Carbon budgeting in golf course soils of Central Ohio

As global climate change (GCC) becomes an increasing societal concern, scientists are assessing soils' capacity to sequester atmospheric CO2 to off-set anthropogenic emissions. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine C sequestration potential in golf turfgrass systems in Central Ohio, USA, and to determine the effect of management practices on the net soil C sink capacity. Ohio farmland soils converted to golf course turfgrasses sequestered C at mean rates of 3.55 +/- 0.08 Mg/ha/yr in fairways and 2.64 +/- 0.06 Mg/ha/yr in rough areas. Soils in both fairway and rough areas sequestered C to 15 cm depth. However, hidden C costs of golf course development and management were also significant and major C emissions were attributed to diesel fuel combustion (6,557 kg Ce(Carbon Equivalents)/yr), unleaded fuel combustion (3,618 kg Ce/yr), N fertilizer use (1,498 kg Ce/yr), fungicide application (1,377 kg Ce/yr) and irrigation (626 kg Ce/yr), for an overall C emission of 14.15 Mg Ce per course per year (0.30 Mg C/ha/yr). Analysis of sequestration and emissions data showed that a newly constructed golf course has a technical C sequestration capacity of 2,224 Mg C over a 91.4 year period or the equivalent of 0.44 Mg C/ha/yr. However, the large C emissions generated by maintenance practices render courses from sinks to sources within 30 years. To maximize the potential environmental benefits of turfgrass systems while increasing the economic efficiency of each site, management practices with low C-intensity should be utilized.