effect of good agricultural and environmental conditions on ...borrelli et al. 2016. land use...
TRANSCRIPT
Effect of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions on erosion
and soil organic carbon balance
Pasquale Borrelli, Emanuele Lugato, Panos Panagos
EU-JRC, IES, LRM
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
www.jrc.ec.europa.euies.jrc.ec.europa.eu
GAEC Greening WorkshopPrague, 23 October 2015
Policy background
The EU thematic strategy for Soil Protection (COM 2006. 231) has identified the eight main threats to soils:
CONTAMINATIONORGANIC MATTER LOSS BIODIVERSITY LOSS
COMPACTION SALINISATION FLOODS-LANDSLIDES SEALING
EROSION
State of the art 2013
The recent report ‘The implementation of the Soil Thematic Strategy and on-going activities’ (Jones et al., 2012) stated that 20% of Europe’s land surface is subject to erosion
rates above 10 t ha-1 yr-1
Soil erosion
Soil degradation through erosion has been identified as major threat to European soils and agriculture
European Commissionrequested new assessments to the Joint Research Centre
Water Erosion Wind Erosion Forest Erosion
Soil erosion modelling
Water Erosion Wind Erosion Forest Erosion
Panagos, Borrelli, Poesen et al. 2015. Environmental Science & Policy, 54
Borrelli et al. 2014. Geoderma, 232Borrelli et al. 2014. Land Degradation & Development
Borrelli et al. 2016. Ecological Indicators, 60Borrelli et al. 2014. Applied Geography, 48
Priorities? Water erosion
Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation
The RUSLE was developed in the U.S. based on soil erosion data collected by the U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA), and has been used to help implement the United States'multi-billion dollar conservation program.
The RUSLE was developed from erosion plot and rainfall simulator experiments. It is composedof six factors to predict the long-term average annual soil loss (A). The equation includes therainfall erosivity factor (R), the soil erodibility factor (K), the topographic factors (L and S) andthe cropping management factors (C and P):
A = R ∙ K ∙ LS ∙ C ∙ P
Water erosion modelling
With the introduction of the cross-compliance mechanism, many effortshave been made in the EU to increase the sustainability of agriculturalsystems...
However, what is still largely unknown are the actual effects onprocesses affecting soils such as erosion and SOC change, whichultimately determine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the policy.
What is the effect of GAEC on soil erosion at EU level?
Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC)
Requirements and standards
Cover crops
Contour farming
Crop residues
GAEC
Grass Margins
Terracing
Pilot area: Italy
Borrelli et al., 2016. Land Use Policy, in pressLugato et al., 2014. Global Change Biology, 20
Pilot area: Potential Impact of GAEC Application
The following scenarios were simulated to assess the impact of GAEC application on soil erosion and SOC conservation:
a) Baseline’: In order to estimate the impact of GAEC implementation, a ‘baselinescenario’ underlying the absence of any specific policy on erosion prevention andcarbon conservation was simulated; chronologically, it refers to the conditions beforecross-compliance introduction (2003);
b) ‘Current’: This scenario is based on the implementation of the compulsory GAECstandards. The data of the European Agricultural Census (year 2010) are employed todefine the specific conservation practices and their application areas on the arableland;
c) ‘Technical potential’: This scenario suggests the technical biophysical capacity of thearable land to sequester SOC, when GAEC standards are applied to the entiresurface for a long-term period (2050).
Borrelli et al. 2016. Land Use Policy, in press
Soil erosion and organic C
Pilot area: Potential Impact of GAEC Application – soil erosion
(Bosco et al., 2014) (Van der Knijff et al., 2000) (Borrelli et al., 2016)
Pilot area: Potential Impact of GAEC Application – soil erosion
Soil loss: • 8.33 Mg ha-1 yr-1
• 29.2 % > 10 Mg ha-1 yr-1
‘baseline scenario’ ‘current scenario’ ‘technical potential’
Soil loss: • 7.43 Mg ha-1 yr-1
• 25 % > 10 Mg ha-1 yr-1
• Decrease ca. 11%
Soil loss: • 4.1 Mg ha-1 yr-1
• 10.2 % > 10 Mg ha-1 yr-1
• Decrease ca. 50%
Coupling CENTURY with erosion:Soil organic carbon
30 cm
EC=1.2
More recalcitrant
incoming SOC
Soil profile
Landscape- non-connected territorial
units
2005
baseline
GAEC
time
SOC
dSOC
GAEC: - crop residues during the winter period - reduced straw exportation from 50 to
30% - cover crops- reduced erosion rates
‘Current’ area of GAEC application [2005-2012]
All the arable land ‘technical potential’[by 2050]
No BD variation
2012
a) organic carbon lost by erosion in the baselinescenario;
b) avoided eroded C with GAEC application;
c) SOC stock (0-30 cm layer) in the baseline scenario;
d) SOC accumulation due to GAEC application.
Soil organic carbonCurrent scenario
SOC accumulation rates under the
full application of GAEC standards
in arable lands by 2050
Soil organic carbonTechnical potential scenario
(Mg C ha-1 yr-1)
Soil loss by water in Europe
Panagos, Borrelli, Poesen et al. 2015. Environmental Science & Policy, 20
GAEC - Model parameterization
Cropping management factors
• Tillage• Cover crops• Crop residues• Contour farming• Terracing (stone walls)• Grass margins
C Factor
P Factor
Panagos, Borrelli, Meusburger et al. 2015. Land Use Policy, 48Panagos, Borrelli, Meusburger, et al., 2015. Env. Science & Policy, 51
Soil loss by water in Europe
Soil loss by water in Europe
Panagos, Borrelli, Poesen et al. 2015. Environmental Science & Policy, 20
Soil erosion by water in Europe
Change on soil erosion potential2000 - 2010
Agricoltural land
“…the amount of soil lost to water erosion in Europe equates to an
estimated economic loss of about US$20 billion per year”
“…between 2000 and 2010, intervention measures through the Common
Agricultural Policy have reduced the rate of soil loss in the European Union by an average of 9.5% overall, and by 20% for
arable lands”
Panagos , Borrelli , Robinson , 2015. Nature, 526
Can we do more?
We do have limits:
• The cropping management factors are available at NUTS-2 level
• Lack of spatial information about the GAEC applications
• Assess monthly dynamics of soil cover
• Spatial resolution of the crop factors is not optimal
Land Parcel Identification (LPIS)
Looking for pilot areas,anyone interested?
CONCLUSIONS
• Tool to better and comprehensively predict soil loss in Europe
• We can account for the effect of GAEC on erosion and SOC
• GAEC do not eliminates soil erosion
• We can perform scenario analyses
• We hope to make new research based on LPIS data
