TY - JOUR

T1 - Rice paddy soils are a quantitatively important carbon store according to a global synthesis

AU - Liu, Yalong

AU - Ge, Tida

AU - van Groenigen, Kees Jan

AU - Yang, Yuanhe

AU - Wang, Ping

AU - Cheng, Kun

AU - Zhu, Zhenke

AU - Wang, Jingkuan

AU - Li, Yong

AU - Guggenberger, Georg

AU - Sardans, Jordi

AU - Penuelas, Josep

AU - Wu, Jinshui

AU - Kuzyakov, Yakov

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development program (2017YFD0800104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41977088, 41807089; 41977093; 41761134095); the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2019JJ10003; 2019JJ30028), the Youth Innovation Team Project of Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2017QNCXTD_GTD), and the International Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program 2018 (20180017). The research of J.P. and J.S. was funded by the European Research Council Synergy grant ERC-2013-SyG-610028 IMBALANCE-P. The grants or other support to Ge T. from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany and K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University are also acknowledged with gratitude.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Rice paddies account for ~9% or the world’s cropland area and are characterized by environmental conditions promoting soil organic carbon storage, methane emissions and to a lesser extent nitrous oxide emissions. Here, we synthesize data from 612 sites across 51 countries to estimate global carbon stocks in paddy soils and determine the main factors affecting paddy soil carbon storage. Paddy soils (0–100 cm) contain 18 Pg carbon worldwide. Paddy soil carbon stocks decrease with increasing mean annual temperature and soil pH, whereas mean annual precipitation and clay content had minor impacts. Meta-analysis shows that paddy soil carbon stocks can be increased through several management practices. However, greenhouse gas mitigation through paddy soil carbon storage is generally outweighed by increases in methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Our results emphasize the key role of paddies in the global carbon cycle, and the importance of paddy management in minimizing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

AB - Rice paddies account for ~9% or the world’s cropland area and are characterized by environmental conditions promoting soil organic carbon storage, methane emissions and to a lesser extent nitrous oxide emissions. Here, we synthesize data from 612 sites across 51 countries to estimate global carbon stocks in paddy soils and determine the main factors affecting paddy soil carbon storage. Paddy soils (0–100 cm) contain 18 Pg carbon worldwide. Paddy soil carbon stocks decrease with increasing mean annual temperature and soil pH, whereas mean annual precipitation and clay content had minor impacts. Meta-analysis shows that paddy soil carbon stocks can be increased through several management practices. However, greenhouse gas mitigation through paddy soil carbon storage is generally outweighed by increases in methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Our results emphasize the key role of paddies in the global carbon cycle, and the importance of paddy management in minimizing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120318641&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s43247-021-00229-0

DO - 10.1038/s43247-021-00229-0

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85120318641

VL - 2

JO - Communications Earth and Environment

JF - Communications Earth and Environment

IS - 1

M1 - 154

ER -