miscanthus, results found in this study are partially in agreement with those reported by Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)
The increase in SOC under giant reed progressed at a relatively slow rate (54 g C m−2 yr−1) compared to other studies in Italy.
“The increase in SOC under giant reed progressed at a relatively slow rate (54 g C m À2 yr À1 ) compared to what reported in other studies in Italy (Riffaldi et al., 2010;Ceotto & Di Candilo, 2011).”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo, 2011
Annual increments of SOC stock under willow and poplar observed in this study were in agreement with those reported by Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011).
“Although the annual increments of SOC stock under willow and poplar observed in this study were in agreement with those reported by Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)
Similar annual SOC stock increments (from 58 to 97.3 g C m−2 yr−1) were reported in a previous study in north Italy with the same bioenergy species compared to an adjacent ploughed soil after 7 years from plantation.
“Similar annual SOC stock increments (from 58 g m À2 yr À1 up to 97.3 g C m À2 yr À1 ) were reported in a previous study carried out in the north of Italy, in which the same bioenergy species were confronted to an adjacent ploughed soil after 7 years from plantation (Ceotto & Di Candilo, 2011).”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo, 2011
Annual SOC increment under black locust was double in this study site (120 g C m−2 yr−1) compared to that previously observed (58 g C m−2 yr−1).
“the annual SOC increment under black locust was double in this study site (120 g C m À2 yr À1 ) compared to that previously observed (58 g C m À2 yr À1 ).”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)
Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011) estimated an annual SOC stock increment of 59 g C m−2 yr−1 for miscanthus.
“an annual SOC stock increment of 59 g C m À2 yr À1 was estimated”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)
Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011) did not report significant differences between herbaceous and woody crops.
“Also Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011) did not report significant differences between herbaceous and woody crops.”
From Carbon sequestration potential in perennial bioenergy crops: the importance of organic matter inputs and its physical protection (2016) · cites this paper as Ceotto & Di Candilo (2011)
Cites
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Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt
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Carbon sequestration in soil beneath long-term Miscanthus plantations as determined by abundance
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Soil carbon sequestration and land use change associated with biofuel production: empirical evidence
Qin, Z., Dunn, J. B., Kwon, H., Mueller, S., & Wander, M. M. (2016) · GCB Bioenergy · doi:10.1111/gcbb.12237 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Ceotto, E., & Candilo, M. D.
- Affiliations
- Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (IT)
- ORCID
- Ceotto, Enrico
- Venue
- Italian Journal of Agronomy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- e33
- ISSN
- 1125-4718 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2033869098
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 3.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Italian Journal of Agronomy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil erosion and sediment transport
- Keywords
- soil organic carbon, perennial energy crops, short rotation coppice, Arundo donax, Miscanthus, poplar, willow, Robinia pseudoacacia, carbon sequestration, arable land conversion, nitrogen fertilization, soil nitrogen, land use change, Po Valley
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