Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1077
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1077
19 Jun 2023
 | 19 Jun 2023

Sequestering carbon in the subsoil benefits crop transpiration at the onset of drought

Maria Eliza Turek, Attila Nemes, and Annelie Holzkämper

Abstract. Increasing soil organic carbon is promoted as a negative emission technology for the agricultural sector with a potential co-benefit for climate adaptation due to increased soil water retention. Field-scale hydrological models are powerful tools to evaluate how the agricultural systems would respond to the changing climate in upcoming years and decades, to predict impacts, and look for measures that help decrease drought-driven crop stress under current and future climatic conditions. We quantified how different levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) additions at varied soil depths are expected to influence drought-induced transpiration reduction (Treddry) in maize cultivated in Switzerland. Parameterization of the model based on a pedotransfer function (PTF) was validated against soil moisture data from a long-term lysimeter experiment with a typical Swiss soil and the model was subsequently applied under climate forcing between 1981 until 2099 representative of three distinct climatic sites of Switzerland. We used the same PTF to indirectly assess the effects of SOC additions in different depths on soil hydraulic properties. We found a threshold in both added amount of SOC (2 % added) and in the depth of sequestering that SOC (top 65 cm) beyond which any additional impact appears to be substantially reduced. However, adding at least 2 % SOC down to at least 65 cm depth can reduce Treddry in maize, i.e. increase transpiration annually, but mostly at the onset of summer drought by almost 40 mm. We argue that SOC increases in subsoils can play a supporting role in mitigating drought impacts in rain-fed cropping in Switzerland.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

09 Nov 2023
Sequestering carbon in the subsoil benefits crop transpiration at the onset of drought
Maria Eliza Turek, Attila Nemes, and Annelie Holzkämper
SOIL, 9, 545–560, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-545-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-545-2023, 2023
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

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In this study, we systematically evaluated prospective crop transpiration benefits of...
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