title: Low-carbon agriculture in South America to mitigate global climate change and advance food security.
abstract: The worldwide historical carbon (C) losses due to Land Use and Land-Use Change between 1870 and 2014 are estimated at 148 Pg C (1 Pg=1billionton). South America is chosen for this study because its soils contain 10.3% (160 Pg C to 1-m depth) of the soil organic carbon stock of the world soils, it is home to 5.7% (0.419 billion people) of the world population, and accounts for 8.6% of the world food (491milliontons) and 21.0% of meat production (355milliontons of cattle and buffalo). The annual C emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in South America represent only 2.5% (0.25 Pg C) of the total global emissions (9.8 Pg C). However, South America contributes 31.3% (0.34 Pg C) of global annual greenhouse gas emissions (1.1 Pg C) through Land Use and Land Use Change. The potential of South America as a terrestrial C sink for mitigating climate change with adoption of Low-Carbon Agriculture (LCA) strategies based on scenario analysis method is 8.24 Pg C between 2016 and 2050. The annual C offset for 2016 to 2020, 2021 to 2035, and 2036 to 2050 is estimated at 0.08, 0.25, and 0.28 Pg C, respectively, equivalent to offsetting 7.5, 22.2 and 25.2% of the global annual greenhouse gas emissions by Land Use and Land Use Change for each period. Emission offset for LCA activities is estimated at 31.0% by restoration of degraded pasturelands, 25.6% by integrated crop-livestock-forestry-systems, 24.3% by no-till cropping systems, 12.8% by planted commercial forest and forestation, 4.2% by biological N fixation and 2.0% by recycling the industrial organic wastes. The ecosystem carbon payback time for historical C losses from South America through LCA strategies may be 56 to 188years, and the adoption of LCA can also increase food and meat production by 615Mton or 17.6Mtonyear-1and 56Mton or 1.6Mtonyear-1, respectively, between 2016 and 2050.
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, State University of Ponta Grossa, Av. Carlos Cavalcanti 4748, Campus de Uvaranas, 84030-900 Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil. Electronic address: jcmsa@uepg.br.
authors.forename: João Carlos de Moraes
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sá
authors.affiliation: School of Environment and Natural Resources and Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, The Ohio State University, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Rattan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.affiliation: State University of São Paulo, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Av. Centenário 303, 13416-970, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Clemente
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Cerri
authors.affiliation: School of Environment and Natural Resources and Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, The Ohio State University, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.affiliation: Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - EMBRAPA Soybean, Rodovia Carlos João Strass, Distrito de Warta Caixa Postal: 231, 86001-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hungria
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Department of Forage Plants and Agrometeorology, Porto Alegre, 91540-000, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Cesar
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: de Faccio Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D002417:Cattle; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005502:Food; D005523:Food Supply; D065928:Forests; D058751:Livestock; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D012987:Soil; D013020:South America
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Best agricultural management practices; C-offset; Greenhouse gas; Land use and land use change