ABSTRACT:
Increasing the accumulation of organic carbon (C) in agricultural soils provides one means to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, but detection of the relatively small changes in soil organic C is complicated by spatial variability. Soil organic C variation was assessed at various scales within a small (40 ha; 98 ac), mixed-use watershed in central Pennsylvania to determine sampling requirement for possible C credit programs. Composite soil samples (0 to 5 cm; 0 to 2 in deep) were collected on 30-m (98-ft) grid intervals across the watershed and at 10- and 0.6-m (33- and 2-ft) intervals at selected locations, and descriptive- and geo-statistical analysis utilized. Concentrations of soil organic C in pasture and forest soils were approximately two times greater than cultivated fields, where means ranged from 15 to 24 g C kg−1 (1.5 to 2.4 percent) and coefficients of variation were typically 15 to 20 percent. Soil organic C was spatially dependent over a range of approximately 200 m (660 ft) when sampled at 30-m (98-ft) intervals, and high nugget variances indicated spatially-dependent variability over lag distances shorter than 30 m (98ft). However, sampling at 10-m (33 ft) intervals appeared to adequately describe variation. Estimates of sample size requirement showed that, with the observed coefficient variances for individual fields, two- to five-fold increases in sample numbers would be required to verify statistically significant soil organic C changes ≤ 10 percent. Given the large number of samples required to provide representative measurements and the concurrent cost for labor and analysis, participation by farmers in a C credit program could be low if measured verification of soil organic C increases are required. Basing payments on modeled, rather than measured C sequestration rates, should be considered.
Footnotes
Curtis J. Dell is a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service's Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit at University Park, Pennsylvania. Andrew N. Sharpley is a lead scientist on the research project optimizing nutrient management to sustain agricultural ecosystems and protect water quality, and an adjunct professor of agronomy at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.
- Copyright 2006 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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