The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model

Jarecki, Marek; Kariyapperuma, Kumudinie; Deen, Bill; Graham, Jordan; Bazrgar, Amir Behzad; Vijayakumar, Sowthini; Thimmanagari, Mahendra; Gordon, Andrew; Voroney, Paul; Thevathasan, Naresh

doi:10.3390/land9120509

Open AccessArticle

The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model

by

Marek Jarecki

¹,

Kumudinie Kariyapperuma

^1,†,

Bill Deen

²,

Jordan Graham

³,

Amir Behzad Bazrgar

¹

,

Sowthini Vijayakumar

¹

,

Mahendra Thimmanagari

⁴,

Andrew Gordon

¹,

Paul Voroney

¹ and

Naresh Thevathasan

^1,*

¹

School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

²

Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

³

Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, 1 Stone Road W, Guelph, ON N1G 4Y2, Canada

⁴

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 1 Stone Road W, Guelph, ON N1G 4Y2, Canada

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

Office of Research Services, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada.

Land 2020, 9(12), 509; https://doi.org/10.3390/land9120509

Submission received: 25 September 2020 / Revised: 12 November 2020 / Accepted: 7 December 2020 / Published: 10 December 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioenergy and Land)

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Abstract

Warm season perennial C4 grasses (WSGs), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and miscanthus species (Miscanthus spp.), have been reported to positively influence short-term (15–20 years) soil organic carbon (SOC). In this study, the DayCent model was used to predict changes in long-term SOC stocks under WSGs for moderate (Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5) and high (RCP 8.5) warming climate change scenarios in southern Ontario, Canada, and to determine how long the enhanced SOC stock will last when WSGs are converted back to annual crop rotation. The model predicted that a consistent corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW) rotation prevented SOC from depletion over the 21st century. Under WSGs, the model predicted high rates of SOC sequestration during the first 20–30 years which then tended to stabilize after 50–60 years. However, the rate of SOC sequestration over 90 years for RCP 4.5 was 0.26 and 0.94 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for switchgrass and miscanthus, respectively. If 40-year stands of WSGs are converted back to CCSW, the model predicted SOC decline to the previous level in 40–50 years. DayCent predicted that under RCP 8.5 scenario in the second half of the 21st century and in the future, there will be a reduction in SOC stocks, especially under miscanthus stands.

Keywords: warm season C4 grasses; herbaceous biomass crops; climate scenarios

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MDPI and ACS Style

Jarecki, M.; Kariyapperuma, K.; Deen, B.; Graham, J.; Bazrgar, A.B.; Vijayakumar, S.; Thimmanagari, M.; Gordon, A.; Voroney, P.; Thevathasan, N. The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model. Land 2020, 9, 509. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9120509

AMA Style

Jarecki M, Kariyapperuma K, Deen B, Graham J, Bazrgar AB, Vijayakumar S, Thimmanagari M, Gordon A, Voroney P, Thevathasan N. The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model. Land. 2020; 9(12):509. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9120509

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jarecki, Marek, Kumudinie Kariyapperuma, Bill Deen, Jordan Graham, Amir Behzad Bazrgar, Sowthini Vijayakumar, Mahendra Thimmanagari, Andrew Gordon, Paul Voroney, and Naresh Thevathasan. 2020. "The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model" Land 9, no. 12: 509. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9120509

APA Style

Jarecki, M., Kariyapperuma, K., Deen, B., Graham, J., Bazrgar, A. B., Vijayakumar, S., Thimmanagari, M., Gordon, A., Voroney, P., & Thevathasan, N. (2020). The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model. Land, 9(12), 509. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9120509

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The Potential of Switchgrass and Miscanthus to Enhance Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration—Predicted by DayCent Model

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