Qiuping Peng

Qiuping Peng
  • PhD Candidate
  • Washington State University
  • Crop and Soil Sciences

Advisor: 

David Huggins

Thesis or Dissertation Citation: 

In progress, anticipated completion in 2019.

Research Focus: 

Carbon and Nitrogen dynamic and cycling under different crop rotation systems

Research Abstract: 

Soil is a potential carbon sink to mitigate climate change by counteracting rising levels of atmospheric CO2. The capacity of soils to store and sequester carbon relies on the amount of carbon inputs from plant primary productivity and other organic amendments relative to carbon exports controlled by microbial decomposition and soil erosion processes. Conservation tillage and crop rotation, highly recommended management practices for heterogeneous landscapes, have the potential to improve carbon sequestration in agroecosystems. An investigation is being conducted to evaluate spatiotemporal variability of profile soil carbon stocks as deep as 1.5m across a 37-ha field after conversion from conventional tillage to no-till with crop rotation for 17 years. Important predictors of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics such as soil characteristics and terrain attributes will be identified through random forest regression analysis. SOC stocks estimated from CropSyst, and COMET-farm versus measured SOC will aid corroboration and improvement of models for simulating SOC in heterogeneous landscapes. Furthermore, carbon pool fractions obtained from mineralization incubation studies and SOM functional groups identified from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy will be used to evaluate interactive effects of soil, landscape, tillage and cropping system on SOC quality and sequestration mechanisms.

Biography: 

I was born in Nanyang, China, a city full of history and beautiful scenery. My passion for plants and nature lead me to higher education regarding natural resources management for both of my Bachelor degree (Northwest A&F University) and my Masters degree (Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences). What I observed during my courses field trip in 2012 impressed me so much because it is so difficult to find a clear river without any pollution which caused in most part by the unsustainable development of the crop lands. So I continued my further education here to learn some advances in agriculture management.

Publications and Presentations: 

Peng, Q., Huggins, D., Brown, D., Carpenter-Boggs, L., Stockle, C. Soil Organic Carbon Budget and Turnover Rates Under No-till Cropping Systems in a Heterogeneous Palouse Landscape. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meetings, Nov. 8, 2016, Phenix, AZ (poster).