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Soil–climate contribution to DNDC model uncertainty in simulating biomass accumulation under urban vegetable production on a Petroplinthic Cambisol in Tamale, Ghana
Author(s) -
Steiner Christoph,
Topp Cairistiona F. E.,
Buerkert Andreas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.201900514
Subject(s) - environmental science , amaranth , biomass (ecology) , cambisol , agronomy , lactuca , soil water , soil science , biology
Abstract Crop yield simulation using the Denitrification–Decomposition (DNDC) model can help to understand key bottlenecks for improved nitrogen (N) use efficiency and estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in West African urban vegetable production. The DNDC model was successfully calibrated using high‐resolution weather records, information on management practices and soils, and measured biomass accumulation and N uptake by amaranth ( Amaranthus L.), jute mallow ( Corchorus olitorius L.), lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.), and roselle ( Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) for different input intensities (May 2014–November 2015) in urban vegetable production of Tamale (N‐Ghana, West Africa). The root mean square error (RMSE) and relative error (E) values fell within the confidence interval (α 5%) of the measurements, and there was a high correlation (0.91 to 0.98) between measurements and predictions. However, the analysis of uncertainty and factor importance indicated that soil properties (pH, SOC, and clay content) and weather (precipitation) variability contributed highly to yield uncertainty of vegetable biomass.