HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Shrestha, R. K. Articles by Penrose, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Shrestha, R. K. Articles by Penrose, C. Agricola Articles by Shrestha, R. K. Articles by Penrose, C. Related Collections Ecosystem Restoration Global Change Plant and Environment Interactions

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming Potential of Reclaimed Forest and Grassland Soils

^a School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH 43210
^b Professor and Extension Educator, Agriculture, and Natural Resources and 4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH 43210

^* Corresponding author (shrestha.10{at}osu.edu).

Received for publication June 19, 2008. Although greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils are important, reclaimed mine soil (RMS) ecosystems are not widely assessed. Postreclamation land uses (forest, hay, and pasture) were investigated to: (i) monitor the magnitude of GHG fluxes, (ii) estimate their global warming potential (GWP), (iii) identify the relationship between GHG fluxes and soil properties, and (iv) develop a soil quality index by principal component analysis (PCA). The GHG fluxes were measured for 1 yr cycle and simultaneous measurements were also made for soil moisture and temperature. The RMS-forest, -hay, and -pasture land uses had weighted average fluxes of 1.16, 1.66, and 3.06 g CO₂–C m^–2 d^–1; 0.33, 0.48 and 1.1 mg CH₄–C m^–2 d^–1; and 0.33, 0.70, and 1.06 mg N₂O-N m^–2 d^–1, respectively. The CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O fluxes were consistently high in the RMS-pasture and low in the RMS-forest. The GWP (CO₂–C equivalent) of the postreclamation land uses was in the order of RMS-forest (4.5 Mg ha^–1 yr^–1) = RMS-hay (6.8 Mg ha^–1 yr^–1) < RMS-pasture (12.3 Mg ha^–1 yr^–1). The PCA showed that four PCs with eigenvalues > 1 explained 88.8% of the total variance in the soil properties. The first PC is mostly characterized by soil physical properties and the second by chemical properties. Soil and air temperatures were positively correlated with CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O fluxes. The results suggest that GWP from RMS can be minimized by establishing forest land use.

Abbreviations: FID, flame ionization detector • GHG, greenhouse gas • GWP, global warming potential • PCA, principal component analysis • PVC, polyvinyl chloride • RMS, reclaimed mine soil • SOM, soil organic matter