Kristiina Lång

• PhD
• Professor at Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Background To align with climate goals, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture must be reduced significantly. Cultivated peatlands are an important source of such emissions. One proposed measure is to convert arable fields on peatlands to grassland, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default emission factors (EF) for o...

Raising the water table is an effective way to abate greenhouse gas emissions from cultivated peat soils. We experimented a gradual water table rise at a highly degraded agricultural peat soil site with plots of willow, forage and mixed vegetation (set-aside) in southern Finland. We measured the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and...

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from drained peatlands in the European Union (EU) significantly contribute to the total EU anthropogenic GHG emissions (6%). The lack of high-resolution spatial data in national monitoring systems hampers effective mitigation planning. We present detailed maps of land use, GHG emissions, and emission hotspots for EU p...

Optimizing the level of groundwater presents a viable strategy for mitigating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the cultivation of peatlands. This study investigated the impact of soil hydrological conditions on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions. The CO 2 and CH 4 emissions from bare soil were continuously measur...

Introduction Rewetting is an option to decrease greenhouse gas emissions of drained peatlands. With continued cultivation of wetland plants (paludiculture), it is possible to provide renewable raw materials. In Finland, peat has been used as a growing media and animal bedding. Since peat availability is decreasing, new materials are needed. Method...

We experimented a gradual water table rise at a highly degraded agricultural peat soil site with plots of willow, forage and mixed vegetation (set-aside) in southern Finland. We measured the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) for four years. The mean annual ground water table depth was about 80, 40, 40 and 30 c...

In this study, we examine how to enhance the climate integrity of carbon credits from carbon farming practices. The key requirements for climate integrity include permanence, additionality, and measurement and verification. Farmers are typically willing to make carbon contracts for a finite time only in voluntary markets or with the government and...

Diversification of agricultural practices, including changes in crop rotation, intercropping or cover cropping, influence the soil microbiome. Here the impact of tillage and crop diversification on the soil microbiome is reported, being one of the few boreal studies. The field experiment consisted of four treatments with four replications all havin...

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of spring cereal monoculture under long-term conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) treatment established in 2018 were measured in a peatland in Southwestern Finland during the period 2018–2021. Nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes were measured with chambers approximately every t...

Introduction Diet has a significant impact on the consumer’s climate impact, and a radical global change in the food system is necessary. However, the change needs to be interpreted and adapted to local conditions. Methods To support national climate policy, we evaluated current Finnish diet and its four alternatives: “current diet”; “meat to half...

Background Cultivated peatlands are widespread in temperate and boreal climate zones. For example, in Europe about 15% of the pristine peatland area have been lost through drainage for agricultural use. When drained, these organic soils are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To reach climate goals, the agricultural sector must...

Greenhouse gas emissions of a spring cereal monoculture under conventional tillage and no-till treatments were measured in a peatland in Southwestern Finland for three years in 2018–2021. Nitrous oxide (N 2 O), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) fluxes were measured with an opaque chamber technique approximately biweekly throughout the year...

Peatlands are unique and rare ecosystems that, despite covering only around 3-4% of the planet’s land surface, contain up to one-third of the world’s soil carbon, which is twice the amount found in the entire Earth’s forest biomass. Keeping this carbon locked away is absolutely critical for achieving global climate goals. However, about 12% of curr...

According to the Paris Agreement, global warming is to be limited to well below 2 degrees. The largely prevailing emission reduction approach has been to improve ecological efficiency in production. Despite remarkable improvements, total emissions have not decreased but resulted in a multitude of rebound effects. Ecological sufficiency has been bro...

Offsetting nation-wide CO2 emissions by carbon sinks from land use change (LUC), e.g. agricultural fields extensification and afforestation, is considered as a major climate change mitigation option. We evaluated the LUC potential for reducing emissions and creating annual soil and ecosystem carbon sinks in Finland. We used agricultural statistics,...

Climate policies encourage the search for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation options in all economic sectors and peatland rewetting is one of the most efficient mitigation measures in agriculture and land use. The benefits shown in the national GHG inventories, however, depend not only on the actual mitigation actions on the ground but also how well t...

We compared soil physical, chemical and biological properties, erosion rate and carbon allocation to soil physical fractions between conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) management at a clay soil site under spring cereal monoculture in southwestern Finland. Subsurface drain discharge, surface runoff and soil erosion were continuously monitore...

We assessed the soil carbon sequestration potential of various organic amendments of agricultural, municipal and industrial origin and the applicability of a soil carbon model to simulate it. The chemical composition of a large number of plant residues, manures, composts, digestates and biochars was determined and selected materials were incubated...

We compared wheat yield, losses of nitrogen (N) in leaching, and gaseous losses as nitrous oxide (N2O) in silt and sand soil lysimeters. The studied cultivation systems were based on mineral fertilizer or mineral fertilizer together with clover green manure mulched at three different time points (August, October or May) before sowing of the main cr...

We explored how consumers value the ecological and socio-cultural benefits of diversified food production systems in Finland. We used a stated preference method and contingent valuation to quantify consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the benefits of increased farm and regional scale diversity of cultivation practices and crop rotations. Three v...

Cultivated peatlands under drainage practices contribute significant carbon losses from agricultural sector in the Nordic countries. In this research, we developed the BASGRA-BGC model coupled with hydrological, soil carbon decomposition and methane modules to simulate the dynamic of water table level (WTL), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) e...

Supplementary material

The land use sector offers government the means to contribute to the achievement of climate change mitigation targets. The aim of this study was to identify the most important policy instruments for supporting climate change mitigation efforts in the land-use sector in Finland and increase understanding on the performance of these instruments. This...

Besides causing acidification, acid sulfate (AS) soils contain large nitrogen (N) stocks and are a potential source of N loading to waters and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. We quantified the stocks and flows of N, including crop yields, N leaching, and N2O emissions, in a cultivated AS soil in western Finland. We also investigated whether controll...

High expectations to harness agricultural soils as sinks for atmospheric carbon (C) necessitate methods for verifying changes in soil organic C (SOC) stocks and improving the accuracy of regional SOC stock estimates specific to various land‐use and management types. In this study we used a sample set included in the Finnish national soil monitoring...

Increasing demand of fossil-free fuels in the transport sector drives towards using new biomass sources in fuel production. Municipal waste as a substrate is used in many countries in biomethane production, but the amount of waste can cover only a small portion of the fuel used. In Europe, the new renewable energy directive (RED II) was established...

Viimeisimmän (2014–2020) maaseudun kehittämisohjelman ympäristötavoitteiksi on määritelty vesistöjen tilan ja maaperän kasvukunnon paraneminen, luonnon monimuotoisuuden lisääntyminen sekä ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnän ja siihen sopeutumisen tehostuminen. Näitä tavoitteita pyritään edistämään paitsi maaseudun kehittämisohjelmaan kuuluvan ympäristökorv...

In the European Union, various crop diversification systems such as crop rotation, intercropping and multiple cropping, as well as low-input management practices, have been promoted to sustain crop productivity while maintaining environmental quality and ecosystem services. We conducted a data analysis to identify the benefits of crop associations,...

In the last few decades, various crop diversification strategies and management practices have been promoted to improve or at least maintain environmental quality and agroecosystem services. We conducted a data-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of alternatives for crop diversification and environmentally friendly farming management for arable...

Methods to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and removals in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Sector can be divided into two broad categories: 1) methods that can be applied in a similar way for any of the types of land use (i.e., generic methods for Forest Land, Cropland, Grassland, Wetlands, Settlements and Other Land); and 2)...

https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2019rf/index.html

We conducted a data-analysis to evaluate the expected effects of the existing alternatives for crop diversification and environmentally-sound farming management for arable crops in four selected European pedoclimatic regions (Atlantic, Boreal and Mediterranean North and South), and typical cropping systems (fodder grains, leys and mixtures, autumn-...

Adoption of no-till management on croplands has become a controversial approach for storing carbon in soil due to conflicting findings. Yet, no-till is still promoted as a management practice to stabilize the global climate system from additional change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, including the 4 per mille initiative promoted thr...

By processing large quantities of crop residues, earthworms enhance the mineralization of organic matter but have also been shown to stabilize soil organic carbon (SOC) into soil fractions like microaggregates (53–250 μm) within macroaggregates (>250 μm) especially in no-till soils. Our objective was to find direct evidence on the impact of an anec...

Cultivated organic soils can be a major source of GHG emissions in countries with high coverage of peat soils. Targeting mitigation measures based on mapping of cultivated organic soils would reduce these emissions and increase sustainability of agriculture. Different georeferenced datasets were combined to study the area trend and describe current...

Finland is a northern country with cool and humid climate. This has implications for the greenhouse gas balance of cultivated soils. Utilizing organic soils for food production is unavoidable in a country with high coverage of peat soils. As the greenhouse gas emissions per hectare are several folds on organic soils compared to mineral soils, organ...

Maatalouden tuottamat kasvihuonekaasupäästöt raportoidaan YK:n Ilmastosopimuksen ja Kioton pöytäkirjan mukaisesti osana Suomen kokonaispäästöjä. Hallitustenvälisen ilmastonmuutospaneelin (IPCC) ohjeiden mukainen päästölaskenta on rakennettu niin, että maankäyttöä, maataloutta ja tilojen energiankäyttöä tarkastellaan erillään toisistaan. Yhteensä ka...

In managed northern peatlands the high nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes appear when carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) ranges between 15 and 30. However, within this narrow C/N range, which is considered "the optimum range" for high N2O production and emissions, N2O fluxes vary greatly. The aim of the study was to identify factors explaining high variability...

Kestävä energia- ja ilmastopolitiikka ja uusiutuvien rooli Suomessa (KEIJU) – tutkimushankkeessa on tarkasteltu laaja-alaisesti kansallisen energia- ja ilmastopolitiikan kokonaisuutta. Tässä raportissa on esitetty marraskuussa 2016 julkaistun Energia- ja ilmastostrategian vaikutusarvioiden tulokset. Keskeinen johtopäätös on, että esitetyillä linjau...

Research networks provide a framework for review, synthesis and systematic testing of theories by multiple scientists across international borders critical for addressing global-scale issues. In 2012, a GHG research network referred to as MAGGnet (Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Network) was established within the Croplands Research Group of...

Research networks provide a framework for review, synthesis and systematic testing of theories by multiple scientists across international borders critical for addressing global-scale issues. In 2012, a GHG research network referred to as MAGGnet (Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Network) was established within the Croplands Research Group of...

Research networks provide a framework for review, synthesis and systematic testing of theories by multiple scientists across international borders critical for addressing global-scale issues. In 2012, a GHG research network referred to as MAGGnet (Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Network) was established within the Croplands Research Group of...

Research networks provide a framework for review, synthesis and systematic testing of theories by multiple scientists across international borders critical for addressing global-scale issues. In 2012, a GHG research network referred to as MAGGnet (Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Network) was established within the Croplands Research Group of...

This study presents a method for estimating the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes in mineral agricultural soils developed for the Finnish GHG inventory. SOC stock changes in mineral cropland and grassland soils from 1990 to 2013 were calculated by combining agricultural statistics and national conversion factors to estimate the organic inputs...

Maatalouden tuottamat kasvihuonekaasupäästöt raportoidaan YK:n Ilmastosopimuksen ja Kioton pöytäkirjan mukaisesti osana Suomen kokonaispäästöjä. Yhteensä kaikki maatalousperäiset päästöt ovat noin 20 % Suomen kokonaispäästöistä. Hallitustenvälisen ilmastonmuutospaneelin IPCC:n ohjeiden mukainen päästölaskenta on rakennettu niin, että metsätaloutta,...

Soil organic matter and soil aggregate stability are good indicators of soil quality and both can be positively affected by reduced tillage and residue management practices. A field study was conducted to find the impacts of tillage and residue management practices on soil carbon stock and distribution of SOC within different soil physical fraction...

We studied the effect of the deep-burrowing earth-worm Lumbricus terrestris on the greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and global warming potential (GWP) of arable no-till soil using both field measurements and a controlled 15-week laboratory experiment. In the field, the emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) were on average 43 and 3...

We studied the effect of the deep-burrowing earthworm Lumbricus terrestris on the greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and global warming potential (GWP) of arable no-till soil using both field measurements and a controlled 15 week laboratory experiment. In the field, the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were on average 43 and 32% h...

As soon as peat soil is drained for agricultural production, the peat starts to degrade, which causes emissions to the atmosphere. In countries with large peatland areas, the GHG mitigation potential related to management of these soils is often estimated as the highest amongst the measures available in agriculture. Although the facts are well know...

Organic soils are a main source of direct emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), an important greenhouse gas (GHG). Observed N2O emissions from organic soils are highly variable in space and time, which causes high uncertainties in national emission inventories. Those uncertainties could be reduced when relating the upscaling process to a priori-identif...

Organic soils are a main source of direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, an important greenhouse gas (GHG). Observed N2O emissions from organic soils are highly variable in space and time which causes high uncertainties in national emission inventories. Those uncertainties could be reduced when relating the upscaling process to a priori identified...

Cultivated organic soils are a remarkable source of greenhouse gases (GHG) in many countries. Keeping the ground water table as high as possible could lower the mineralization rate of the peat and thus the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from these soils. We studied the effect of raised water table on the emissions of N2O,...

The collapse of Soviet Union in early 1990s led to abandonment of large area of arable land which is assumed to act as a carbon (C) sink. We studied the ability of two dynamic soil C models (Yasso07 and RothC) to predict changes in soil C content after cropland abandonment. The performance of the models was compared using the results of a long-term...

Earthworm interaction with soil processes, including aggregation, decomposition of residues and aeration, has made earthworms a topic of interest when developing sustainable agroecosystems. Earthworms increase the mineralization of N and enhance the incorporation of soil organic carbon (SOC) from residues to casts therefore possibly improving the s...

Soil organic matter not only affects soil properties and productivity but also has an essential role in global carbon (C) cycle. We studied changes in the topsoil C content of Finnish croplands using a dataset produced in nationwide soil monitoring. The monitoring network consisting of fields on both mineral and organic soils was established in 197...

This study compiles data of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from 13 fields on mineral soils in Finland with differing soil type, crop and management. Measurements using the chamber technique were conducted for periods of 1–3 years on each field in 2000–2009. The annual emissions varied between 0.12 and 12 kg N2O-N ha−1 yr−1 and the emission rates wer...

Agricultural management practices can have a significant effect on the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils. The aim of this 2-year study was to investigate the effects of no-till (NT) and reduced tillage (RT) practices on annual fluxes of N2O from different soil types typical for the boreal region of northern Europe. We measured the fluxes...

No-till (NT) and reduced tillage (RT) treatments can potentially enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization and soil aggregation. The turnover rate of SOC is affected by soil aggregate stability and the distribution of SOC across different aggregate-associated soil fractions. Carbon turnover rate slows down when soil aggregation increases and...

Modern agriculture puts stresses to the soil resource. Mechanization of field operations is developed with a full focus on economic profitability. This means that the farmers’ attention to soil quality decreases. To solve sustainability problems in modern agriculture, science has to take new approaches in interacting with the society. The term ‘res...

Rannikkoalueidemme sulfidipitoiset maat ovat muinaiseen Itämereen kerrostuneita sedimenttejä. Meren pohjan hapettomiin oloihin vajonneesta kasvijätteestä ja meriveden sulfaatista syntyi bakteeritoiminnan ansiosta rikkiyhdisteitä, joista on muodostunut sulfidisavikerrostumia. Jos sulfidikerrostuma hapettuu, syntyy rikkihappoa, joka happamoittaa sekä...

Land use changes like afforestation and deforestation are known to affect stocks of carbon in soils. We measured changes in soil carbon stocks in afforested and deforested sites. Repeated measurements were made at six sites which had been afforested with three different tree species 17–18years before this sampling. The deforestation sites consisted...

Fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) were measured on a drained and forested peatland in 1992-1995. Net mineralization and nitrification were studied in situ in 1993-1994. Nitrogen additions in 1992 as KNO3, NH4Cl, or urea (100 kg N ·ha-1) were used to study the fate and transformations of N in peat. The mean N2O emissions during the...

Biochar addition to agricultural soil has been suggested to mitigate climate change through increased biogenic carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We measured the fluxes of N2O, CO2, and CH4 after adding 9tha−1 biochar on an agricultural soil in Southern Finland in May 2009. We conducted these measurements twice a week for 1.5...

Consideration of the environmental effects of the no-tillage practice should be made on the basis of its effects on both carbon and nitrogen cycles. There is a lack of data on the effects of the no-till management in the cool and humid climate and typical soil types of Northern Europe. We measured the fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (...

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

Emission scenarios based on integrated quantitative modelling are a valuable tool in planning strategies for greenhouse gas mitigation. By estimating the potential of individual mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, resources can be targeted to the most promising policy measures. This paper reports two agricultural emission scenar...

This report presents the calculation model for gaseous agricultural nitrogen emissions (ammonia, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide). The model was constructed to better reflect the development of these emissions in Finland and to integrate the greenhouse gas and air pollutant inventories for nitrogen emissions. It also enables reporting on emissions at t...

Mädätyksen vaikutus lietelannan lannoitusarvoon on keskeinen kriteeri harkittaessa maatalouden biokaasutuotannon tukemista. Sen on väitetty parantavan merkittävästi lannan ravinteiden käyttökelpoisuutta ja hygieniaa korjattavan rehun laadun kannalta. Väitteiden todenperäisyyden selvittämiseksi perustettiin 2-vuotinen kenttäkoe timotei-nurminata –nu...

We measured the carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange with the eddy covariance (EC) method through three winters above a cultivated peat soil. During the first winter, the soil was ploughed, while for the next two winters it was grass-covered. On a weekly timescale, the emission was controlled by the soil temperature, whereas the vegetation had no clear im...

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol under it, industrial countries have to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions annually, and assess the uncertainties in these estimates. In Finland, agricultural methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions represent 7% of anthropogenic greenhouse...

Methane (CH4) oxidation in soils is the only known biological sink of CH4. The sink strength of agricultural soils is known to be affected by soil properties and agricultural practices. We studied fluxes of CH4 in southern and northern Finland in arable soils with different texture and crops. The annual fluxes ranged from uptake of −1.2 kg CH4 ha−1...

Open-top chambers (OTCs) were used to evaluate the effects of moderately elevated O3 (40-50 ppb) and CO2 (+100 ppm) and their combination on N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes from ground-planted meadow mesocosms. Bimonthly measurements in 2002-2004 showed that the daily fluxes of N2O, CH4 and CO2 reacted mainly to elevated O3, while the fluxes of CO2 also re...

Peat-based emissions are reported under three different reporting sectors in Finland's national greenhouse gas inventory: Agriculture, Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) and Energy. Peat-based emissions comprise together around one third of the total reported net greenhouse gas emissions in Finland when also sinks and emissions from LU...

Methods to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and removals in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Sector can be divided into two broad categories: 1) methods that can be applied in a similar way for any of the types of land use (i.e., generic methods for Forest Land, Cropland, Grassland, Wetlands, Settlements and Other Land); and 2)...

The application of livestock manure and mineral fertilisers is an important source of greenhouse gases in agriculture. Currently there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of different application techniques on nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) fluxes from agricultural soils. In this study, the effects of different application techniques on...

Organic farming is considered to be environmentally beneficial partly due to the ban on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, but there are few studies including direct measurements on the environmental impact of organic farming compared with the conventional system. In this study, greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen leaching were compared in thr...