Soil and air quality...Implications 9Several air quality concerns are impacted directly or indirectly by soil quality 9Adoption of conservation management systems can help to address

LinkingSoil and Air Quality

Alan J. FranzluebbersEcologist

Watkinsville GA

Air Quality IssuesParticulate Emissions

Air Quality Issues

http://z.about.com/d/phoenix/1/0/c/u/duststorm01.jpg


Particulate Emissions

Air Quality Issues

http://geology.com/news/2005_08_01_archive.html


Air Quality Issues



Air Quality Issues

www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/66570000/images/ammonia1_2006cw.jpg

Ammonia Emissions

Air Quality Issues

www.iger.bbsrc.ac.uk/Ammonia_Inventory/sources.htm

www.iger.bbsrc.ac.uk/Ammonia_Inventory/sources.htm

www.researchtraining.org/moduletext.asp?intModuleID=804

Malodorous Compounds

Air Quality Issues

http://science.howstuffworks.com/ozone-pollution.htm

Ozone / Smog

Air Quality Issues

www.panna.org/campaigns/drift.html?searchMode

Pesticide Drift / Volatilization

www.pnwwaterweb.com/initiatives/pnw_092.htm

www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2005/050725.htm

www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/WQ/WQ-19.html

www.btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/PPP/PPP35.htmlArtwork by Stephen Adduci

Air Quality IssuesPesticide Drift / Volatilization

Air Quality IssuesGreenhouse Gas Emissions

Bowen Ratio

Fort Collins CO

Akron COAmes IA

Brookings SD

Bowling Green KY

Mandan ND

Global Concern is in the Air

FromIntergovernmental

Panel onClimate Change

…an essential component of our world

Soil Qualityhttp://cropsoil.psu.edu/extension/livingmulch/sec92c.cfm

www.verp.com/projects/CoL/

www.nps.gov/biso/parknews/index.htm

www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/09/time_will_not_w.html

Linking Soil and Air QualitySoil Organic Carbon Sequestration

http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/orders/

Mollisols UltisolsAlfisols

Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration

Soil Organic C (Mg ha-1)Effect of manure application Without With----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2-yr studies (n=6) 19.8 + 8.9 19.6 + 8.411 + 8-yr studies (n=8) 30.6 + 11.4 36.8 + 10.6SOC sequestration for all (Mg ha-1 yr-1) 0.26 + 2.15SOC sequestration for >2-yr studies 0.72 + 0.67

Conversion of C in poultry litter to soil organic C was 17 + 15%.

Note: Manure application transfers C from one land to another. Franzluebbers (2005) Soil Tillage Res. 83:120-147.

Animal Manure Application

Soil Organic Carbon SequestrationSoil carbon retention rate from animal manure application is affected by climatic condition:

Temperate or frigid regions (23 + 15%)

Thermic regions (7 + 5%)

Moist regions (8 + 4%)

Dry regions (11 + 14%)

Percentage of carbon applied as manure retained in soil(review of literature in 2001)


Minimal disturbance of the soil surface is critical in avoiding soil organic matter loss from erosion and microbial decomposition.

Conservation-Tillage Cropping

Soil Organic Carbon SequestrationIn the USA and Canada, no-tillage cropping can

sequester an average of 0.33 Mg C/ha/yr.

Franzluebbers and Follett (2005) Soil Tillage Res. 83:1-8

Cold-dry region(6 °C, 400 mm)

0.27 + 0.19 Mg C/ha/yr

Northwest

Hot-dry region(18 °C, 265 mm)

0.30 + 0.21 Mg C/ha/yr

Southwest

Hot-wet region(20 °C, 1325 mm)

0.42 + 0.46 Mg C/ha/yr

Southeast

Cold-wet region(6 °C, 925 mm)

−0.07 + 0.27 Mg C/ha/yrNortheast

Mild region(12 °C, 930 mm)

0.48 + 0.59 Mg C/ha/yr

Central

Soil Organic Carbon SequestrationNo tillage needs high-residue producing cropping

system to be effective.Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration

in the Southeastern USA----------------------------------------------------

0.28 + 0.44 Mg C/ha/yr(without cover cropping)

0.53 + 0.45 Mg C/ha/yr(with cover cropping)

Franzluebbers (2005) Soil Tillage Res. 83:120-147.

Photos of 2 no-tillage systems in Virginia USA


Surface residue

“Plow layer”of soil

Zone most affected by

management

Zone relatively

unaffected by

management

Stratification Ratio

SOC (0-5 cm).____________.

SOC (15-30 cm)

0-5 cm

15-30 cm

Stratification Ratio of Soil Organic Carbon

Plowed soils tend to have values near 1


Years of Conservation Management0 10 20 30 40 50 60

StratificationRatio of

SoilOrganicCarbon(0-5 cm /

12.5-20.3 cm)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

SR = 1.42 + 2.79 (1 - e-0.088 yr), r2 = 0.46

Conservation tillagePasture

Conventional tillage

Causarano et al. (2007) Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. (in press)


Stratification Ratio of Soil Organic C(0-5 cm / 12.5-20.3 cm)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Stock ofSoil

OrganicCarbon

(0-20.3 cm)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

SOC Stock = 11.7 + 36.8 (1 - e-0.241 SR), r2 = 0.36

Conservation tillagePasture

Conventional tillage

Causarano et al. (2007) Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. (in press)

Implications

Several air quality concerns are impacted directly or indirectly by soil quality

Adoption of conservation management systems can help to address both air quality and soil quality concerns

Significant research is being conducted on the mechanisms of soil and air quality deterioration / improvement, but research–extension–education activities are needed to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of system-wide management approaches to these complex natural resource issues

Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions with conservation management approaches will reduce the threat of global change and improve the quality of soil

Documents

Soil and air quality...Implications 9Several air quality concerns are impacted directly or indirectly by soil quality 9Adoption of conservation management systems can help to address