LEAP Partnership – 1st meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Soil Carbon Stock Changes

1st Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Soil Carbon Stock Changes

LEAP Partnership – 1st meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Soil Carbon Stock ChangesDr Aaron Simmons, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Australia


An initiative to benchmark the environmental performance of

livestock systems using life cycle thinking


Technical Advisory Group on Soil Carbon Stock Changes

ScopeDevelop guidelines for the estimation of changes in soil organic carbon stocks in livestock systems

to support life cycle assessment of livestock systems

PurposeTo achieve the mitigation potential offered by

carbon sequestration in livestock production (and draw a more complete picture of GHG sources

and sinks)


0.4 % increase in global soil organic carbon levels can halt the annual increase in atmospheric CO2


- Rangelands (Grasslands, Savannas, Shrublands, Woodlands, Wetlands and Tundra)- Pastures- Forage and fodder crops- Crop residues

Applicable livestock systems


Key challenges

ScaleSpatial

variability

Data quality

Uncertainty

Minimum detectable

change

Rigour of assessment of livestock

systems


Tiered approach

Tier 1(e.g. IPCC)

Tier 2(e.g. RothC)

Tier3(e.g. DAYCENT)

Most appropriate determined by

Data availability/quality

Resource availability

Expected/observed spatial variability

Minimum detectable change and timeframes

Specific information requirements (e.g. 0 – 30 cm

for international GHG reporting requirements)


Three workstreams

Baselining SOC stocks

Role of modelling in SOC estimations

Estimation of SOC stock changes

Cross-cutting issues

Applicability to scale

Uncertainty and error

Specificity (climate/soil/

production system)

Standarized database of SOC stocks


Workstream 1 - Baselining SOC stocksSources of uncertainty•Sampling/Spatial variability/Depth/Temporal variability

Carbon determination•Laboratory methods/Stock estimation/Equivalent soil mass

Geostatistical analysis

Integration into flow chart to aid implementation


Workstream 2 - Modelling SOC

Decision matrix to guide choice of modelling approach•Scale, purpose, data availability/quality, system

Initialisation process

Validation


Workstream 3 - Estimating SOC stock changes Overlap 1 + 2

Decision tree to guide users•Purpose, resources relevant to baselining, minimum detectable change, spatial variability

Focus on end users•Life cycle assessment practitioners, need to collect additional information (system input/output changes)


Next steps

Workstreams draft text

Face-to-face July 2017

External review

Report submission

Public review and revision

Release of final report

LEAP Partnership – 1st meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Soil Carbon Stock Changes

Education

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