Life Cycle Assessment on Agricultural Production: A Mini Review on Methodology, Application, and Challenges.

Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an effective tool for the quantitative evaluation and analysis of agricultural materials production and operation activities in various stages of the agricultural system. Based on the concept of life cycle, it comprehensively summarizes the impact of agriculture on the environment, which is an effective tool to promote the sustainability and green development of agriculture. In recent years, agricultural LCA has been widely used in the agroecosystem for resource and environmental impacts analysis.

Effects of nitrogen deposition and litter layer management on soil CO, NO, and CH emissions in a subtropical pine forestland.

Forestland soils play vital role in regulating global soil greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets, but the interactive effect of the litter layer management and simulated nitrogen (N) deposition on these GHG flux has not been elucidated clearly in subtropical forestland. A field trial was conducted to study these effects by using litter removal method under 0 and 40 kg N ha yr addition in a subtropical forestland in Yingtan, Jiangxi Province, China. Soil CO emission was increased by N addition (18-24%) but decreased by litter removal (24-32%).

Beef cattle production impacts soil organic carbon storage.

Grazing of natural rangeland and seeded pasture is an important feeding strategy for the Canadian beef cattle industry. As a consequence, beef cattle population has a direct influence on the proportion of land base maintained as perennial forage, which in turn changes soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. We examined historical relationships between the net change in SOC resulting from perennial/annual crop conversion and beef cattle populations.

Nutrient Loss in Snowmelt Runoff: Results from a Long-term Study in a Dryland Cropping System.

Snowmelt runoff often comprises the majority of annual runoff in the Canadian Prairies and a significant proportion of total nutrient loss from agricultural land to surface water. Our objective was to determine the effect of agroecosystem management on snowmelt runoff and nutrient losses from a long-term field experiment at Swift Current, SK. Runoff quantity, nutrient concentrations, and loads were estimated after a change in management from conventionally tilled wheat ( L.

Effect of Increasing Species Diversity and Grazing Management on Pasture Productivity, Animal Performance, and Soil Carbon Sequestration of Re-Established Pasture in Canadian Prairie.

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of type of pasture mix and grazing management on pasture productivity, animal response and soil organic carbon (SOC) level. Pasture was established in 2001 on 16 paddocks of 2.1 ha that had been primarily in wheat and summer fallow.

Litter decay controlled by temperature, not soil properties, affecting future soil carbon.

Widespread global changes, including rising atmospheric CO concentrations, climate warming and loss of biodiversity, are predicted for this century; all of these will affect terrestrial ecosystem processes like plant litter decomposition. Conversely, increased plant litter decomposition can have potential carbon-cycle feedbacks on atmospheric CO levels, climate warming and biodiversity. But predicting litter decomposition is difficult because of many interacting factors related to the chemical, physical and biological properties of soil, as well as to climate and agricultural management practices.

Grazing improves C and N cycling in the Northern Great Plains: a meta-analysis.

Grazing potentially alters grassland ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage and cycles, however, the overall direction and magnitude of such alterations are poorly understood on the Northern Great Plains (NGP). By synthesizing data from multiple studies on grazed NGP ecosystems, we quantified the response of 30 variables to C and N pools and fluxes to grazing using a comprehensive meta-analysis method. Results showed that grazing enhanced soil C (5.

Herbicide transport in surface runoff from conventional and zero-tillage fields.

During the past four decades of crop production in the prairie region of Canada, there has been a dramatic shift from conventional management (CM) to conservation tillage management in which one or more tillage operations has been replaced by herbicide application. To determine whether this management shift has affected the quality of snowmelt runoff, field-scale side-by-side runoff watersheds were used in a 6-yr study. Herbicide concentrations and fluxes in snowmelt runoff water from CM and zero-till management (ZTM) systems were compared relative to an organic production system used as the control.

A Greenhouse Gas and Soil Carbon Model for Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Livestock Production in Canada.

To assess tradeoffs between environmental sustainability and changes in food production on agricultural land in Canada the Unified Livestock Industry and Crop Emissions Estimation System (ULICEES) was developed. It incorporates four livestock specific GHG assessments in a single model. To demonstrate the application of ULICEES, 10% of beef cattle protein production was assumed to be displaced with an equivalent amount of pork protein.

Selecting and applying cesium-137 conversion models to estimate soil erosion rates in cultivated fields.

The fallout radionuclide cesium-137 ((137)Cs) has been successfully used in soil erosion studies worldwide. However, discrepancies often exist between the erosion rates estimated using various conversion models. As a result, there is often confusion in the use of the various models and in the interpretation of the data.