Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Low Carbon and GHGs Mitigation (JKLLC-GHGM) was approved by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education in 2010, which was combined from Soil Biogeochemistry Lab, Soil-Atmosphere GHGs Exchange Lab and Soil Ecology Lab at Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU). The key laboratory is affiliated with the national key discipline of Agricultural Resources and Environment at NAU. Research team comprises 12 professors, 10 associate professors and 5 staff and technicians, as well as over 50 graduate students.
Atmospheric Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are most potent long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to global warming. Increasing concentrations of CO2, CH4and N2O since pre-industrial revolution have led to a combined radiative forcing of 2.30 W m-2, consisting of 1.66 W m-2by CO2, 0.48 W m-2by CH4, and 0.16 W m-2by N2O. Agriculture accounted for an estimated emission of 5.1-6.1 Pg CO2-equivalents yr-1, contributing 10–12% to the total global anthropogenic emissions of GHGs. While agriculture releases significant amount of CH4and N2O to the atmosphere, the net emission of CO2equivalents from farming activities can potentially be decreased by changing agricultural management to increase soil organic matter content and/or decrease CH4and N2O emissions. The global technical mitigation potential from agriculture (excluding fossil fuel offsets from biomass) is estimated to be approximately 5.5–6.0 Pg CO2-equivalents yr-1by 2030.
In order to meet the scientific and national strategic demands, theJKLLC-GHGMattempts to gain an insight into the impact, mitigation and adaptation of agriculture to climate change.In particular,theJKLLC-GHGM aims at understanding soil carbon and nitrogen processes and GHGs emission in typical agroecosystems in China. Currently, the research interests of JKLLC-GHGM primarily focus on the following issues:
lSoil C/N cycling process and agricultural GHGs flux measurement
lNational inventory of agricultural GHGs and their mitigation potential
lImpacts of climate change on cropping system and its adaptation (T-FACE field platform)
lAgricultural bio-material recycling and low carbon agriculture approaches
Director: Dr. Jianwen Zou
Chair of academic committee: Dr. Zhaoliang Zhu
