{Linking an economic model for European agriculture with a mechanistic model to estimate nitrogen and carbon losses from arable soils in Europe}
Publication Type:
Journal ArticleSource:
Biogeosciences, Volume 5, Number 1, p.73–94 (2008)ISBN:
1726-4170URL:
http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/73/2008/Abstract:
A comprehensive assessment of policy impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural soils re- quires careful consideration of both socio-economic aspects and the environmental heterogeneity of the landscape. We developed a modelling framework that links the large-scale economic model for agriculture CAPRI (Common Agricul- tural Policy Regional Impact assessment) with the biogeo- chemistry model DNDC (DeNitrification DeComposition) to simulate GHG fluxes, carbon stock changes and the nitrogen budget of agricultural soils in Europe. The framework allows the ex-ante simulation of agricultural or agri-environmental policy impacts on a wide range of environmental problems such as climate change (GHG emissions), air pollution and groundwater pollution. Those environmental impacts can be analyzed in the context of economic and social indicators as calculated by the economic model. The methodology con- sists of four steps: (i) definition of appropriate calculation units that can be considered as homogeneous in terms of eco- nomic behaviour and environmental response; (ii) downscal- ing of regional agricultural statistics and farm management information from a CAPRI simulation run into the spatial calculation units; (iii) designing environmental model sce- narios and model runs; and finally (iv) aggregating results for interpretation. We show the first results of the nitrogen bud- get in croplands in fourteen countries of the European Union and discuss possibilities to improve the detailed assessment of nitrogen and carbon fluxes from European arable soils.