The Effects of Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS) on Soil Erosion and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks across Europe: A Simulation Study

Jantiene E.M. Baartman*, Joao Pedro Nunes, Hedwig van Delden, Roel Vanhout, Luuk Fleskens

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Healthy soils are fundamental for sustainable agriculture. Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS) aim to make land use and food production more sustainable. To evaluate the effect of SICS at EU scale, a modelling approach was taken. This study simulated the effects of SICS on two principal indicators of soil health (Soil Organic Carbon stocks) and land degradation (soil erosion) across Europe using the spatially explicit PESERA model. Four scenarios with varying levels and combinations of cover crops, mulching, soil compaction alleviation and minimum tillage were implemented and simulated until 2050. Results showed that while in the scenario without SICS, erosion slightly increased on average across Europe, it significantly decreased in the scenario with the highest level of SICS applied, especially in the cropping areas in the central European Loess Belt. Regarding SOC stocks, the simulations show a substantial decrease for the scenario without SICS and a slight overall decrease for the medium level scenario and the scenario with a mix of high, medium and no SICS. The scenario with a high level of SICS implementation showed an overall increase in SOC stocks across Europe. Potential future improvements include incorporating dynamic land use, climate change and an optimal spatial allocation of SICS.

Original languageEnglish
Article number943
JournalLand
Volume11
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022

Keywords

  • Europe
  • large-scale modelling
  • scenarios
  • SOC stocks
  • soil erosion
  • soil health
  • sustainable soil management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Effects of Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS) on Soil Erosion and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks across Europe: A Simulation Study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this