Descripción del proyecto
CROPLANDS CONTRIBUTED TO AROUND 20 % OF THE CO2-EQUIVALENT EMISSIONS WORLDWIDE, THE APLICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES, SUCH AS WEED COVER, WHICH PROMOTE NET SOIL C SEQUESTRATION, WHILE NO REDUCING YIELD, IS OF ENORMEUS SCIENTIFIC AND ECONOMIC (CO2 EMISSION MARKET) INTEREST IN THE UE COUNTRIES,CURRENT ESTIMATES OF SOIL C STORAGE POTENTIAL ARE BASED ON MODELS OR FACTORS THAT ASSUME LINEARITY BETWEEN CARBON (C) INPUT LEVELS (I,E, WEED COVER) AND SOIL C STOCKS AT STEADY-STATE, IMPLYING THAT SOIL ORGANIC CARBON (SOC) STOCKS COULD INCREASE WITHOUT LIMIT AS C INPUT LEVELS INCREASE, HOWEVER, SOME SOILS SHOW LITTLE OR NO INCREASE IN STEADY-STATE SOC STOCK WITH INCREASING C INPUT LEVELS SUGGESTING THAT SOC BECOME SATURATED WITH RESPECT TO C INPUT, SOC SATURATION HYPOTHESIS IS BASED ON THE SATURATION DYNAMICS OF PROTECTIVE SOIL CARBON POOLS (PHYSICALLY, CHEMICALLY AND BIOCHEMICALLY) WHICH DIFFER AMONG SOIL TYPE ACCORDING TO THE PHYSICO-CHEMICAL SOIL PROPERTIES, THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO ESTIMATE THE POTENTIAL FOR THE LONG-TERM SOIL C SEQUESTRATION OF WEED-COVER OLIVE-GROVE SYSTEMS (IT SURFACE IS CURRENTLY INCREASING) AND TO TEST FOR THE MODEL (LINEAR OR SATURATION-BASED) THAT BEST PREDICTS THE ROLE OF THIS AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE IN LONG-TERM SOIL C STORAGE, WE WILL USE COVER-WEED OLIVE-GROVES AS THE EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM SINCE THE REGULAR DISTRIBUTION OF OLIVE TREES ALLOWS FOR WEED GROWTH WITHOUT STRONG NUTRIENT/WATER COMPETITION WITH THE CROP, AND BECAUSE OF ITS ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL (35 % OF THE ANDALUSIAN CROPLAND IS DEDICATED TO OLIVE OIL CROPS) IMPORTANCE, THE CAPACITY FOR LONG-TERM SOIL C SEQUESTRATION AND THE SATURATION DEFICIT (I,E, ACTUAL SOC-TO-MAXIMUM SOC RATIO) WILL BE EVALUATED IN THE MAIN SOILS DEDICATED TO OLIVE-CROPPING (REGOSOLS, LUVISOLS, CAMBISOL AND FLUVISOLS), LINEAR AND SATURATION MODELS FOR SOIL C SEQUESTRATION WILL BE FITTED BY RELATING ORGANIC CARBON INPUTS AND ACTUAL SOC MEASUREMENTS IN 20 OLIVE-GROVES MANAGED WITHOUT OR WITH A RANGE OF WEED COVER ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS, THE EFFECTS OF C SATURATION DEFICIT AND QUALITY OF LITTER INPUTS (WEED RESIDUES VERSUS COMPOSTED OLIVE MILL POMACE) ON SOIL C STABILIZATION (LONG-TERM C SEQUESTRATION) WILL BE ALSO EVALUATED, FINALLY, THE DECOMPOSITION RATE OF WEED RESIDUE UNDER TILLAGE AND NON TILLAGE SOIL MANAGEMENT WILL BE ASSESSED IN SITU DURING TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS, SECUESTRO DE CARBONO\CUBIERTA VERDE\OLIVAR