IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i12p3362-d240684.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Soil Gaseous Emissions and Partial C and N Balances of Small-Scale Farmer Fields in a River Oasis of Western Mongolia

Author

Listed:
  • Greta Jordan

    (Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37123 Witzenhausen, Germany)

  • Sven Goenster-Jordan

    (Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37123 Witzenhausen, Germany)

  • Baigal Ulziisuren

    (Biology Department, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Youth Str. 1, Baga toiruu, 210646 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

  • Andreas Buerkert

    (Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics, Universität Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37123 Witzenhausen, Germany)

Abstract

During the last decades, Mongolian river oases were subjected to an expansion of farmland. Such intensification triggers substantial gaseous carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses that may aggravate disequilibria in the soil surface balances of agricultural plots. This study aims to quantify such losses, and assess the implications of these emissions against the background of calculated partial C and N balances. To this end, CO 2 , NH 3 , and N 2 O soil emissions from carrot, hay, and rye plots were measured by a portable dynamic closed chamber system connected to a photoacoustic multi-gas analyzer in six farms of the Mongolian river oasis Bulgan sum center. Average C and N flux rates (1313 g CO 2 -C ha −1 h −1 to 1774 g CO 2 -C ha −1 h −1 ; 2.4 g NH 3 -N ha −1 h −1 to 3.3 g NH 3 -N ha −1 h −1 ; 0.7 g N 2 O-N ha −1 h −1 to 1.1 g N 2 O-N ha −1 h −1 ) and cumulative emissions (3506 kg C ha −1 season −1 to 4514 kg C ha −1 season −1 ; 7.4 kg N ha −1 season −1 to 10.9 kg N ha −1 season −1 ) were relatively low compared to those of other agroecosystems, but represented a substantial pathway of losses (86% of total C inputs; 21% of total N inputs). All C and N balances were negative (−1082 kg C ha −1 season −1 to −1606 kg C ha −1 season −1 ; −27 kg N ha −1 season −1 to −65 kg N ha −1 season −1 ). To reduce these disequilibria, application of external inputs may need to be intensified whereby such amendments should be incorporated into soil to minimize gaseous emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Greta Jordan & Sven Goenster-Jordan & Baigal Ulziisuren & Andreas Buerkert, 2019. "Soil Gaseous Emissions and Partial C and N Balances of Small-Scale Farmer Fields in a River Oasis of Western Mongolia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3362-:d:240684
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3362/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3362/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Munkhnasan Tsvegemed & Alimu Shabier & Eva Schlecht & Greta Jordan & Martin Wiehle, 2018. "Evolution of Rural Livelihood Strategies in a Remote Sino-Mongolian Border Area: A Cross-Country Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-24, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Munkhnasan Tsevegemed & Togtokhbayar Norovsambuu & Greta Jordan & Eva Schlecht, 2019. "Feed Intake of Small Ruminants on Spring and Summer Pastures in the Mongolian Altai Mountains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Brianne A. Altmann & Greta Jordan & Eva Schlecht, 2018. "Participatory Mapping as an Approach to Identify Grazing Pressure in the Altay Mountains, Mongolia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3362-:d:240684. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.