<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="6.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wesemael, Bas van</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lettens,Suzanna</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Roelandt,Caroline</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Orshoven,Jos Van</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Changes in soil carbon stocks from 1960 to 2000 in the main Belgian cropland areas</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Biotechnol. Agron. Soc. Environ.</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2004</style></year></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">133-139</style></pages><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Inventories of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks for 1960, 1990 and 2000 have 
recently become available for Belgium. From these inventories we selected three 
agricultural regions (Polders, Loam belt and Condroz) with 60 to 80 % of the 
agricultural area under cropland in order to analyse the driving forces of the 
changes in SOC stocks over time. The observed values of SOC stocks of typical 
soil associations for each agricultural region are compared to simulations with 
the RothC soil carbon model. After estimating the local parameters by fitting 
the model to SOC values from a long term experiment in central Belgium, the 
model was run from 1960 to 2000 for typical soil profiles of soil associations 
in the three agricultural regions. The main factors inducing changes in SOC 
stocks are the increase in plough depth as a result of continued mechanisation 
in the 1960’s and the sustained input of organic amendments in the form of farm 
yard manure and slurry. In contrast to earlier publications on CO2 emissions 
from agricultural soils, the model did not predict a decrease in SOC stocks for 
the period 1990–2000. The decrease in animal manure production observed during 
the 1990’s for those regions with a concentration of intensive livestock 
breeding in Flanders suggests that SOC stocks in croplands will continue to 
decrease. This will lead to an emission of 0.41 Mt CO2 per year for the three 
main cropland areas of Belgium in the near future and hence partly offset the 
carbon sequestration potential of improved cropland management (0.95 Mt CO2 per 
year).
</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2</style></issue></record></records></xml>