How reducing synthetic nitrogen in Europe affects ecosystem carbon and biodiversity: two perspectives of the same policy - [Comment la réduction de l'azote synthétique en Europe affecte le carbone et

In this study, we investigate the impacts of a public policy scenario that aims to halve nitrogen (N) fertilizer application across European Union (EU) agriculture on both carbon (C) sequestration and biodiversity changes. We quantify the impacts on ecosystem C and biodiversity by integrating econom...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc
Main Authors Devaraju, N, Prudhomme, Rémi, Lungarska, Anna, Wang, Xuhui, Yin, Zun, Nathalie de Noblet-Decoudré, Chakir, Raja R, Pierre-Alain Jayet, Brunelle, Thierry, Viovy, Nicolas, De Palma, Adriana, Ricardo
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 01.01.2022
Subjects
Agricultural production
Biodiversity
Economic models
Nitrogen
Europe
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Summary:In this study, we investigate the impacts of a public policy scenario that aims to halve nitrogen (N) fertilizer application across European Union (EU) agriculture on both carbon (C) sequestration and biodiversity changes. We quantify the impacts on ecosystem C and biodiversity by integrating economic models (supply-side model AROPAj and partial equilibrium model NLU) with an agricultural land surface model (ORCHIDEE-CROP) and a biodiversity model (PREDICTS). The two economic models simulate contrasting ways of implementing a 50% nitrogen reduction policy: a massive land abandonment with a large reduction in agricultural production (AROPAj); an extensification of crop production with a smaller reduction in agricultural production (NLU). Here, we show that the two economic scenarios lead to different outcomes in terms of C sequestration potential and biodiversity. Land abandonment associated with increased fertilizer price in the supply-side model facilitates higher C sequestration in soils (+1,014 MtC) and similar species richness levels (+1.9%) at the EU scale. On the other hand, more extensive crop production is associated with lower C sequestration potential in soils (-97 MtC) and similar species richness levels (-0.4%) because of a lower area of grazing land. Our results therefore highlight the complexity of the environmental consequences of a nitrogen reduction policy, which will depend fundamentally on how it is implemented.