Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils
.
Alessandro PiccoloEditor
Carbon Sequestrationin Agricultural Soils
A Multidisciplinary Approachto Innovative Methods
EditorProf. Dr. Alessandro PiccoloUniversita di Napoli Federico IIOrdinario di Chimica AgrariaVia Universita 10080055 [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-23384-5 e-ISBN 978-3-642-23385-2DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-23385-2Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011943755
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Preface
As part of the international quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the
atmosphere and on recommendation of the Kyoto Protocol, this book highlights
alternatives to current soil management practices for turning agricultural soils into
sinks of organic carbon. While common agronomic practices are based on tradi-
tional knowledge of soil transformation processes, this book indicates that modern
or progressive understanding of complex biological systems in the soil ecosystem
may already be exploited to devise new soil management practices. Explored in this
book is the recent paradigmatic change in the chemical understanding of soil humus
which has prompted new mechanisms for the control of soil organic matter stability.
These mechanisms may be significantly more efficient at sequestering carbon in
soil than current agronomic practices.
The body of this book reports findings of two methods for soil carbon seques-
tration related to their application in agricultural field trials. These methods are
definitively based on the innovative understanding of soil organic matter chemis-
try as supramolecular association of small molecules (1) the protection from
mineralization of labile soil molecules by the hydrophobic domains present in
humified mature compost amended to soils, (2) the in situ oxidative photo-
polymerization of soil organic matter molecules after soil spreading with a
biomimetic water-soluble iron–porphyrin catalyst.
The first method, although innovative in its mechanistic application, may be well
considered within the current accepted soil management practices which makes use
of exogenous organic matter (EOM). The second method is based on a catalytic
chemical technology that appears still foreign within the traditional agronomic
approach, to both the farming world and most agricultural scientists.
In the experience of the Editor of this book, proposing the catalytic mechanism
of carbon sequestration in agricultural soil to a scientific audience was hardly
received positively. There is a general skepticism of the use of biomimetic catalysts
in agricultural soils, perhaps because of the possible negative consequences on the
biological soil quality and the reduced nutritional functions of soils, due to a
restricted availability of soil humus for microbial transformation.
v
The criticism was a beneficial stimulus to scale up research ambitions from
laboratory or glasshouse to fully-fledged field agronomic trials, through which not
only the effectiveness of the soil carbon sequestration methods could be verified in
practice, but also the concerns about the eco-toxicological, biological, biotechno-
logical and nutritional effects of the catalytic soil treatment could be dissipated.
A multifaceted research project was presented to the Italian Ministry of Research
(MIUR) within the strategic FISR programme. The intention was to cover all
possible aspects inherent in soil organic matter transformations in agricultural
soils leading to enhanced soil carbon sequestration, while maintaining soil quality
and the high levels of crop productivity required by the farming market. The project
was titled “Metodi Sostenibili per il sequestro del carbonio organico nei suoli
agrari. Valutazione degli effetti sulla qualita chimica, fisica, biologica ed agrono-
mica dei suoli”, with the MESCOSAGR acronym. The project was approved, under
the coordination of this Editor, and was funded with a total budget of 2.5 Mio Euro
over a 3 years working span.
The MESCOSAGR project relied on the work of six research units belonging to
six different Italian Universities. In particular the University of Napoli Federico II
comprised: the group of Prof. Alessandro Piccolo, for the determination of
carbon and nitrogen sequestration in all treated soils, as well as the molecular
transformation of soil organic matter upon soil treatments; the group of
Prof. Fabrizio Quaglietta Chiaranda, for the evaluation of the agronomic effects
of treatments on soils of the University experimental farm (Torre Lama); the group
of Prof. Giancarlo Moschetti for the microbiological aspects of all project’s treated
soils; the group of Prof. Amalia Virzo for the evaluation of soil biological quality
and emissions of greenhouse gases from field soils; the group of Prof. Stefano
Mazzoleni for the development of a new modelling approach to predict soil organic
matter dynamics in agricultural soils. The University of Torino was represented by
the group of Prof. Carlo Grignani who led the overall agronomic experiments and
conducted field trials at the University experimental farm (Tetto Frati). Dr. Giu-
seppe Celano was the head of the group of the University of Basilicata that had been
in charge of 13C and 15N isotopic measurements in soil samples and conducted
agronomic experiments under sorghum at the experimental farm of Battipaglia. The
University of Bari was present with the group of Prof. Pacifico Ruggiero for
the evaluation of genetic diversity in samples from treated soils. The University
of Reggio Calabria took care of microcosm experiments and measurements
of plant activities under the supervision of Prof. Maurizio Badiani. The group
of Prof. Attilio del Re of the Catholic University of Piacenza evaluated the
eco-toxicological parameters in all projects’s soil samples and managed field trials
at the local University experimental farm.
This book thus reports the main research findings of the MESCOSAGR project
and amply responds to the queries placed by the early critics of the innovative
methods for carbon sequestration in soil. Briefly, the methods were able to fix
a significantly larger amount of carbon than that possibly sequestered by traditional
methods. Concomitant to such very positive project outcome, both proposed
vi Preface
methods did not significantly alter the productive, physical, chemical, and
biological potentials of the treated soils.
Readers will find in this book data and results of their own interest, but they will
also have the advantage of being able to cross reference with other interdisciplinary
subjects, thereby receiving a complete picture of the effects of the new soil
management methods and their potential for practical application in farm manage-
ment. I am also sure that the most perceptive soil scientists will find in the book
several hints for new confirmative experiments, further ground for speculating on
more soil–plant-technology interactions and the possibility to develop new methods
or applications.
Finally, I take the chance to thank all the scientific and administrative collabora-
tors of the MESCOSAGR project who made it possible, despite the many logistic
difficulties often encountered, in reaching the project’s ambitious objectives.
Portici, Italy Alessandro Piccolo
November 2011
Preface vii
.
Contents
1 The Nature of Soil Organic Matter and Innovative
Soil Managements to Fight Global Changes and Maintain
Agricultural Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Alessandro Piccolo
2 The Kyoto Protocol and European and Italian Regulations
in Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Davide Savy, Antonio Nebbioso, Rocío Dánica Cóndor, and Marina Vitullo
3 Field Plots and Crop Yields Under Innovative Methods
of Carbon Sequestration in Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Carlo Grignani, Francesco Alluvione, Chiara Bertora, Laura Zavattaro,
Massimo Fagnano, Nunzio Fiorentino, Fabrizio Quaglietta Chiaranda,
Mariana Amato, Francesco Lupo, and Rocco Bochicchio
4 Carbon Sequestration in Soils by Hydrophobic Protection
and In Situ Catalyzed Photo-Polymerization of Soil Organic
Matter (SOM): Chemical and Physical–Chemical Aspects
of SOM in Field Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Riccardo Spaccini and Alessandro Piccolo
5 The Stable Isotopes Approach to Study C and N Sequestration
Processes in a Plant–Soil System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Giuseppe Celano, Francesco Alluvione, Mostafa Abdel Aziz Ali Mohamed,
and Riccardo Spaccini
6 Impact of Innovative Agricultural Practices of Carbon
Sequestration on Soil Microbial Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Valeria Ventorino, Anna De Marco, Olimpia Pepe, Amalia Virzo De Santo,
and Giancarlo Moschetti
ix
7 Effects of Methods of Carbon Sequestration in Soil on Biochemical
Indicators of Soil Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Edoardo Puglisi and Marco Trevisan
8 Biological and Biotechnological Evaluation of Carbon Dynamics
in Field Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Carmine Crecchio, Silvia Pascazio, and Pacifico Ruggiero
9 Measurements of CO2 and N2O Emissions in the Agricultural
Field Experiments of the MESCOSAGR Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Angelo Fierro and Annachiara Forte
10 Effects of Carbon Sequestration Methods on Soil Respiration and
Root Systems in Microcosm Experiments and In Vitro Studies . . . . 261
Antonio Gelsomino, Maria Rosaria Panuccio, Agostino Sorgona,
Maria Rosa Abenavoli, and Maurizio Badiani
11 New Modeling Approach to Describe and Predict Carbon
Sequestration Dynamics in Agricultural Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Stefano Mazzoleni, Giuliano Bonanomi, Francesco Giannino, Guido Incerti,
Daniela Piermatteo, Riccardo Spaccini, and Alessandro Piccolo
x Contents
Contributors
Maria Rosa Abenavoli Dipartimento BIOMAA, Universita Mediterranea, Reggio
Calabria, Italy
Francesco Alluvione Dipartimento di Agronomia, Selvicoltura e Gestione del
Territorio, Universita di Torino, Turin, Italy
Mariana Amato Dipartimento di Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali, Forestali e dell’
Ambiente, Universita della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
Maurizio Badiani Dipartimento BIOMAA, Universita Mediterranea, Reggio
Calabria, Italy
Chiara Bertora Dipartimento di Agronomia, Selvicoltura e Gestione del
Territorio, Universita di Torino, Turin, Italy
Rocco Bochicchio Dipartimento di Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali, Forestali e dell’
Ambiente, Universita della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
Giuliano Bonanomi Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale,
Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Giuseppe Celano Dipartimento Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali Forestali e dell’
Ambiente, Universita della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy, [email protected]
Fabrizio Quaglietta Chiaranda Dipartimento di Ingegneria Agraria e Agronomia
del Territorio, Universita di Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Rocío Dánica Cóndor Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
(ISPRA), Roma, Italy
Carmine Crecchio Dipartimento di Biologia e Chimica Agroforestale ed
Ambientale, Universita di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy, [email protected]
xi
Anna De Marco Dipartimento di Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Universita di
Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Amalia Virzo De Santo Dipartimento di Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale,
Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Massimo Fagnano Dipartimento di Ingegneria Agraria e Agronomia del
Territorio, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Angelo Fierro Dipartimento di Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Universita
di Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy, [email protected]
Nunzio Fiorentino Dipartimento di Ingegneria Agraria e Agronomia del
Territorio, Universita di Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Annachiara Forte Dipartimento di Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Universita
di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Antonio Gelsomino Dipartimento BIOMAA, Universita Mediterranea, Reggio
Calabria, Italy, [email protected]
Francesco Giannino Dipartimento di Ingegneria Agraria, Agronomia e Territorio,
Universita di Napoli Federico I, Naples, Italy
Carlo Grignani Dipartimento di Agronomia, Selvicoltura e Gestione del
Territorio, Universita di Torino, Turin, Italy, [email protected]
Guido Incerti Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale,
Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Francesco Lupo Dipartimento di Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali, Forestali e dell’
Ambiente, Universita della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
Stefano Mazzoleni Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia Vegetale,
Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy, [email protected]
Mostafa Abdel Aziz Ali Mohamed Dipartimento Scienze dei Sistemi Colturali
Forestali e dell’Ambiente, Universita della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy
Giancarlo Moschetti Dipartimento DEMETRA, Universita di Palermo, Palermo,
Italy, [email protected]
Antonio Nebbioso Dipartimento di Scienza del Suolo, della Pianta, dell’Ambiente
e delle Produzioni Animali, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
xii Contributors
Maria Rosaria Panuccio Dipartimento BIOMAA, Universita Mediterranea,
Reggio Calabria, Italy
Silvia Pascazio Dipartimento di Biologia e Chimica Agroforestale ed Ambientale,
Universita di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
Olimpia Pepe Dipartimento di Scienza degli Alimenti, sez. Microbiologia
Agraria, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Alessandro Piccolo Dipartimento di Scienza del Suolo, della Pianta, dell’
Ambiente e delle Produzioni Animali, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples,
Italy, [email protected]
Daniela Piermatteo Dipartimento di Arboricoltura, Botanica e Patologia
Vegetale, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Edoardo Puglisi Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale, Universita Cattolica
del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy, [email protected]
Pacifico Ruggiero Dipartimento di Biologia e Chimica Agroforestale ed Ambien-
tale, Universita di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
Davide Savy Dipartimento di Scienza del Suolo, della Pianta, dell’Ambiente
e delle Produzioni Animali, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy,
Agostino Sorgona Dipartimento BIOMAA, Universita Mediterranea, Reggio
Calabria, Italy
Riccardo Spaccini Dipartimento di Scienza del Suolo, della Pianta, dell’Ambiente
e delle Produzioni Animali, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy,
Marco Trevisan Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale, Universita Cattolica
del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy
Valeria Ventorino Dipartimento di Scienza degli Alimenti, sez. Microbiologia
Agraria, Universita di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Marina Vitullo Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
(ISPRA), Roma, Italy
Laura Zavattaro Dipartimento di Agronomia, Selvicoltura e Gestione del
Territorio, Universita di Torino, Turin, Italy
Contributors xiii
.
