Land use change, biofuels and impacts on soil carbon dynamics in the La Plata Basin

This report examines the environmental impacts of land use change (LUC) in the La Plata Basin, with a specific focus on the Brazilian Cerrado. It analyzes how the expansion of international commodities, forestry, cattle ranching, and biofuel crops—particularly sugarcane—affects soil carbon stocks and overall soil quality. The document highlights the role of agricultural technology in enabling this expansion and evaluates different management practices, such as no-tillage and the elimination of pre-harvest burning, to mitigate carbon loss and soil degradation.

• The La Plata river basin (LPB) has experienced accelerated land use change over the last 40 years, driven by the expansion of commodities including soybeans, maize, wheat, sunflower, sugarcane, and forestry. These activities are responsible for over 70% of the Gross National Products of the countries within the basin.
• Agricultural expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado has led to significant soil degradation, including the depletion of soil organic matter, reduction of carbon stocks, soil compaction, reduced water holding capacity, erosion, desertification, and biological degradation.
• Soybean production in the Cerrados saw massive growth between 1980 and 2006, with the total area increasing by 935.29% and total yield increasing by 1,459.64%. This growth was facilitated by scientific developments from Embrapa that corrected soil acidity and low fertility.
• Conversion of native Cerrado vegetation to agricultural systems generally reduces soil carbon stocks. For example, in latosols, average carbon stocks were 43.8 tonnes C/ha for native vegetation, 40.6 for pasture, and 34.2 for agriculture. Another estimate suggests 30 years of cropping reduced stocks from 99 Mg of carbon per hectare to 69 Mg ha-1.
• No-tillage systems are identified as an effective method for accumulating and stabilizing soil organic matter and carbon stocks compared to conventional tillage. Meta-analysis shows average SCS values of 75.08 ± 2.36 Mg ha-1 for no-tillage versus 54.18 ± 3.94 Mg ha-1 for conventional tillage.
• The expansion of sugarcane for biofuels in the Cerrados, particularly in Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás, impacts soil carbon and nitrogen. Pre-harvest burning of sugarcane fields leads to higher soil carbon stock losses, while fields without burning for 14 years showed a carbon stock increase of 13 MgC ha-1.
• The removal of sugarcane crop residues (straw) for energy generation reduces the stability of arbuscular mycorrhizal associations in the rhizosphere, which may negatively affect soil aggregation, water retention, and carbon stabilization.
• Afforestation with Eucalyptus in the Cerrados often results in low re-establishment of soil carbon stocks due to slow leaf decomposition and the removal of original vegetation. Carbon losses in sandy soils can reach 17% of original stocks after conversion.

APA

Coutinho, H. L. C., & Balieiro, F. (n.d.). Land use change, biofuels and impacts on soil carbon dynamics in the La Plata Basin. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_report_IDRC_Coutinho.pdf

Chicago

Coutinho, Heitor L. C., and Fabiano Balieiro. Land use change, biofuels and impacts on soil carbon dynamics in the La Plata Basin. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_report_IDRC_Coutinho.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Coutinho |first1=Heitor L. C. |last2=Balieiro |first2=Fabiano |title=Land use change, biofuels and impacts on soil carbon dynamics in the La Plata Basin |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_report_IDRC_Coutinho.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{coutinhondland, author = {Coutinho, Heitor L. C. and Balieiro, Fabiano}, title = {{Land use change, biofuels and impacts on soil carbon dynamics in the La Plata Basin}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/03/Final_report_IDRC_Coutinho.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }