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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 47(5)

Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from soil are reduced following afforestation of pasture lands in three contrasting climatic zones

D. E. Allen A E , D. S. Mendham B , Bhupinderpal-Singh C , A. Cowie C , W. Wang A , R. C. Dalal A and R. J. Raison D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Natural Resources and Water, 80 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly, Qld 4068, Australia.

B CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Private Bag 5, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia.

C NSW Department of Primary Industries, PO Box 100, Beecroft, NSW 2119, Australia.

D CSIRO Forest Biosciences, PO Box E4008, Kingston, ACT 2604, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: Diane.Allen@nrw.qld.gov.au

Australian Journal of Soil Research 47(5) 443-458 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR08151
Submitted: 2 July 2008  Accepted: 26 March 2009   Published: 18 August 2009

Abstract

Land use change from agriculture to forestry offers potential opportunities for carbon (C) sequestration and thus partial mitigation of increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The effects of land use change of grazed pastures on in situ fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) from soil were examined across 3 forest types in Australian temperate, Mediterranean, and subtropical regions, using a network of paired pasture−forest sites, representing 3 key stages of forest stand development: establishment, canopy-closure, and mid to late rotation. During the 12-month study, soil temperature ranged from –6° to 40°C and total rainfall from 487 to 676 mm. Rates of N2O flux ranged between 1 and 100 μg/m2.h in pasture soils and from –5 to 50 μg/m2.h in forest soils; magnitudes were generally similar across the 3 climate zones. Rates of CH4 flux varied from –1 to –50 μg/m2.h in forest soil and from +10 to –30 μg/m2.h in pasture soils; CH4 flux was highest at the subtropics sites and lowest at the Mediterranean sites.

In general, N2O emissions were lower, and CH4 consumption was higher, under forest than pasture soils, suggesting that land use change from pasture to forest can have a positive effect on mitigation of non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil as stands become established. The information derived from this study can be used to improve the capacity of models for GHG accounting (e.g. FullCAM, which underpins Australia’s National Carbon Accounting System) to estimate N2O and CH4 fluxes resulting from land use change from pasture to forest in Australia. There is still, however, a need to test model outputs against continuous N2O and CH4 measurements over extended periods of time and across a range of sites with similar land use, to increase confidence in spatial and temporal estimates at regional levels.

Additional keywords: N2O, CH4, GHG balance, afforestation, forest, paired sites, grassland, pasture, plantation, temperate, tropics, Mediterranean.


Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Qld DNR&W, NSW DPI, and CSIRO. We thank Neil Halpin from DPI Forestry for Qld site selection, Jeff Baldock and Kris Broos from CSIRO for project advice, and David Mayer for statistical advice. We thank Forests NSW, Qld DPI Forestry and Timbercorp Limited for site access, Satvinder Bawa, David Giles, and Kamaljeet Kaur (Forestry NSW DPI), Steven Reeves, Iain Gibson, Judy Brady, and Linda Chrabaszcz (Qld DNRW), and Jessie Rutter and Scott Walker (CSIRO) for skilled technical support. We also thank the several farmers who allowed us access to their properties, including Iain Mckean and Graham Gilmore (NSW), Colin Marshall, Libby Lieu, Craig Jones and Lori McCarthy (Qld), Todd and Jane Stan-Bishop, Michael and Phillipa Murphy, and Peter Drygan (WA).


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