Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes

Autores
Pelster, David; Rufino, Mariana Cristina; Rosenstock, Todd; Mango, Joash; Saiz, Gustavo; Diaz Pines, Eugenio; Baldi, Germán; Butterbach Bahl, Klaus
Año de publicación
2017
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Few field studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African agricultural systems, resulting in high uncertainty for national inventories. This lack of data is particularly noticeable in smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa, where low inputs are often correlated with low yields, often resulting in food insecurity as well. We provide the most comprehensive study in Africa to date, examining annual soil CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from 59 smallholder plots across different vegetation types, field types and land classes in western Kenya. The study area consists of a lowland area (approximately 1200ma.s.l.) rising approximately 600m to a highland plateau. Cumulative annual fluxes ranged from2.8 to 15.0MgCO2-Cha-1,-6.0 to 2.4kgCH4-Cha-1 and-0.1 to 1.8kgN2O-Nha-1. Management intensity of the plots did not result in differences in annual GHG fluxes measured (P Combining double low line 0.46, 0.14 and 0.67 for CO2, CH4 and N2O respectively). The similar emissions were likely related to low fertilizer input rates (≤20kgNha-1). Grazing plots had the highest CO2 fluxes (P Combining double low line 0.005), treed plots (plantations) were a larger CH4 sink than grazing plots (P Combining double low line 0.05), while soil N2O emissions were similar across vegetation types (P Combining double low line 0.59). This study is likely representative for low fertilizer input, smallholder systems across sub-Saharan Africa, providing critical data for estimating regional or continental GHG inventories. Low crop yields, likely due to low fertilization inputs, resulted in high (up to 67gN2O-Nkg-1 aboveground N uptake) yield-scaled emissions. Improvement of crop production through better water and nutrient management might therefore be an important tool in increasing food security in the region while reducing the climate footprint per unit of food produced.
Fil: Pelster, David. International Livestock Research Institute; Kenia
Fil: Rufino, Mariana Cristina. Centre for International Forestry Research; Kenia. Lancaster University; Reino Unido
Fil: Rosenstock, Todd. World Agroforestry Centre; Kenia
Fil: Mango, Joash. World Agroforestry Centre; Kenia
Fil: Saiz, Gustavo. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania
Fil: Diaz Pines, Eugenio. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania
Fil: Baldi, Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentina
Fil: Butterbach Bahl, Klaus. International Livestock Research Institute; Kenia. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania
Materia
GHG inventories
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/66601

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network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxesPelster, DavidRufino, Mariana CristinaRosenstock, ToddMango, JoashSaiz, GustavoDiaz Pines, EugenioBaldi, GermánButterbach Bahl, KlausGHG inventorieshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Few field studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African agricultural systems, resulting in high uncertainty for national inventories. This lack of data is particularly noticeable in smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa, where low inputs are often correlated with low yields, often resulting in food insecurity as well. We provide the most comprehensive study in Africa to date, examining annual soil CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from 59 smallholder plots across different vegetation types, field types and land classes in western Kenya. The study area consists of a lowland area (approximately 1200ma.s.l.) rising approximately 600m to a highland plateau. Cumulative annual fluxes ranged from2.8 to 15.0MgCO2-Cha-1,-6.0 to 2.4kgCH4-Cha-1 and-0.1 to 1.8kgN2O-Nha-1. Management intensity of the plots did not result in differences in annual GHG fluxes measured (P Combining double low line 0.46, 0.14 and 0.67 for CO2, CH4 and N2O respectively). The similar emissions were likely related to low fertilizer input rates (≤20kgNha-1). Grazing plots had the highest CO2 fluxes (P Combining double low line 0.005), treed plots (plantations) were a larger CH4 sink than grazing plots (P Combining double low line 0.05), while soil N2O emissions were similar across vegetation types (P Combining double low line 0.59). This study is likely representative for low fertilizer input, smallholder systems across sub-Saharan Africa, providing critical data for estimating regional or continental GHG inventories. Low crop yields, likely due to low fertilization inputs, resulted in high (up to 67gN2O-Nkg-1 aboveground N uptake) yield-scaled emissions. Improvement of crop production through better water and nutrient management might therefore be an important tool in increasing food security in the region while reducing the climate footprint per unit of food produced.Fil: Pelster, David. International Livestock Research Institute; KeniaFil: Rufino, Mariana Cristina. Centre for International Forestry Research; Kenia. Lancaster University; Reino UnidoFil: Rosenstock, Todd. World Agroforestry Centre; KeniaFil: Mango, Joash. World Agroforestry Centre; KeniaFil: Saiz, Gustavo. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Diaz Pines, Eugenio. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaFil: Baldi, Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Butterbach Bahl, Klaus. International Livestock Research Institute; Kenia. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; AlemaniaCopernicus Publications2017-01-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/66601Pelster, David; Rufino, Mariana Cristina; Rosenstock, Todd; Mango, Joash; Saiz, Gustavo; et al.; Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes; Copernicus Publications; Biogeosciences; 14; 1; 12-1-2017; 187-2021726-41701726-4189CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/187/2017/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:03:42Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/66601instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:03:42.433CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
title Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
spellingShingle Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
Pelster, David
GHG inventories
title_short Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
title_full Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
title_fullStr Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
title_full_unstemmed Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
title_sort Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Pelster, David
Rufino, Mariana Cristina
Rosenstock, Todd
Mango, Joash
Saiz, Gustavo
Diaz Pines, Eugenio
Baldi, Germán
Butterbach Bahl, Klaus
author Pelster, David
author_facet Pelster, David
Rufino, Mariana Cristina
Rosenstock, Todd
Mango, Joash
Saiz, Gustavo
Diaz Pines, Eugenio
Baldi, Germán
Butterbach Bahl, Klaus
author_role author
author2 Rufino, Mariana Cristina
Rosenstock, Todd
Mango, Joash
Saiz, Gustavo
Diaz Pines, Eugenio
Baldi, Germán
Butterbach Bahl, Klaus
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv GHG inventories
topic GHG inventories
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Few field studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African agricultural systems, resulting in high uncertainty for national inventories. This lack of data is particularly noticeable in smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa, where low inputs are often correlated with low yields, often resulting in food insecurity as well. We provide the most comprehensive study in Africa to date, examining annual soil CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from 59 smallholder plots across different vegetation types, field types and land classes in western Kenya. The study area consists of a lowland area (approximately 1200ma.s.l.) rising approximately 600m to a highland plateau. Cumulative annual fluxes ranged from2.8 to 15.0MgCO2-Cha-1,-6.0 to 2.4kgCH4-Cha-1 and-0.1 to 1.8kgN2O-Nha-1. Management intensity of the plots did not result in differences in annual GHG fluxes measured (P Combining double low line 0.46, 0.14 and 0.67 for CO2, CH4 and N2O respectively). The similar emissions were likely related to low fertilizer input rates (≤20kgNha-1). Grazing plots had the highest CO2 fluxes (P Combining double low line 0.005), treed plots (plantations) were a larger CH4 sink than grazing plots (P Combining double low line 0.05), while soil N2O emissions were similar across vegetation types (P Combining double low line 0.59). This study is likely representative for low fertilizer input, smallholder systems across sub-Saharan Africa, providing critical data for estimating regional or continental GHG inventories. Low crop yields, likely due to low fertilization inputs, resulted in high (up to 67gN2O-Nkg-1 aboveground N uptake) yield-scaled emissions. Improvement of crop production through better water and nutrient management might therefore be an important tool in increasing food security in the region while reducing the climate footprint per unit of food produced.
Fil: Pelster, David. International Livestock Research Institute; Kenia
Fil: Rufino, Mariana Cristina. Centre for International Forestry Research; Kenia. Lancaster University; Reino Unido
Fil: Rosenstock, Todd. World Agroforestry Centre; Kenia
Fil: Mango, Joash. World Agroforestry Centre; Kenia
Fil: Saiz, Gustavo. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania
Fil: Diaz Pines, Eugenio. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania
Fil: Baldi, Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentina
Fil: Butterbach Bahl, Klaus. International Livestock Research Institute; Kenia. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Alemania
description Few field studies examine greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African agricultural systems, resulting in high uncertainty for national inventories. This lack of data is particularly noticeable in smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa, where low inputs are often correlated with low yields, often resulting in food insecurity as well. We provide the most comprehensive study in Africa to date, examining annual soil CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from 59 smallholder plots across different vegetation types, field types and land classes in western Kenya. The study area consists of a lowland area (approximately 1200ma.s.l.) rising approximately 600m to a highland plateau. Cumulative annual fluxes ranged from2.8 to 15.0MgCO2-Cha-1,-6.0 to 2.4kgCH4-Cha-1 and-0.1 to 1.8kgN2O-Nha-1. Management intensity of the plots did not result in differences in annual GHG fluxes measured (P Combining double low line 0.46, 0.14 and 0.67 for CO2, CH4 and N2O respectively). The similar emissions were likely related to low fertilizer input rates (≤20kgNha-1). Grazing plots had the highest CO2 fluxes (P Combining double low line 0.005), treed plots (plantations) were a larger CH4 sink than grazing plots (P Combining double low line 0.05), while soil N2O emissions were similar across vegetation types (P Combining double low line 0.59). This study is likely representative for low fertilizer input, smallholder systems across sub-Saharan Africa, providing critical data for estimating regional or continental GHG inventories. Low crop yields, likely due to low fertilization inputs, resulted in high (up to 67gN2O-Nkg-1 aboveground N uptake) yield-scaled emissions. Improvement of crop production through better water and nutrient management might therefore be an important tool in increasing food security in the region while reducing the climate footprint per unit of food produced.
publishDate 2017
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2017-01-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/66601
Pelster, David; Rufino, Mariana Cristina; Rosenstock, Todd; Mango, Joash; Saiz, Gustavo; et al.; Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes; Copernicus Publications; Biogeosciences; 14; 1; 12-1-2017; 187-202
1726-4170
1726-4189
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/66601
identifier_str_mv Pelster, David; Rufino, Mariana Cristina; Rosenstock, Todd; Mango, Joash; Saiz, Gustavo; et al.; Smallholder farms in eastern African tropical highlands have low soil greenhouse gas fluxes; Copernicus Publications; Biogeosciences; 14; 1; 12-1-2017; 187-202
1726-4170
1726-4189
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/187/2017/
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Copernicus Publications
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Copernicus Publications
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
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instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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