LAND USE AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICE IMPACTS ON SOIL CARBON AND ASSOCIATED AGROECOSYSTEMS SERVICES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1023312
• Multistate No.: NC-_old1178
• Project Start Date: Jun 10, 2020
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2024
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 2275A
BROOKINGS,SD 57007

Performing Department
Plant Science

Non Technical Summary
Soils are the foundation of civilization and provide food, fiber, and fuel, along with numerous environmental services. Improper soil management has led to some of the most disastrous times for humanity, such as the dust bowl era in the central United States. In order to properly manage soils, we need to understand their basic properties and the processes and factors that led to their formation. This informs land managers about the capacity of a specific soil to be used for various purposes, as well as how the soil will react to changes in land use. Soils represent a pool of Carbon 2-3 times the atmosphere, and small changes in the global soil carbon cycle can have tremendous effects on the climate.South Dakota, like most of the world, needs to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Climate predictions are for South Dakota to become warmer and wetter, which has the potential for both benefits and adverse consequences. Warming temperatures mean longer growing seasons and potentially increased spring soil temperature, but also more intense summer heat stress. Current trends and predictions are for precipitation to occur in less frequent and more intense events. This would likely cause increased flooding and erosion, with drought stress between precipitation events.One of South Dakota's more unique soil issues, exacerbated by climate change, is saline soils. Sodium is naturally weathered out of the parent material and typically moves down into ground water and away from plant roots. Recent shifts in precipitation have raised the water table up into the rooting zone, bringing sodium with it. Crop production exacerbates salinity issues, as they use less water throughout the year compared to perennial plants.This project will expand our understanding of dynamic soil properties that are susceptible to change based on land management, including soil carbon stock, salinity, and sodicity. We will also assess impacts of land use and climate change on soils to predict potential shifts in soil carbon, while informing land managers and policy makers about practices that will reduce soil erosion and development of saline affected soils. Predictive models of these soil issues will be created using the updated soil maps produced by this project.

Animal Health Component

40%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

40%

Developmental

50%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
101	0199	2061	60%
103	0199	2061	20%
104	0199	2061	20%

Knowledge Area
103 - Management of Saline and Sodic Soils and Salinity; 104 - Protect Soil from Harmful Effects of Natural Elements; 101 - Appraisal of Soil Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
2061 - Pedology;

Keywords

soil science

pedology

climate change

erosion

soil survey

land-use

sodium affected soils

salinity

soil carbon

carbon sequestration

Goals / Objectives
Evaluate the impact of intensifying agroecosystems (e.g. increased crop rotations/double cropping, and management integration) on soil organic C, soil health, productivity, the environment, and profitability. (MI, SD, ND, FL, IA, GU, KS) Assess management effects (e.g. crop residue, tillage, cover crops,) on soil organic C, environmental footprints (e.g. GHG emissions, water quality, water quantity, soil erosion, input use efficiency), and productivity. (SD, ND, FL, MN, IA, GU, SC, KS)

Project Methods
1.1 Develop a soil carbon stock model:Significant amounts of soil carbon were lost to the atmosphere during the colonization of the Midwest and conversion of native prairie by Euro-American settlers. Exact amounts are hypothesized but will likely never be entirely understood. Currently land managers have been effectively sequestering carbon throughout SD in recent decades, however the state lacks a comprehensive and current catalog of the total carbon stored in soils. Available SSURGO soil data contains soil carbon data, but it is aggregated into map units and complexes which make it difficult to accurately assess the actual amount of carbon stored.Using DEM and lidar data, a model will be made to disaggregate SSURGO data into individual components by landscape position. A field assessment of current carbon stocks on benchmark soils throughout the state will be completed in order to asses our model and update information as necessary. This model can then be used to predict the net flux of soil carbon based a number of potential changes to the carbon cycle, including, but not limited to: land use and intensity changes, crop rotations, cover cropping, and climate change. If there are no published studies applicable to this region then one will be designed and carried out with collaborators from the SDSU Agronomy, Horticulture, and Plant Science Department.2.1 Balancing Land-Use and Salinity/Sodicity:Saline and Sodic Soils (SASS) are a growing concern in SD due to increases in precipitation and local water table height. To assess the extent and severity of the issue, a survey will be sent to SD land managers and crop producers. Local NRCS and county conservation districts will be contacted to gain information on SASS in their district areas. From this information a preliminary map of SASS will be created. This map will be used to find correlative soil data which should help predict other areas affected or susceptible to salinity issues. Representative areas of SASS will sampled and described to characterize their exact extent and severity.Mitigating SASS focuses on keeping the water table deep enough in the soil profile to minimize excess surface accumulation of salts. This can be done by putting portions of fields into perennial vegetation. Initial projects will focus on the capabilities of drone mounted sensors to monitor salinity in fields affected by SASS. Using this salinity data, field trials will focus on determining the extent or portion of agricultural fields that need to be in perennial vegetation in order to sustainably manage salinity while maximizing sustained agricultural productivity.2.2 Develop tools to identify areas with increased erosion susceptibility:SDSU will focus on using existing soil SSURGO data along with rainfall simulations and erosion models such as RUSLE2 (Revised Universal Soil Lose Equation) to identify areas of increased erosion risk from increasing storm intensity. Research will focus on 2 main components: (i) Correlate erosion risk for each map unit based on precipitation event, to predict areas that are most vulnerable to erosion as climate change occurs, (ii) Use DEM/Lidar data to disaggregate map units that are already identified as erosion risks. This will identify specific areas that need to be in some form of erosion control. The general concept of this research already exists with erosion prevention practices such as planting perennial cover in swales. The goal of this research would be a toolbox for the Natural Resource Conservation Service to quantify areas (based on potential precipitation events) that should be removed from production and placed into perennial vegetation or CRP to maximize erosion control.

Progress 06/10/20 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this reporting period was soil conservationists with the National Conservation Resource Service (NRCS). Current projects have been designed with input from regional NRCS leaders to produce informative procedures and technical reports that will be directly used by the local NRCS soil conservationists. The audience will cover NRCS Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA) 10 and 11. Changes/Problems:Covid 19 shutdowns presented a major delay in the project. Since this was the first project year there was no previous work or data to make progress on. Data collection and lab analysis that were tentatively planned for Spring/Fall 2020 had to be delayed until 2021. As a result, most progress for this project has remained in the planning phase until travel restrictions and health concerns for the participating individuals allow for initial data collection What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1. Evaluate the impact of intensifying agroecosystems (e.g. increased crop rotations/double cropping, and management integration) on soil organic C, soil health, productivity, the environment, and profitability. (MI, SD, ND, FL, IA, GU, KS) 1.1 Develop a soil carbon stock model: During the next reporting period data will be collected and analyzed for a project which aims to simplify rapid dynamic soil property (DSP) assessment over a heterogeneous landscape. This project will include physical soil sampling, as well as remote data collection through drone mounted spectral sensors. The project will analyze several land-use type intensities including conventional tillage, strip/no tillage, cover crops, and pasture. Objective 2. Assess management effects (e.g. crop residue, tillage, cover crops) on soil organic C, environmental footprints (e.g. GHG emissions, water quality, water quantity, soil erosion, input use efficiency), and productivity. (SD, ND, FL, MN, IA, GU, SC, KS) 2.1 Develop working model for balancing Land-Use and Salinity/Sodicity: For this objective the main plan is to secure additional funding for a project. This funding would cover a graduate student stipend, equipment, travel, and misc. costs. Regular communications with the local NRCS soil scientists have identified areas in SD with major salinity and sodicity issues. Next year we will establish connections with landowners with saline/sodic affected soils and establish permission to conduct research on their land, 2.2 Develop tools to identify areas with increased erosion susceptibility: The plan for this objective is to obtain funding for a graduate student as well as PI time to conduct preliminary research in this area. That research will include data mining the SSURGO database, as well as running erosion models for test areas withing SD.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: Evaluate the impact of intensifying agroecosystems (e.g. increased crop rotations/double cropping, and management integration) on soil organic C, soil health, productivity, the environment, and profitability. 5% Accomplished Funding was secured to conduct research on developing a protocol for rapid dynamic soil property inventory utilizing digital soil mapping and proximal sensing. This funding covers 2 years and includes support for 2 graduate students. The proposal is a multi-institution effort in collaboration with a faculty member at Purdue University. Initial planning of research sites has been conducted but data collection has been delayed until Spring 2021 due to the travel restrictions caused by Covid-19. Objective 2: Assess management effects (e.g. crop residue, tillage, cover crops,) on soil organic C, environmental footprints (e.g. GHG emissions, water quality, water quantity, soil erosion, input use efficiency), and productivity. 10% Accomplished Funding was secured to conduct research on the effects of mineralogy on potassium fertilizer efficiency (PI- Jason Clark). Test plots were planted across the Central and Eastern portion of the state and harvested. Soil samples are currently being collected any described.

Publications