Carbon–food trade-off; Climate change mitigation; Cropland abandonment; Food security; Yangtze River Basin; Forestry; Geography, Planning and Development; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Abstract :
[en] Cropland abandonment and subsequent recultivation create a pressing trade-off between carbon sequestration and food production. In the fragile, mountainous landscapes of the Yangtze River Basin, how recultivation mediates this trade-off remains poorly understood. This study quantified annual carbon stock and grain yield changes from 2002 to 2020 at both provincial and 10 × 10 km grid scales, using Spearman's correlation coefficient to assess the trade-off. Our analysis revealed that abandoned cropland accrued 182.3 Mt C, only 48.1 % of the potential sequestration under continuous abandonment. Although recultivation curtailed potential carbon gains by 51.9 %, it limited grain production losses to 13.5 Mt. Without recultivation, this deficit would have reached 65.6 Mt. The net effect of recultivation thus improved food security—offsetting a grain deficit sufficient to feed 37.2 million people—yet intensified the trade-off between carbon storage and food production. This trade-off was pervasive across scales, observed in all provinces and in 99 % of grid cells. However, isolated synergies (1 %) emerged in areas with specific terrain features or targeted interventions, such as agroforestry and High-Standard Cropland policies. Our findings demonstrate that while recultivation is critical for mitigating food security risks, it intensifies the trade-off between climate change mitigation and food security. These observations highlight the imperative for developing terrain-specific, site-appropriate strategies to co-optimize climate and food objectives.
Long, Yuqiao ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre ; Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Agriculture (Chengdu Agricultural Remote Sensing Sub-center), Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China ; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China / Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Sun, Jing; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China / Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Colinet, Gilles ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Echanges Eau - Sol - Plantes
Peng, Jian; Technology Innovation Center for Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Utilization, MNR, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
Dong, Xiuchun; Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Agriculture (Chengdu Agricultural Remote Sensing Sub-center), Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China
Wang, Chuya; Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Agriculture (Chengdu Agricultural Remote Sensing Sub-center), Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China
Huang, Ping; Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Agriculture (Chengdu Agricultural Remote Sensing Sub-center), Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, China
Wu, Wenbin; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China / Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Meersmans, Jeroen ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Echanges Eau - Sol - Plantes
Language :
English
Title :
Recultivating abandoned cropland intensifies the trade-off between climate change mitigation and food security within the Yangtze River Basin, China
CAAS - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences NSCF - National Natural Science Foundation of China
Funding text :
This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42271276 ), National Key Research and Development Program of China ( 2022YFD2001105 ), Science and Technology Program of Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences ( 2022ZZCX031 ). The authors acknowledge the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences \u2013 Uli\u00E8ge, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, jointed PhD program.
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