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Estimating cropland carbon mitigation potentials in China affected by three improved cropland practices

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Abstract

Agriculture is a large source of carbon emissions. The cropland practices of fertilizer substitution, crop straw and conservation tillage are beneficial and help to rebuild local soil carbon stocks and reduce soil carbon emissions, in addition to reducing the consumption of fertilizers and fossil fuels. These improved cropland practices can directly and indirectly mitigate carbon emissions, benefiting the sustainability of croplands. For these three improved practices, we estimated carbon mitigation potentials in rice, wheat and maize croplands in China. The combined contribution of these practices to carbon mitigation was 38.8 Tg C yr-1, with fertilizer substitution, crop straw return, and conservation tillage contributing 26.6, 3.6 and 8.6 Tg C yr-1, respectively. Rice, wheat and maize croplands had potentials to mitigate 13.4, 11.9 and 15.5 Tg C yr-1, respectively, with the combined direct and indirect potential of 33.8 and 5.0 Tg C yr-1. Because of differences in local climate and specific diets, the regional cropland carbon mitigation potentials differed greatly among provinces in China. In China, 18 provinces had a “target surplus” for which the carbon mitigation from these three practices was larger than the mitigation target set for 2020. At the national level, a net “target surplus” of 4.84 Tg C yr-1 would be attained for Chinese croplands with full implementation of the three improved practices. Regional cooperation must be developed to achieve carbon mitigation targets using such measures as carbon trading, establishing regional associations, and strengthening research programs to improve practices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Qinghua East Road 35, Beijing, 100083, China

    Fei Lun & Jun-guo Liu

  2. College of Resources and Environment Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Fei Lun

  3. Center of Land Policy and Law, Beijing, 100193, China

    Fei Lun

  4. Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 3023, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

    Josep G. Canadell

  5. World Natural Heritage Conservation and Research Center, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural, No. 9 Sanlihe, Beijing, 10085, China

    Lu He

  6. Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, No.33 Beisihuanzhonglu, Beijing, 100101, China

    Bo Yang

  7. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Beijing, 100101, China

    Mou-cheng Liu, Zheng Yuan, Mi Tian & Wen-hua Li

  8. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, South University of Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Jun-guo Liu

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  1. Fei Lun
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Lun, F., Canadell, J.G., He, L. et al. Estimating cropland carbon mitigation potentials in China affected by three improved cropland practices. J. Mt. Sci. 13, 1840–1854 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-015-3813-2

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