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Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases
      (CASMGS)

Charles W. Rice, Director, Kansas State University

Phone:  785-532-7217

     E-mail:  cwrice@ksu.edu      Website:  www.oznet.ksu.edu/ctec

The goal of CASMGS, which has received federal funding, is to provide the tools and information needed to successfully implement soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction programs to lower the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere while providing income and incentives to farmers and improving the soil. CASMGS brings together the nation’s top researchers in the areas of soil carbon, greenhouse gas emissions, conservation practices, computer modeling, and economic analysis. The CASMGS project has been divided into five tasks, with a team of scientists assigned to each task. The consortium consists of scientists from Kansas State University, Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Michigan State University, Montana State University, Purdue University, The Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, University of Nebraska, and Battelle-Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.  

The following is a summary of the CASMGS projects currently underway at Kansas State University .  Scientists include:

1. Charles W. Rice, Professor, Department of Agronomy

2. Clenton Owensby , Professor, Department of Agronomy

3. Scott Staggenborg , Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy

4. Jay Ham, Professor, Professor, Department of Agronomy

5. Kent McVay, Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy

6. Jeff Williams , Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics

7. Richard Nelson , Director, Center for Energy Studies, Extension Energy

8. John Blair, Professor, Division of Biology

CASMGS Task 1: The overall goal for Task 1 is to develop a basic understanding of biophysical processes that control soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural soils of the U.S.

Potential for Plant Breeding for Carbon Sequestration :

The quantity of organic matter in soil is a function of the quantity and quality of plant residue entering the soil and the various processes that determine decomposition rates of those residues. It is possible that grain sorghum and wheat varieties that have agronomic attributes such as improved stalk standability also may have higher lignin or a greater C:N ratio that may promote C sequestration. This project will examine cultivars from the sorghum and wheat breeding programs at K-State to assess the potential for breeders and crop specialists to develop and recommend varieties that promote C sequestration.  Principal Investigator (PI): Chuck Rice.

Biological, Chemical, and Physical Mechanisms Controlling Carbon Storage in Agricultural Soils :

Our research efforts will investigate the role of soil structure (aggregation) on the sequestration of soil organic carbon and determine how microbial community structure, diversity, and activity influence C turnover and stabilization.

Four sites have been selected for an across-site comparison of aggregation, soil organic C structural composition, and microbial community characterization. The sites are Wooster , Ohio ; Konza Prairie , Kansas ; Mead, Nebraska ; and Sterling , Colorado . These were selected to represent the major cropping systems in the U.S. (continuous corn, corn-soybean, wheat-fallow) and rangeland. We will include a comparison of:

1.      No-tillage versus conventional tillage with a continuous corn rotation at    
      Wooster , Ohio ;
2.       Irrigated and rain-fed cropland at Mead, Nebraska ;
3.       Wheat-fallow and wheat-corn-fallow at Sterling , Colorado ; and
4.       Burned and unburned range plots at Konza Prairie , Kansas .

Research at K-State will include biological fractionation of organic matter using stable isotopes of C and N and role of the soil microbial community in soil C dynamics.  PI: Chuck Rice

Effects of Grazing Management on Carbon Storage:

Grasslands that have been grazed for an extended period at high utilization rates have reduced annual net primary productivity and greatly reduced belowground biomass. The greatest reduction in plant production in heavily-grazed grasslands occurs belowground. Changing grazing rate to recommended levels increases productivity and increase allocation of carbon into the soil. The rate that carbon is accumulated following a switch to good management is not known and is difficult to measure directly in the short-term.

At K-State, we will quantify the rate that carbon is sequestered into the soil by comparing carbon balances between areas with continued heavy grazing and areas where the stocking rate has been changed to the recommended rate. The experimental site will be located in tallgrass prairie in the Kansas Flint Hills. Carbon fluxes will be monitored at a site which has a long-term heavy grazing history and one with improved grazing management.

Expected outcomes will include quantification of the potential for increased carbon sequestration as a result of changing from abusive grazing rates to recommended rates. A carbon balance will be calculated for each grazing regime based on a carbon year defined as that time between burn dates. PI: Clenton Owensby

CASMGS Task 2: The overall mission of the CASMGS research team in Task 2 is to identify, develop, and evaluate agricultural BMPs for C sequestration and greenhouse gas mitigation, and to examine the associated co-benefits and costs.

Carbon Sequestration and Soil Quality of Different Agricultural Management Systems:

1. Rangeland: We will conduct a detailed analysis of soil C storage in native tallgrass prairie in conjunction with a long-term experiment being conducted at the Konza Prairie Biological Station and other locations in the Great Plains . In addition, we will identify the potential for carbon sequestration of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). PIs: Chuck Rice, John Blair  

2. Cropland: Tillage, crop rotations, manure, and fertilization effects will be evaluated from several long-term studies in Kansas . At these sites we will have a measure of productivity, including yield. Nutrient uptake data also is available. Soil measurements include total soil C and N, bulk density, and general soil properties. We will also have a measure of the biological and physical fraction of the soil C pools. To quantify the ancillary benefits of C sequestration on soil quality, we will measure soil physical properties (bulk density, water infiltration, water holding capacity), chemical properties (pH, CEC), and biological properties (N mineralization, and microbial biomass and activity). This data will be part of a network of all CASMGS states.  PIs: Chuck Rice, Kent McVay

Economic Analysis :

For the economic analysis, an enterprise budgeting approach will be used to estimate the costs and returns for each BMP. A breakeven analysis to determine the necessary C value, which equates net returns from each BMP, will be conducted. K-State will cooperate with other states in conducting a survey of factors which affect adoption of BMPs and will also contribute information to those developing cost-based adoption models. For those experiments where alternative treatments incrementally increase soil C, the marginal cost of sequestering soil C will be derived.  PI: Jeff Williams

Energy Analysis :

While a particular cropping/tillage system may be sequestering C in the soil, C in the form of CO₂ is also
being released into the atmosphere from the combustion of diesel and other fossil fuels (gasoline, natural gas, propane, coal for electricity, etc.) used in field operations such as tillage, fertilizer and herbicide application, planting, and harvesting. In addition, the energy used in the production (manufacture/processing) of farm equipment, fertilizers, and herbicides, also have C releases associated with them. Carbon release values (pounds of C per Btu expended) from direct, embodied or indirect, and feedstock energy for the fertilizers and chemicals applied will be estimated. Carbon release estimates from direct energy use in field operations (planting, tillage, and harvesting) will also be included. The result will be an estimate of the amount of C released to the atmosphere from field operations and application of fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides.  PI: Richard Nelson

CASMGS Task 3: The overall goal of Task 3 is to predict and assess the carbon cycle and greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation using computer models, databases, and other appropriate tools.

The team at K-State will continue work on compiling a database on the effects of management practices on other environmental quality measures, including soil erosion, water quality (e.g. nutrient and pesticide runoff and leaching), soil quality, and wildlife habitat. This data can then used with the data on soil C and greenhouse gas emissions to evaluate comprehensive environmental impacts of best management practices for greenhouse gas emissions. K-State investigators will also compile comprehensive (i.e. climate, production, management, soils) data sets for model validation from field experiments in Kansas , including some that are unpublished.  PIs: Chuck Rice, Kent McVay

CASMGS Task 4: Measuring and monitoring.  The overall objective of Task 4 is to develop mechanisms to estimate and verify changes in soil C and greenhouse-gas emissions that result from changes in land use and management and in the context of likely changes in policy and land use.

Any incentives or policies put in place to encourage soil carbon storage and greenhouse gas mitigation must be coupled to measurement strategies that can verify expected outcomes. The development of scientifically sound, practical, andeconomical mechanisms to estimate changes in soil carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes is thus crucial to the design and success of any mitigation plan.

Any incentives or policies put in place to encourage soil carbon storage and greenhouse gas mitigation must be coupled to measurement strategies that can verify expected outcomes. Thed development of scientifically sound, practical, and economical mechanisms to estimate changes in soil carbon storage and greenhouse gas fluxes is thus crucial to the design and success of any mitigation plan. 

The Kansas work plan will focus on measuring the carbon balances of both rangeland and cropland under different management regimes. Questions to be answered include: (1) if overgrazed pastureland is returned to a more optimal grazing regime, at what rate will carbon be sequestered; (2) how does conservation tillage, along with other field practices, affect the rate of carbon storage and greenhouse gas flux from dryland agriculture; (3) how do management practices affect carbon losses from fields and rangelands during the fallow/dormant period (i.e., fall and winter); and (4) can autochamber technology be developed that will allow rapid assessment of management practices that affect the field carbon balance and trace gases emissions.

The rangeland portion of the research will build on existing DOE-sponsored research that has established three eddy-covariance towers on tallgrass prairie near Manhattan , Kansas . Two existing towers are located in the Rannells Research Ranch and one is in the Konza Prairie Biological Station. These studies focus on grazing and fire effects and include a host of environmental, soil, and plant measurements. As part of the CASMGS program, a new field site will be added to the eddy-flux tower network to study the carbon balance of a pasture that has been repeatedly overgrazed. The mismanaged site will be returned to a more optimal grazing regime and its carbon balance compared to the Konza and Rannells sites. A combination of eddy covariance, autochambers, and static chambers will be used to derive the carbon balances. This work will be coordinated closely with researchers working in Tasks 1 and 2 (e.g., Kansas PIs Owensby and Rice). 

Carbon fluxes will also be measured in a dryland cropping system where different tillage and management practices are being compared. Kansas has network of field experiments in place where conservation and tillage practice are being evaluated. Fluxes of N₂O and CH₄ will be added to these experiments when  relevant.  PI: Jay Ham

CASMGS Task 5: The overall goal for Task 5 is to develop outreach programs, in coordination with Cooperative Extension Service, to share information on the carbon cycle and agricultural best management practices that is useful to agricultural producers and other interested groups.

The desired outcome is to have our audiences understand: (1) the potential of agricultural soils to serve as a sink for atmospheric carbon; (2) management options and new technologies that can increase soil C and affect the carbon cycle; (3) the potential on-farm benefits and costs of adopting alternative practices or technologies; and (4) benefits and risks of entering into contracts with government or private entities.

Kansas State University is responsible for the development of traditional publications that detail the carbon cycle, soil organic carbon, and carbon sequestration. K-State will also play an active role in conducting policy briefings as need by policy makers, energy company officials, and commodity groups. 

In order to facilitate dialog and foster relationships between all audiences, two energy forums will be conducted. Texas A&M will host a forum in spring 2003 with the focus on policy and implementation of carbon sequestration programs. Kansas State will host a carbon measuring/monitoring forum in fall 2003.  PIs: Scott Staggenborg, Chuck Rice

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