Articles | Volume 22, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5081-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5081-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
29 Sep 2025
Research article |
| 29 Sep 2025
| 29 Sep 2025
Effect of preceding integrated and organic farming on 15N recovery and the N balance, including emissions of NH3, N2O, and N2 and leaching of NO3−
Fawad Khan
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Samuel Franco Luesma
Department for Environment, Agricultural and Forest Systems, Agri-Food Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA), 50059 Zaragoza, Spain
Frederik Hartmann
Chair of Organic Farming with focus on Sustainable Soil Use, Justus Liebig University, Karl-Glöckner Str. 21C, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Michael Dannenmann
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Rainer Gasche
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Clemens Scheer
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Andreas Gattinger
Chair of Organic Farming with focus on Sustainable Soil Use, Justus Liebig University, Karl-Glöckner Str. 21C, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Wiebke Niether
Chair of Organic Farming with focus on Sustainable Soil Use, Justus Liebig University, Karl-Glöckner Str. 21C, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Ricky Mwangada Mwanake
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Ralf Kiese
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
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Biogeosciences, 22, 4969–4992, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4969-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4969-2025, 2025
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Grasslands shape the landscape in many parts of the world and serve as the main source of fodder for livestock. There is a lack of comprehensive data on grassland yield, although these data are highly valuable for authorities and research. By applying three approaches to estimate grassland yields, namely, a satellite data model, a biogeochemical model and a field measurements approach, we provide annual grassland yield maps for the Ammer region in 2019 and highlight the potentials and limitations of the approaches.
Wolfgang Aumer, Morten Möller, Carolyn-Monika Görres, Christian Eckhardt, Tobias Karl David Weber, Carolina Bilibio, Christian Bruns, Andreas Gattinger, Maria Renate Finckh, and Claudia Kammann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2862, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2862, 2025
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Arable soils emit or absorb greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. This study compared two gas analysis techniques for determining greenhouse gas fluxes under field conditions using the closed chamber method. Fluxes were measured simultaneously using the widely applied gas chromatography (GC) and the emerging mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) technique. Our results showed that LAS is a reliable alternative to GC, particularly for low flux rates.
Samuel Franco-Luesma, María Alonso-Ayuso, Benjamin Wolf, Borja Latorre, and Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes
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Agriculture may play a significant role in climate change mitigation. For this reason, it is necessary to have good estimations of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural activities. In this work, two different chamber systems to determine GHGs were compared. Our results highlighted that automated chamber systems, compared to manual chamber systems, are a powerful tool for quantifying GHG fluxes, allowing us to capture the large temporal variability that characterizes them.
Roxanne Daelman, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Emmanuel Bulonza, Lodewijk Lefevre, José Mbifo, Johan Six, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Benjamin Wolf, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
Biogeosciences, 22, 1529–1542, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1529-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1529-2025, 2025
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The increase in atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gases (GHGs) since 1750 is attributed to human activity. However, natural ecosystems, such as tropical forests, also contribute to GHG budgets. The Congo Basin hosts the second largest tropical forest and is understudied. In this study, measurements of soil GHG exchange were carried out during 16 months in a tropical forest in the Congo Basin. Overall, the soil acted as a major source of CO2 and N2O and a minor sink of CH4.
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We applied a biogeochemical model on grasslands in the pre-Alpine Ammer region in Germany and analyzed the influence of soil and climate on annual yields. In drought affected years, total yields were decreased by 4 %. Overall, yields decrease with rising elevation, but less so in drier and hotter years, whereas soil organic carbon has a positive impact on yields, especially in drier years. Our findings imply, that adapted management in the region allows to mitigate yield losses from drought.
Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Tobias Houska, David Kraus, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Ralf Kiese, Lutz Breuer, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 20, 5029–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, 2023
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Agricultural landscapes act as sinks or sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) CO2, CH4, or N2O. Various physicochemical and biological processes control the fluxes of these GHGs between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Therefore, fluxes depend on environmental conditions such as soil moisture, soil temperature, or soil parameters, which result in large spatial and temporal variations of GHG fluxes. Here, we describe an example of how this variation may be studied and analyzed.
Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Clarissa Glaser, Tobias Houska, Lutz Breuer, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 20, 3395–3422, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3395-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3395-2023, 2023
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Joseph Okello, Marijn Bauters, Hans Verbeeck, Samuel Bodé, John Kasenene, Astrid Françoys, Till Engelhardt, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
Biogeosciences, 20, 719–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-719-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-719-2023, 2023
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The increase in global and regional temperatures has the potential to drive accelerated soil organic carbon losses in tropical forests. We simulated climate warming by translocating intact soil cores from higher to lower elevations. The results revealed increasing temperature sensitivity and decreasing losses of soil organic carbon with increasing elevation. Our results suggest that climate warming may trigger enhanced losses of soil organic carbon from tropical montane forests.
Friedrich Boeing, Oldrich Rakovec, Rohini Kumar, Luis Samaniego, Martin Schrön, Anke Hildebrandt, Corinna Rebmann, Stephan Thober, Sebastian Müller, Steffen Zacharias, Heye Bogena, Katrin Schneider, Ralf Kiese, Sabine Attinger, and Andreas Marx
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5137–5161, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, 2022
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In this paper, we deliver an evaluation of the second generation operational German drought monitor (https://www.ufz.de/duerremonitor) with a state-of-the-art compilation of observed soil moisture data from 40 locations and four different measurement methods in Germany. We show that the expressed stakeholder needs for higher resolution drought information at the one-kilometer scale can be met and that the agreement of simulated and observed soil moisture dynamics can be moderately improved.
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Actual maps of grassland traits could improve local farm management and support environmental assessments. We developed, assessed, and applied models to estimate dry biomass and plant nitrogen (N) concentration in pre-Alpine grasslands with drone-based multispectral data and canopy height information. Our results indicate that machine learning algorithms are able to estimate both parameters but reach a better level of performance for biomass.
Matthias Mauder, Andreas Ibrom, Luise Wanner, Frederik De Roo, Peter Brugger, Ralf Kiese, and Kim Pilegaard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7835–7850, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7835-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7835-2021, 2021
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Turbulent flux measurements suffer from a general systematic underestimation. One reason for this bias is non-local transport by large-scale circulations. A recently developed model for this additional transport of sensible and latent energy is evaluated for three different test sites. Different options on how to apply this correction are presented, and the results are evaluated against independent measurements.
Jaber Rahimi, Expedit Evariste Ago, Augustine Ayantunde, Sina Berger, Jan Bogaert, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Bernard Cappelaere, Jean-Martial Cohard, Jérôme Demarty, Abdoul Aziz Diouf, Ulrike Falk, Edwin Haas, Pierre Hiernaux, David Kraus, Olivier Roupsard, Clemens Scheer, Amit Kumar Srivastava, Torbern Tagesson, and Rüdiger Grote
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West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecosystems are important regions for global carbon exchange, and they provide valuable food and fodder resources. Therefore, we simulated net ecosystem exchange and aboveground biomass of typical ecosystems in this region with an improved process-based biogeochemical model, LandscapeDNDC. Carbon stocks and exchange rates were particularly correlated with the abundance of trees. Grass and crop yields increased under humid climatic conditions.
Lutz Merbold, Charlotte Decock, Werner Eugster, Kathrin Fuchs, Benjamin Wolf, Nina Buchmann, and Lukas Hörtnagl
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Our study investigated the exchange of the three major greenhouse gases (GHGs) over a temperate grassland prior to and after restoration through tillage in central Switzerland. Our results show that irregular management events, such as tillage, have considerable effects on GHG emissions in the year of tillage while leading to enhanced carbon uptake and similar nitrogen losses via nitrous oxide in the years following tillage to those observed prior to tillage.
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Short summary
Crop rotations with legumes and use of organic and mineral fertilizers show potential to reduce agricultural N losses. This study examined N losses, including direct N2 flux, on two adjacent sites with different management histories: organic farming (OF) with legume cultivation and integrated farming (IF) using synthetic and organic N inputs. IF increased soil organic carbon and nitrogen content and 15N recovery and showed a balanced N budget (i.e. more efficient N cycling compared to OF).
Crop rotations with legumes and use of organic and mineral fertilizers show potential to reduce...
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