Climate Change and Managed Ecosystems - Chapter 16 pot

Addressing Knowledge Gaps and Challenges Involving Greenhouse Gases in Agriculture Systems under Climate Change D.. This chapter describes some of the activities that have been undert

Part III

Knowledge Gaps and Challenges

Addressing Knowledge Gaps and Challenges

Involving Greenhouse Gases in Agriculture

Systems under

Climate Change

D Burton and J Sauvé

CONTENTS

16.1 Introduction 320

16.2 The Climate Change Funding Initiative in Agriculture 320

16.3 Biological Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks 321

16.4 The Alberta Greenhouse Gas Science Plan 321

16.4.1 Developing a Science Plan 321

16.4.2 What Is an Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Science Plan? 321

16.4.3 How Was the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Science Plan Developed? 322

16.4.4 What Research Gaps Did the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Science Plan Reveal? 322

16.4.5 Research Gaps That Address High Potential Practices 323

16.4.6 Developing a Strategic Roadmap 324

16.5 Expert Committee on Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration 324

16.6 BIOCAP Canada Foundation 331

16.7 Moving Forward 331

Acknowledgments 331

Reference 332

16.1 INTRODUCTION

Today’s food and agriculture system faces ever-widening challenges as it reacts to market trends, new technologies, and growing regulatory pressures Increasing cli-mate variability adds additional challenges to the management of crops, water, pests, and diseases It is within this context that the agriculture sector in Canada has been asked to develop a strategy for responding to Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocol This chapter describes some of the activities that have been undertaken over the past 5 years to identify gaps in our understanding of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture and their mitigation as well as current research initiatives

to address these gaps

Canada has committed to reduce GHG emissions 6% below 1990 levels in ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002 In its Options Paper, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Table of the National Climate Change Process (www.nccp.ca) identified current knowledge gaps as one of the significant impediments to developing an action plan in response to Kyoto The processes by which research priorities are identified and research initiatives undertaken to address these gaps are often ill defined Several initiatives have been undertaken at both national and regional scales in an attempt to improve the focus of research efforts in this area These initiatives include the Climate Change Funding Initiative in Agriculture, the Biological Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks Program, the Alberta Greenhouse Gas Science Plan, and the activities of the Expert Committee on Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration

16.2 THE CLIMATE CHANGE FUNDING INITIATIVE

IN AGRICULTURE

In February 2000 the federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced funding of $4 million over 4 years from the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development II (CARD II) program for a Climate Change Funding Initiative

in Agriculture (CCFIA) The Canadian Agri-Food Research Council (CARC) was responsible for delivering the CCFIA for the AAFC Environment Bureau, with the following four goals:

1 Increased Canadian human resource research capacity and expertise in climate change issues in agriculture

2 Research on knowledge gaps in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

3 Development of industry best practices and technology to reduce agricul-tural greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration potential

of agricultural soils

4 Enhanced awareness and improved communication on climate change Under this initiative, 15 research projects were funded, involving a total of 45 graduate students (in whole or in part) and two research chairs were supported The research projects funded involved a wide range of institutions and sectors of Canadian agricul-ture and were specifically asked to address the knowledge gaps identified in the Options Paper These included studies examining GHG emissions from swine, dairy, and cattle

production, nitrogen management practices to reduce GHG emissions, and the influ-ence of landscape on GHG emissions and carbon sequestration Final reports from these projects can be found on the CARC Web site (www.carc-crac.ca)

16.3 BIOLOGICAL GREENHOUSE GAS SOURCES

AND SINKS

Under the Science Implementation Plan of the Climate Change Action Plan 2000, Environment Canada (EC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and other federal government departments are collaborating on a program to enhance under-standing of biological GHG sources and sinks (BGSS) AAFC is leading the program

to support collaborative field, laboratory, and modeling studies in agriculture by teams of government and university scientists The program focuses on the support

of graduate students to address the critical need for future scientists to be trained in global climate change research The focus of the research is in four areas:

1 Knowledge-based processes for biological greenhouse gas sources and sinks

2 Measurement and spatial variability of greenhouse gas sources and sinks

3 Modeling of biological greenhouse gas sources and sinks

4 Impact of legume crops on carbon sequestration and N2O emissions Initiated in 2002, the program funds 12 research projects across Canada All are collaborative projects in which graduate students are being jointly supervised by teams of academic and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientists Details

of individual projects can be found on the CARC Web site (www.carc-crac.ca)

16.4 THE ALBERTA GREENHOUSE GAS SCIENCE PLAN

16.4.1 D EVELOPING A S CIENCE P LAN

The need for a science plan was established in March 2000 during an Alberta-wide GHG forum Various researchers from the agricultural and scientific community, as well as government, reached consensus that comprehensive on-farm GHG assess-ments were necessary to definitively determine the source and amount of GHG emissions from individual agricultural operations Knowledge of where and how much GHGs are emitted from agricultural operations is needed before mitigation strategies can be developed

16.4.2 W HAT I S AN A GRICULTURAL G REENHOUSE G AS

S CIENCE P LAN ?

A science plan identifies areas of research that need further scientific study or gaps

in current knowledge A science plan also prioritizes those gaps in order of research importance The objectives of the agricultural GHG science plan were as follows:

• To gather, evaluate, and synthesize GHG emission estimates for various on-farm GHG sinks and sources to determine the mechanisms behind the uptake and release of agricultural GHGs related to different management practices, soil types, and livestock scenarios

• To develop a science plan that will guide researchers and funding agencies

in the establishment of future research priorities

16.4.3 H OW W AS THE A GRICULTURAL G REENHOUSE G AS S CIENCE

P LAN D EVELOPED ?

Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, along with researchers at the University of Alberta, completed a review of prairie-wide agricultural GHG emis-sions in five different management areas: soil and crop management, livestock management, manure management, land use and energy, and whole-farm integra-tion

More than 2600 scientific papers and publications were examined, organized into a bibliographic database, and then summarized into a draft report, titled “Devel-opment of a Farm-Level Greenhouse Gas Assessment: Identification of Knowledge Gaps and Development of a Science Plan,” completed in spring 2003 Following completion of the “State of Knowledge” report on agricultural GHG research, rep-resentatives from the scientific community and government met in June 2003 to identify and prioritize gaps in our knowledge of agricultural GHG emissions From five different management areas, participants generated a list of gaps and then rated each gap to determine:

• How urgently the research is needed in that area

• How great an impact the research would have

The primary goal was to establish which gaps are critical impediments to the development of an on-farm GHG assessment tool to accurately assess GHG emis-sions, which reflect actual conditions found on agricultural operations

16.4.4 W HAT R ESEARCH G APS D ID THE A GRICULTURAL

G REENHOUSE G AS S CIENCE P LAN R EVEAL ?

Graphs were generated from the five management areas to illustrate the relative urgency and potential impact of addressing each of the identified gaps, as perceived

by the participants at the workshop For full report and list of gaps, see “Development

of a Farm-Level Greenhouse Gas Assessment: Identification of Knowledge Gaps and Development of a Science Plan.”1 However, funding agencies requested more detail and suggested a strategic roadmap for GHG research be developed Funding agencies also indicated their desire to focus research funding on current needs and avoid funding research that may simply add to knowledge already gathered through other studies

In June 2004, university researchers, provincial and federal employees, agricul-tural producers, and funding agencies met again at a workshop The approach was

to prioritize management practices for their potential to decrease GHG emissions The list of management practices analyzed was compiled from lists produced by the CCFIA, Alberta Agriculture GHG Technical Team, and Alberta’s Agriculture Policy Framework team Each management practice was then evaluated for the degree of scientific certainty in predicting the amount of GHG emissions from that practice (from very uncertain to very certain) Participants confirmed that “scientific cer-tainty” could be roughly translated into five stages of research (Figure 16.1, Table 16.1, and Table 16.2)

16.4.5 R ESEARCH G APS T HAT A DDRESS H IGH P OTENTIAL

P RACTICES

Using the management practices with the highest potential to decrease GHG emis-sions (Table 16.2), the workshop participants identified research gaps for each management practice The participants were asked to consider how urgent each research gap might be, in comparison with the other research gaps that could be undertaken This group rating resulted in the “urgency rating.”

The “urgency rating” can be interpreted as the approximate time by which the research must be completed (with the assumption that the priority practices should

be adopted within approximately 5 years) To ensure that nothing is missed the items

FIGURE 16.1 Diagrammatic representation of the research cycle and the five stages of

research as described in Table 16.1

1

4

RESEARCH CYCLE

evaluation and new research requirements

The research cycle begins with an initial proposal and ends with adoption of a practice The numbers indicate the level of uncertainty (the lower the number, the greater the uncertainty about the science involved).

conception

principles (why? factors)

technical transfer (verification and demonstration)

application

adaptation

economics

in italics were added by the science team after comparison with the list of ideas

from the first workshop in 2003

16.4.6 D EVELOPING A S TRATEGIC R OADMAP

The information generated at the second workshop (2004) will be used to develop

a strategic roadmap for GHG research The gaps identified for each of the manage-ment practices listed in Table 16.3 will be cross referenced with other research programs such as Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Alberta (IFASA), Alberta Agriculture Research Institute’s Integrated Crop Management Strategy (AARI-ICM), and the BIOCAP Foundation of Canada to avoid duplication Multiple occurrences of an identified priority/gap can be seen to confirm its priority This document should be available from Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Develop-ment (AAFRD) by spring 2005

16.5 EXPERT COMMITTEE ON GREENHOUSE GASES

AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION

The Canadian Agri-Food Research Council (CARC) maintains a series of expert committees to identify research needs in areas of strategic interest to Canadian agriculture One of these committees is the Expert Committee on Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration (ECGHGCS) Through its involvement in the above pro-grams as well as other national and international initiatives, ECGHGCS maintains

a list of research gaps A detailed listing of these research needs is included as part

of their annual report to CARC and is available through CARC A brief overview

TABLE 16.1

Five Stages of Research

Conception Describes and tests the concept or

hypothesis

Stage that predicts “what,” e.g., what GHGs are emitted

Principles Describes the principles or factors as

a basis for predictability

Stage that answers questions about “why” GHGs are emitted

Application Applies the theoretical findings to

actual field situations (measuring actual results in the field)

Stage that addresses the interaction of factors in an applied setting and tests initial assumptions about economic feasibility

Adaptation Describes how the findings can be

adapted to various settings

Stage that adapts the findings to variances such as scale, landscape, farming practices, and climatic variables; identifies barriers to implementation (including economic)

Tech Transfer Supports transfer of the technology

onto the farm

Stage that includes demonstration projects, education, verification of results

TABLE 16.2

Potential Management Practices That Reduce, Remove, or Replace GHG Emissions

Include edible oils feedlot diets Application/Adaptation Analyze feed and formulate rations to feed livestock a balanced diet Adaptation

Select for feed efficiency Adaptation

Use low-disturbance injection or incorporation of manure within

24 hours

Application

Cover liquid and slurry manure storage systems with straw or

synthetic cover

Application

Process liquid or solid manure anaerobically (biodigestors) Application/Adaptation Compost manure Adaptation

Soil test periodically before applying fertilizer to ensure applied

nitrogen meets crop needs

Application

Include perennial crops in rotations Application/Tech Transfer Reduce fallow in rotations Application/Tech Transfer Use reduced tillage or no-till seeding of crop Application/Tech Transfer Reduce fall nitrogen application and apply nutrients in the spring Application/Tech Transfer

Use chemfallow instead of summerfallow and/or reduce fallow in

rotations

Tech Transfer

Distribute animal manure on pastures uniformly by moving water,

shelter, mineral and salt supplements, and temporary fencing

periodically and by managing animal density on pastures

Application

Manage forage utilization through timing and frequency of grazing

using practices such as controlled rotational grazing on permanent

and cropland pasture and controlled grazing on extensively

managed native and naturalized pastures and ranges

Principles/Application

Rejuvenate pasture stands using direct seeding, chemical control,

seed selection, and fertilization

Application/ Adaptation

Prevent overgrazing by using proper stocking rates as dictated by

species, climate, and site-specific soil conditions

Adaptation

Preserve and enhance existing wetlands Principles

Reduce energy consumption by taking advantage of shelterbelts,

solar heating, wind and biogas production

Principles

Convert marginal cropland to pasture, grassland, trees, or wetlands Adaptation

Energy- and water-efficient retrofits and conservation Tech Transfer

TABLE 16.3

Research Gaps for Each Potential Management Practice That Reduces, Removes, or Replaces GHG Emissions

Livestock Practices

Time to Complete Research (years) Evaluation of Western Canadian pasture systems for methane

emission

CO2/N2O flux from different hayland, rangeland, pastures; different agro-

climatic zones

3.2

Include edible oils in feedlot diets

Identify drivers for why we get different emission factors/responses 3.4

Quantify level of CH4 using different sources of fat (canola, sunflower

variety, flax, and tallow)

3.7

Economic aspects of using oils 3.9

Analyze feed and formulate rations to feed livestock a balanced diet

Quantify CH4 change due to differences in diet 2.5

Select for feed efficiency

Measure low and high net feed efficiency effects on CH4 for feeder cattle

(University of Alberta, Lacombe, Cattleland)

2.8

Manure Practices

Time to Complete Research (years) Use low disturbance injection or incorporation of manure within

24 hours

Evaluate nitrous oxide emissions from injected vs surface applied

manure

3.2

Baseline analysis of raw/incorporated manure vs composted/surface

applied manure

3.4

GHG balance of tanker systems vs direct injection with dragline systems 4.7

Cover liquid and slurry manure storage systems with straw or

synthetic cover

Baselines for current liquid manure management systems 2.6

Quantities of methane trapped under cover systems — options for

utilization

3.3

Process liquid or solid manure anaerobically (biodigestors)

Barriers to adoption of digestion technology 2.8

Nitrous oxide emissions reductions upon land application of digested

liquid manure

2.8

Who owns emissions reductions from anaerobic digestion — policy

evaluation

3.0

Compost manure

Catalog current composting research findings to identify gaps in

knowledge

2.0

TABLE 16.3 (continued)

Research Gaps for Each Potential Management Practice That Reduces, Removes, or Replaces GHG Emissions

Compost manure Time to Complete Research (years)

GHG balance of current manure management baselines vs implemented

compost systems

3.0

Improve overall emissions factors for composting systems 3.0

Manure nitrous oxide reductions from composted manure 3.1

Protocol development for different composting methods used on various

farms and farm types

3.5

Effects of additives for compost nutrient stabilization 3.8

Socioeconomic barriers to adoption of composting technologies 4.2

Annual Crop and Soil Practices

Time to Complete Research (years) More research is required on the fundamental biological processes

of N 2 O production and consumption

Biological process identification (de-nitrification and nitrification) 3.3

Quantification of these biological processes 3.7

More fundamental research on C and N cycling in reduced tillage systems

(including forages)

4.0

More research aimed at tightening N cycle and reducing residual N in

the fall

4.1

Soil test periodically before applying fertilizer to ensure applied

nitrogen meets crop needs

Method development 2.2

Soil sampling protocol 2.4

Define role of soil N test in reducing financial risk and risk of nitrous

oxide emission

2.6

Better understanding of soil N test and N2O emissions under reduced

tillage management

2.9

Nutrient use efficiency relating to production, nutrient application and

GHG emissions

2.9

Linkage with biological processes (mineralization, de-nitrification) 3.0

Examine N2O response to fertilizer application for current practices and

varieties

3.5

Impact of soil and crop management systems (e.g., minimum tillage) 3.6

Better understanding of residual mineral N following crop production

and its role in N2O production

3.7

Include perennial crops in rotations

N2O emissions from legume plow down 3.1

Complete N budget for perennial crops 3.2

More fundamental research on C and N cycling for perennial crops 3.7

Need more information documenting the carbon sequestration of this

practice

4.0