Biochar as a tool to reduce the agricultural greenhouse-gas burden – knowns, unknowns and future research needs

Agriculture and land use change has significantly increased atmospheric emissions of the non-CO2 green-house gases (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Since human nutritional and bioenergy needs continue to increase, at a shrinking global land area for production, novel land management strategies are required that reduce the GHG footprint per unit of yield. Here we review the potential of biochar to reduce N2O and CH4 emissions from agricultural practices including potential mechanisms behind observed effects. Furthermore, we investigate alternative uses of biochar in agricultural land management that may significantly reduce the GHG-emissions-per-unit-of-product footprint, such as (i) pyrolysis of manures as hygienic alternative to direct soil application, (ii) using biochar as fertilizer carrier matrix for underfoot fertilization, biochar use (iii) as composting additive or (iv) as feed additive in animal husbandry or for manure treatment. We conclude that the largest future research needs lay in conducting life-cycle GHG assessments when using biochar as an on-farm management tool for nutrient-rich biomass waste streams

Strategies for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation in Mediterranean agriculture: A review

[EN] An integrated assessment of the potential of different management practices for mitigating specific components of the total GHG budget (N2O and CH4 emissions and C sequestration) of Mediterranean agrosystems was performed in this study. Their suitability regarding both yield and environmental (e.g. nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization) sustainability, and regional barriers and opportunities for their implementation were also considered. Based on its results best strategies to abate GHG emissions in Mediterranean agro-systems were proposed. Adjusting N fertilization to crop needs in both irrigated and rain-fed systems could reduce N2O emissions up to 50% compared with a non-adjusted practice. Substitution of N synthetic fertilizers by solid manure can be also implemented in those systems, and may abate N2O emissions by about 20% under Mediterranean conditions, with additional indirect benefits associated to energy savings and positive effects in crop yields. The use of urease and nitrification inhibitors enhances N use efficiency of the cropping systems and may mitigate N2O emissions up to 80% and 50%, respectively. The type of irrigation may also have a great mitigation potential in the Mediterranean region. Drip-irrigated systems have on average 80% lower N2O emissions than sprinkler systems and drip-irrigation combined with optimized fertilization showed a reduction in direct N2O emissions up to 50%. Methane fluxes have a relatively small contribution to the total GHG budget of Mediterranean crops, which can mostly be controlled by careful management of the water table and organic inputs in paddies. Reduced soil tillage, improved management of crop residues and agro-industry by-products, and cover cropping in orchards, are the most suitable interventions to enhance organic C stocks in Mediterranean agricultural soils. The adoption of the proposed agricultural practices will require farmers training. The global analysis of life cycle emissions associated to irrigation type (drip, sprinkle and furrow) and N fertilization rate (100 and 300 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1)) revealed that these factors may outweigh the reduction in GHG emissions beyond the plot scale. The analysis of the impact of some structural changes on top-down mitigation of GHG emissions revealed that 3-15% of N2O emissions could be suppressed by avoiding food waste at the end-consumer level. A 40% reduction in meat and dairy consumption could reduce GHG emissions by 20-30%. Reintroducing the Mediterranean diet (i.e. similar to 35% intake of animal protein) would therefore result in a significant decrease of GHG emissions from agricultural production systems under Mediterranean conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The authors would like to thank the Spanish National R+D+i Plan (AGL2012-37815-C05-01, AGL2012-37815-C05-04) and very specifically the workshop held in December 2016 in Butron (Bizkaia) to synthesize the most promising measures to reduce N2O emissions from Spanish agricultural soils. BC3 is sponsored by the Basque Government. M. L. Cayuela thanks Fundacion Seneca for financing the project 19281/PI/14.Sanz-Cobeña, A.; Lassaletta, L.; Aguilera, E.; Del Prado, A.; Garnier, J.; Billen, G.; Iglesias, A.... (2017). Strategies for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation in Mediterranean agriculture: A review. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment. 238:5-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.09.038S52423

Diverse aging rates in ectothermic tetrapods provide insights for the evolution of aging and longevity

Comparative studies of mortality in the wild are necessary to understand the evolution of aging; yet, ectothermic tetrapods are underrepresented in this comparative landscape, despite their suitability for testing evolutionary hypotheses. We present a study of aging rates and longevity across wild tetrapod ectotherms, using data from 107 populations (77 species) of nonavian reptiles and amphibians. We test hypotheses of how thermoregulatory mode, environmental temperature, protective phenotypes, and pace of life history contribute to demographic aging. Controlling for phylogeny and body size, ectotherms display a higher diversity of aging rates compared with endotherms and include phylogenetically widespread evidence of negligible aging. Protective phenotypes and life-history strategies further explain macroevolutionary patterns of aging. Analyzing ectothermic tetrapods in a comparative context enhances our understanding of the evolution of aging.Animal science

Cirrus-induced shortwave radiative effects depending on their optical and physical properties: Case studies using simulations and measurements

Cirrus (Ci) clouds play an important role in the atmospheric radiative balance, and hence in Climate Change. In this work, a polarized Micro-Pulse Lidar (P-MPL), standard NASA/Micro Pulse NETwork (MPLNET) system, deployed at the INTA/El Arenosillo station in Huelva (SW Iberian Peninsula) is used for Ci detection and characterization for the first time at this site. Three days were selected on the basis of the predominantly detected Ci clouds in dependence on their cloud optical depth (COD). Hence, three Ci cloud categories were examined at day-times for comparison with solar radiation issues: 19 cases of sub-visuals (svCi, COD: 0.01–0.03) on 1 October 2016, 7 cases of semitransparents (stCi, COD: 0.03–0.30) on 8 May 2017, and 17 cases of opaques (opCi, COD: 0.3–3.0) on 28 October 2016. Their radiative-relevant optical, macro- and micro-physical properties were retrieved. The mean COD for the svCi, stCi and opCi groups was 0.02 ± 0.01, 0.22 ± 0.08 and 0.93 ± 0.40, respectively; in overall, their lidar ratio ranged between 25 and 35 sr. Ci clouds were detected at 11–13 km height (top boundaries) with geometrical thicknesses of 1.7–2.0 km. Temperatures reported at those altitudes corresponded to lower values than the thermal threshold for homogenous ice formation. Volume linear depolarization ratios of 0.3–0.4 (and normalized backscattering ratios higher than 0.9) also confirmed Ci clouds purely composed of ice particles. Their effective radius was within the interval of 9–15 μm size, and the ice water path ranged from 0.02 (svCi) to 9.9 (opCi) g m. The Cirrus Cloud Radiative Effect (CCRE) was estimated using a Radiative Transfer (RT) model for Ci-free conditions and Ci-mode (Ci presence) scenarios. RT simulations were performed for deriving the CCRE at the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and on surface (SRF), and also the atmospheric CCRE, for the overall shortwave (SW) range and their spectral sub-intervals (UV, VIS and NIR). A good agreement was first obtained for the RT simulations as validated against solar radiation measurements under clean conditions for solar zenith angles less than 75° (differences were mainly within ±20 W m and correlation coefficients close to 1). By considering all the Ci clouds, independently on their COD, the mean SW CCRE values at TOA and SRF were, respectively, −30 ± 26 and − 24 ± 19 W m, being the mean atmospheric CCRE of −7 ± 7 W m; these values are in good agreement with global annual estimates found for Ci clouds. By using linear regression analysis, a Ci-induced enhancing cooling radiative effect was observed as COD increased for all the spectral ranges, with high correlations. In particular, the SW CCRE at TOA and SRF, and the atmospheric CCRE, presented COD-dependent rates of −74 ± 4, −55 ± 5, −19 ± 2 W mτ, respectively. Additionally, increasing negative rates are found from UV to NIR for each Ci category, reflecting a higher cooling NIR contribution w.r.t. UV and VIS ranges to the SW CCRE, and being also more pronounced at the TOA w.r.t. on SRF, as expected. The contribution of the SW CCRE to the net (SW + LW) radiative balance can be also potentially relevant. These results are especially significant for space-borne photometric/radiometric instrumentation and can contribute to validation purposes of the next ESA's EarthCARE mission, whose principal scientific goal is focused on radiation-aerosol-cloud interaction research.With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737

Leakage isolation in water distribution networks: a comparative study of two methodologies on a real case study

Peer Reviewe

Leakage isolation in water distribution networks: a comparative study of two methodologies on a real case study

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version