SACC - Sustainable Agriculture & Climate Change Experiment
- Local identifier
- SACC
- Years operational
- 2021—
- Objective
- The SACC experiment aims to assess whether sustainable agricultural practices (no till, cover crops, crop diversity) can buffer climate warming effects on agronomic, ecosystem and soil biodiversity outcomes in a barley-camelina rotation
- Description
- We are running two parallel experiments (1: warming x no till x cover crops and 2: warming x crop diversity) since 2021 in large agricultural plots (10 x 5 m) following a split plot design with 5 blocks. The SACC experiment is located at La Poveda Research Station in Arganda del Rey, at 25 km from our CSIC campus building in downtown Madrid. With the help of an amazing crew of research assistants, our lab is aiming to run this study for 10 years. The SACC experiment is an open research platform for collaborative research. If you want to develop your research idea/project using our facilities or analyze plant/soil samples from this trial, please let us know. We are collecting a database of plot level estimates (microclimate, soil carbon, crop yield, yield stability, nutritional yield, microbial biomass, nematode community, soil enzymes, soil aggregates, etc).
- Data Access Statement
- Available to collaborators only
- Data Access Notes
- We are open to share our data with any researcher willing to pursue a goal that does not overlap with the questions we are testing. We see data access as a mean to scientific collaboration. In due time, we will share ALL our data with the scientific community to increase data reuse and meta-analysis, and to foster scientific transparency.
- Data license
- Don't know
- Data policy
- No
- Organization
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences - CSICresearch organisation
- People
- Dr Pablo García-Palaciosprincipal investigatorInstitute of Agricultural Sciences - CSICDr César Plazaprincipal investigatorInstitute of Agricultural Sciences - CSICDr Juan Carlos García-Gilprincipal investigatorInstitute of Agricultural Sciences - CSICDr Enrique Valenciaprincipal investigatorUniversidad Complutense de MadridDr Jorge Álvaro-Fuentesprincipal investigatorEstación Experimental Aula Dei - CSICAna Camposprincipal investigatorInstitute of Agricultural Sciences - CSIC
Site: SACC - Sustainable Agriculture & Climate Change
- Location
- La Poveda (Arganda del Rey)MadridSpain
- Geographic location
- 40.3167722, -3.4886639
- Elevation
- 536 Metres
- Visits permitted?
- Yes
- Soil type
- Entisol
- Soil description
- The soil is a Xerofluvent with a loam texture
- Soil properties
Variable Depth Value (range) Units Ref year Estimated? Baseline? soil pH 0 – 20 Centimetres 8.54 (8.49 – 8.61) 2021 soil organic carbon 0 – 20 Centimetres 12.61 (12.04 – 13.12) gram per kilogram 2021 soil density 0 – 20 Centimetres 0.992 (0.757 – 1.161) gram per cubic centimetre 2021 electrical conductivity 0 – 20 Centimetres 0.144 (0.136 – 0.149) ds m-1 2021 sand content 0 – 20 Centimetres 26.8 (24.4 – 28.45) Percent 2021 clay content 0 – 20 Centimetres 22.79 (21.2 – 23.18) Percent 2021 silt content 0 – 20 Centimetres 50.39 (48.36 – 52.4) Percent 2021 total soil nitrogen 0 – 20 Centimetres 1.2 (1 – 1.6) gram per kilogram 2021 - Climatic type
- Semiarid
- Climate description
- Mediterranean climate
- Climate properties
Variable Time period Value (range) Units air temperature 2021 – 2021 14.2 ºC precipitation 2021 – 2021 436 mm
Design period: warming x no till x cover crops (2021—2031)
- Design Type
- Split-plot
- Description
- warming x no till x cover crops
- Design description
- It is a split plot design with 5 blocks and three treatments in a full factorial combination, each treatment with two levels (8 treatment combinations). Total sample size = 40
- Number of plots
- 20
- Number of subplots
- 2
- Number of replicates
- 5
- Number of harvests per year
- 1
- Crops
Crop Years grown barley sesame cover crop - Crop Rotation
- barley-sesame 2021—2031
- 1sesamecover crop
- 2barleycover crop
- Factors
- Factor name
- Factor levels
- climate warming Elevated temperature (+2-3ºC air temperature compared to control plots) simulated with open-top chambers vs. control plots at ambient temperature.
warming temperature (2-3 ºC)
2021—2031Applied to crop: All cropsApplication frequency: all yearApplication method: open top chambersAmbient temperature (0 ºC)
2021—2031Applied to crop: All cropsApplication frequency: all year- tillage process Conventional tillage (mouldboard plough at 25 cm depth) vs. direct seeding
conventional tillage (25 cm)
2021—2031Applied to crop: All cropsApplication frequency: once a yearApplication method: mouldboard ploughdirect seeding (0 cm)
2021—2031Applied to crop: All cropsApplication frequency: once a year- cover cropping Cover crops (Raphanus raphanistrum and Vicia faba seeded in late August and terminated in half november, then chopped and left on soil surface) vs. control plots without cover crops
with cover crops
2021—2031Applied to crop: cover cropApplication frequency: once a yearno cover crops
2021—2031Applied to crop: cover cropApplication frequency: once a year
- Measurements
Variable Material Units Frequency Scale Comment soil temperature All crops ºC hourly TOMST sensors soil moisture All crops % hourly TOMST sensors air temperature All crops hourly TOMST sensors air moisture All crops hourly TOMST sensors soil organic carbon All crops g/kg annually soil particulate organic carbon All crops g/kg every two years soil mineral associated organic carbon All crops g/kg every two years Soil FAMEs All crops annually Soil nematodes community All crops annually Soil C-related enzymes All crops annually Soil inorganic N availability All crops annually Soil aggregates stability All crops annually Crop yield All crops annually Crop nutritional yield All crops annually
Related publications
- Website of the Ecosystem Ecology and Agroecology Lab