title: Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration.
abstract: Abandonment of agricultural land leads to several consequences for ecosystem functions. Agricultural abandonment may be a significant and low cost strategy for carbon sequestration and mitigation of anthropogenic CO2emissions due to the vegetation recovery and increase in soil organic matter. The aim of this study was to: (i) estimate the influence of different Soil Regions (areas characterized by a typical climate and parent material association) and Bioclimates (zones with homogeneous climatic regions and thermotype indices) on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics after agricultural land abandonment; and (ii) to analyse the efficiency of the agri-environment policy (agri-environment measures) suggested by the European Commission in relation to potential SOC stock ability in the Sicilian Region (Italy). In order to quantify the effects of agricultural abandonment on SOC, a dataset with original data that was sampled in Sicily and existing data from the literature were analysed according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) methodology. Results showed that abandonment of cropland soils increased SOC stock by 9.03MgCha-1on average, ranging from 5.4MgCha-1to 26.7MgCha-1in relation to the Soil Region and Bioclimate. The estimation of SOC change after agricultural use permitted calculation of the payments for ecosystem service (PES) of C sequestration after agricultural land abandonment in relation to environmental benefits, increasing in this way the efficiency of PES. Considering the 14,337ha of abandoned lands in Sicily, the CO2emission as a whole was reduced by 887,745Mg CO2. Therefore, it could be concluded that abandoned agricultural fields represents a valid opportunity to mitigate agriculture sector emissions in Sicily.
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: agata.novara@unipa.it.
authors: Agata
authors: A
authors: Novara
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors: Luciano
authors: L
authors: Gristina
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors: Giovanna
authors: G
authors: Sala
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors: Antonino
authors: A
authors: Galati
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Crescimanno
authors: Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors: Artemi
authors: A
authors: Cerdà
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors: Emilio
authors: E
authors: Badalamenti
authors: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Science, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 4, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors: Tommaso
authors: T
authors: La Mantia
keywords: Ecosystem service payment; Land use change; Semiarid environment; Soil organic carbon