2013/01/29 by Christopher Poeplau, Axel Don · 89 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Engineering · Chemistry · Mathematics · #Bioenergy crop production and management #Biofuel production and bioconversion #Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics #Carbon sequestration #Soil carbon #Bioenergy #Greenhouse gas #Carbon fibers #Miscanthus #Environmental science #Perennial plant #Climate change #Agronomy #Chemistry #Carbon dioxide #Renewable energy #Soil science #Ecology #Soil water #Mathematics #Biology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/gcbb.12043
published in GCB Bioenergy 6(4), 327-338 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2013/01/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Bioenergy has to meet increasing sustainability criteria in the EU putting conventional bioenergy crops under pressure. Alternatively, perennial bioenergy crops, such as M iscanthus , show higher greenhouse gas savings with similarly high energy yields. In addition, M iscanthus plantations may sequester additional soil organic carbon ( SOC ) to mitigate climate change. As the land‐use change in cropland to M iscanthus involves a C 3 ‐C 4 vegetation change ( VC ), it is possible to determine the dynamic of Miscanthus ‐derived SOC (C 4 carbon) and of the old SOC (C 3 carbon) by the isotopic ratio of 13 C to 12 C. We sampled six croplands and adjacent M iscanthus plantations exceeding the age of 10 years across Europe. We found a mean C 4 carbon sequestration rate of 0.78 ± 0.19 Mg ha −1 yr −1 , which increased with mean annual temperature. At three of six sites, we found a significant increase in C 3 carbon due to the application of organic fertilizers or difference in baseline SOC , which we define as non‐ VC ‐induced SOC changes. The R othamsted Carbon Model was used to disentangle the decomposition of old C 3 carbon and the non‐ VC ‐induced C 3 carbon changes. Subsequently, this method was applied to eight more sites from the literature, resulting in a climate‐dependent VC ‐induced SOC sequestration rate (0.40 ± 0.20 Mg ha −1 yr −1 ), as a step toward a default SOC change function for M iscanthus plantations on former croplands in E urope. Furthermore, we conducted a SOC fractionation to assess qualitative SOC changes and the incorporation of C 4 carbon into the soil. Sixteen years after M iscanthus establishment, 68% of the particulate organic matter ( POM ) was M iscanthus ‐derived in 0–10 cm depth. POM was thus the fastest cycling SOC fraction with a C 4 carbon accumulation rate of 0.33 ± 0.05 Mg ha −1 yr −1 . M iscanthus ‐derived SOC also entered the NaOCl‐resistant fraction, comprising 12% in 0–10 cm, which indicates that this fraction was not an inert SOC pool.