Impacts of Agricultural Management and Climate Change on Future Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics in North China Plain

Dynamics of cropland soil organic carbon (SOC) in response to different management practices and environmental conditions across North China Plain (NCP) were studied using a modeling approach. We identified the key variables driving SOC changes at a high spatial resolution (10 km×10 km) and long time scale (90 years). The model used future climatic data from the FGOALS model based on four future greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration scenarios. Agricultural practices included different rates of nitrogen (N) fertilization, manure application, and stubble retention. We found that SOC change was significantly influenced by the management practices of stubble retention (linearly positive), manure application (linearly positive) and nitrogen fertilization (nonlinearly positive) – and the edaphic variable of initial SOC content (linearly negative). Temperature had weakly positive effects, while precipitation had negligible impacts on SOC dynamics under current irrigation management. The effects of increased N fertilization on SOC changes were most significant between the rates of 0 and 300 kg ha(−1) yr(−1). With a moderate rate of manure application (i.e., 2000 kg ha(−1) yr(−1)), stubble retention (i.e., 50%), and an optimal rate of nitrogen fertilization (i.e., 300 kg ha(−1) yr(−1)), more than 60% of the study area showed an increase in SOC, and the average SOC density across NCP was relatively steady during the study period. If the rates of manure application and stubble retention doubled (i.e., manure application rate of 4000 kg ha(−1) yr(−1) and stubble retention rate of 100%), soils across more than 90% of the study area would act as a net C sink, and the average SOC density kept increasing from 40 Mg ha(−1) during 2010s to the current worldwide average of ∼55 Mg ha(−1) during 2060s. The results can help target agricultural management practices for effectively mitigating climate change through soil C sequestration.