Simulating long-term carbon nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycling in agricultural environments

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136599
• Publication Date: 2020-01-11T16:00:03Z
• Authors: Victoria Janes-Ba...; Jessica Davies; Ed C. Rowe; Edward Tipping
• Keywords: Biogeochemical Cycle; Nutrient cycle; Soil carbon; Biogeochemistry

Understanding how agricultural practices alter biogeochemical cycles is vital for maintaining land productivity, food security, and other ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. However, these are complex, highly coupled long-term processes that difficult to observe or explore through empirical science alone. Models required capture the main anthropogenic disturbances, whilst operating across regions long timescales, simulating both natural environments, shifts among these. Many models neglect agriculture interactions between nutrient cycles, which surprising given scale of intervention in nitrogen phosphorus introduced by agriculture. This gap addressed here, using a plant-soil model simulates integrated soil carbon, (CNP) cycling natural, semi-natural environments. The rigorously tested spatially temporally data from experiments temperate proved capable reproducing magnitude trends stocks, yield responses addition. has potential simulate effects on northern Europe, timescales (centuries) without site-specific calibration, easily accessible input data. results demonstrate weatherable P parent material considerable effect modern pools C N, despite significant perturbation practices, highlighting need integrate geological understand land-use change storage sustainability. suggest an important process source currently missing our understanding cycles. could not explain yields were sustained plots with low fertiliser We plant access organic key uncertainty warranting further research, particularly sustainability concerns surrounding rock sources fertiliser.