No-tillage reduces long-term yield-scaled soil nitrous oxide emissions in rainfed Mediterranean agroecosystems: A field and modelling approach

Plaza-Bonilla Daniel, Alvaro-Fuentes J., Bareche J., Pareja-Sánchez E., Justes Eric, Cantero-Martínez Carlos. 2018. No-tillage reduces long-term yield-scaled soil nitrous oxide emissions in rainfed Mediterranean agroecosystems: A field and modelling approach. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 262 : 36-47.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.04.007

Article de revue ; Article de recherche ; Article de revue à facteur d'impact

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Quartile : Outlier, Sujet : AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY / Quartile : Q1, Sujet : ECOLOGY / Quartile : Q2, Sujet : ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Résumé : There is a strong need to identify agricultural management practices that maintain agronomic productivity while diminishing soil N2O emissions. The yield-scaled N2O emissions (YSNE) indicator can help to evaluate the adequacy of a given agricultural practice under both aspects. Long-term (18-yr) soil water and mineral N dynamics, crop biomass and yields, and 2011–2012 soil N2O emissions and ancillary variables were measured on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) production in a tillage (conventional tillage, CT; no-tillage, NT) and N rate (0, 60 and 120 kg N ha−1) combination under rainfed Mediterranean conditions (NE Spain). Once evaluated, the STICS soil-crop model was used to simulate the 18-yr soil N2O emissions of each tillage system under increasing N rates (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg N ha−1) in order to identify optimum management to reduce YSNE, being initialized with observed data. Cropping season precipitation was highly variable during the experiment, being a key regulating mechanism for crop yields and simulated soil N2O emissions. Crop yield under NT with N outperformed CT in 11 years. STICS performed reasonably well when simulating cumulative N2O emissions and ancillary variables with model efficiencies greater than 0.5. The 18-yr average simulated cumulative N2O emissions were 0.50, 0.82 and 1.09 kg N2O-N ha−1 yr−1 for CT-0, CT-60 and CT-120, respectively, and they were 0.53, 0.92 and 1.19 kg N2O-N ha−1 yr−1 for their counterparts under NT. These averages mask a large variability between years, according to precipitation. The 18-yr mean yield-scaled N2O emissions were 2.8–3.3 times lower under NT, compared to the corresponding CT treatments. Under CT, N application would increase YSNE in most years while YSNE would be more resilient to the application of increasing N rates under NT. Our work demonstrates that in rainfed Mediterranean systems NT is a win-win strategy for the equilibrium between agricultural productivity and low soil N2O emissions.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : culture pluviale, non-travail du sol, agroécosystème, oxyde nitreux, réduction des émissions, émissions de gaz à effet de serre, pratique agricole, modèle de simulation, gestion du sol, climat méditerranéen

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Espagne

Mots-clés libres : Emission factor, Mediterranean, N fertilization, Nitrous oxide, Rainfed cropping systems, Soil management, STICS model

Classification Agris : F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture
P33 - Chimie et physique du sol
U10 - Informatique, mathématiques et statistiques

Champ stratégique Cirad : Axe 1 (2014-2018) - Agriculture écologiquement intensive

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