• Energy Research

AbstractSoils harbour diverse soil faunaand a wide range of soil microorganisms. These fauna and microorganisms directly contribute to soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes via their respiratory and metabolic activities and indirectly by changing the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils through bioturbation, fragmentation and redistribution of plant residues, defecation, soil aggregate formation, herbivory, and grazing on microorganisms and fungi. Based on recent results, the methods and results found in relation to fauna as well as from fungi and plants are presented. The approaches are outlined, and the significance of these hitherto ignored fluxes is discussed.

AbstractAgricultural lands make up approximately 37% of the global land surface, and agriculture is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Those GHGs are responsible for the majority of the anthropogenic global warming effect. Agricultural GHG emissions are associated with agricultural soil management (e.g. tillage), use of both synthetic and organic fertilisers, livestock management, burning of fossil fuel for agricultural operations, and burning of agricultural residues and land use change. When natural ecosystems such as grasslands are converted to agricultural production, 20–40% of the soil organic carbon (SOC) is lost over time, following cultivation. We thus need to develop management practices that can maintain or even increase SOCstorage in and reduce GHG emissions from agricultural ecosystems. We need to design systematic approaches and agricultural strategies that can ensure sustainable food production under predicted climate change scenarios, approaches that are being called climate‐smart agriculture (CSA). Climate‐smart agricultural management practices, including conservation tillage, use of cover crops and biochar application to agricultural fields, and strategic application of synthetic and organic fertilisers have been considered a way to reduce GHG emission from agriculture. Agricultural management practices can be improved to decreasing disturbance to the soil by decreasing the frequency and extent of cultivation as a way to minimise soil C loss and/or to increase soil C storage. Fertiliser nitrogen (N) use efficiency can be improved to reduce fertilizer N application and N loss. Management measures can also be taken to minimise agricultural biomass burning. This chapter reviews the current literature on CSA practices that are available to reduce GHG emissions and increase soil Csequestration and develops a guideline on best management practices to reduce GHG emissions, increase C sequestration, and enhance crop productivity in agricultural production systems.

Implications • La plateforme agricole mondiale a été conçue et mise en place pour explorer des stratégies multidisciplinaires pour optimiser la durabilité des systèmes de ruminants dans le monde. • Les problèmes de durabilité internationale sont courants, mais les solutions sont souvent spécifiques à la région ; par conséquent, notre les fermes, situées dans toutes les principales zones agroclimatiques, sont une ressource unique au monde. • Chaque exploitation suit les étapes de l'élevage durable pour améliorer son (ses) système(s) de production, développer des mesures robustes pour faire progresser la viabilité économique, environnementale et sociale. • Le consortium travaille en collaboration pour améliorer la la durabilité des ruminants, que nous considérons comme une composante des systèmes alimentaires mondiaux, fournissant à la fois santé humaine et planétaire. Implicaciones • La Plataforma Global Farm fue concebida y establecida para explorar estrategias multidisciplinarias para optimizar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de rumiantes en todo el mundo. • Los problemas internacionales de sostenibilidad son comunes, pero las soluciones a menudo son específicas de la región; por lo tanto, nuestro granjas, situadas en todas las principales zonas agroclimáticas, son un recurso único en todo el mundo. • Cada granja está siguiendo los pasos para la ganadería sostenible para mejorar su (s) sistema(s) de producción, por lo tanto desarrollar métricas sólidas para avanzar en la viabilidad económica, ambiental y social. • El consorcio trabaja en colaboración para mejorar la sostenibilidad de los rumiantes, que argumentamos que son una componente de los sistemas alimentarios globales, entregando tanto salud humana y planetaria. Implications • The Global Farm Platform was conceived and established to explore multidisciplinary strategies for optimising the sustainability of ruminant systems around the world. • International sustainability issues are common, but the solutions are often region-specific; therefore, our farms, situated across all major agroclimatic zones, are a unique resource worldwide. • Each farm is following steps to sustainable livestock to improve their production system(s), thereby developing robust metrics to progress economic, environmental and social viability. • The consortium works collaboratively to improve the sustainability of ruminants, which we argue are a vital component of global food systems, delivering both human and planetary health. الآثار المترتبة • تم تصميم وإنشاء المنصة العالمية للمزارع لاستكشاف استراتيجيات متعددة التخصصات تحسين استدامة أنظمة الحيوانات المجترة في جميع أنحاء العالم. • قضايا الاستدامة الدولية شائعة، ولكن غالبًا ما تكون الحلول خاصة بالمنطقة ؛ لذلك، المزارع، التي تقع في جميع المناطق الزراعية المناخية الرئيسية، هي مورد فريد من نوعه في جميع أنحاء العالم. • تتبع كل مزرعة خطوات نحو الثروة الحيوانية المستدامة لتحسين نظام(أنظمة) الإنتاج الخاصة بها، وبالتالي تطوير مقاييس قوية للتقدم في الجدوى الاقتصادية والبيئية والاجتماعية. • يعمل الكونسورتيوم بشكل تعاوني لتحسين استدامة الحيوانات المجترة، والتي نعتبرها حيوية في النظم الغذائية العالمية، وتقديم كل من صحة الإنسان والكوكب.

AbstractMicrometeorological techniques are useful if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from larger areas (i.e. entire fields) should be integrated. The theory and the various techniques such as flux-gradient, aerodynamic, and Bowen ratio as well as Eddy correlation methods are described and discussed. Alternative methods also used are Eddy correlation, mass balance techniques, and tracer-based methods. The analytical techniques with current state-of-the-art approaches as well as the calculation procedures are presented.

Agriculture faces considerable challenges of achieving more sustainable production that minimises nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses and meets international obligations for water quality and greenhouse gas emissions. This must involve reducing nutrient balance (NB) surpluses and increasing nutrient use efficiencies (NUEs), which could also improve farm profitability (a win-win). To set targets and motivate improvements in Ireland, nationally representative benchmarks were established for different farm categories (sector, soil group and production intensity). Annual farm-gate NBs (kg ha-1) and NUEs (%) for N and P were calculated for 1446 nationally representative farms from 2008 to 2015 using import and export data collected by the Teagasc National Farm Survey (part of the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network). Benchmarks for each category were established using quantile regression analysis and percentile rankings to identify farms with the lowest NB surplus per production intensity and highest gross margins (€ ha-1). Within all categories, large ranges in NBs and NUEs between benchmark farms and poorer performers show considerable room for nutrient management improvements. Results show that as agriculture intensifies, nutrient surpluses, use efficiencies and gross margins increase, but benchmark farms minimise surpluses to relatively low levels (i.e. are more sustainable). This is due to, per ha, lower fertiliser and feed imports, greater exports of agricultural products, and for dairy, sheep and suckler cattle, relatively high stocking rates. For the ambitious scenario of all non-benchmark farms reaching the optimal benchmark zone, moderate reductions in farm nutrient surpluses were found with great improvements in profitability, leading to a 31% and 9% decrease in N and P surplus nationally, predominantly from dairy and non-suckler cattle. The study also identifies excessive surpluses for each level of production intensity, which could be used by policy in setting upper limits to improve sustainability.

AbstractMethods and techniques are described for automated measurements of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in both the laboratory and the field. Robotic systems are currently available to measure the entire range of gases evolved from soils including dinitrogen (N2). These systems usually work on an exchange of the atmospheric N2with helium (He) so that N2 fluxes can be determined. Laboratory systems are often used in microbiology to determine kinetic response reactions via the dynamics of all gaseous N species such as nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N2O), and N2. Latest He incubation techniques also take plants into account, in order to study the effect of plant–soil interactions on GHGsand N2 production. The advantage of automated in-field techniques is that GHG emission rates can be determined at a high temporal resolution. This allows, for instance, to determine diurnal response reactions (e.g. with temperature) and GHG dynamics over longer time periods.