About

MAGGnet was established to foster the development of coordinated, multi-national approaches for inventory and analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation research. Since 2012, MAGGnet has compiled metadata from over 300 experimental sites throughout the world. Metadata contributors include scientists actively engaged in the Croplands Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).

The objectives of MAGGnet are to: 

• Quantify the effectiveness of specific mitigation practices (e.g., fertiliser type/rate, tillage, crop rotation, residue management, cover crop, livestock integration, etc.) for arable-annual crops throughout the world using meta-analysis.
• Quantify potential tradeoffs in GHG mitigation and crop yield.
• Identify and communicate critical data gaps.
• Facilitate communication and cooperation among member countries in GRA Research Groups to improve predictive capabilities of process-based models.

Results

• Data from over 300 sites was reviewed and partitioned into ‘alternative’ and ‘business as usual’ management practices associated with N fertilisation, N source, crop rotation, and tillage treatments.
• Among management variables evaluated for their effect on N₂O emission, only N fertilisation differed significantly between ‘alternative’ and ‘business as usual’ practices.
• Moreover, no differences between treatments were observed for yield-scaled emissions.
• As data for the evaluation were compiled globally, outcomes suggested a need for additional site data to allow for statistically robust analyses within similar production regions.
• Since 2012, MAGGnet has compiled metadata from over 380 experimental sites from 23 countries.  
• MAGGnet metadata used for site identification for model inter-comparison exercise (INRA, 2014-2018).
• MAGGnet metadata template was adapted by GRA Paddy Rice Research Group to document rice production research sites in Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam (2015-present).
• Network description article published in Carbon Management (Liebig et al. 2016).
• MAGGnet metadata, site map, and sharing agreement is available online at GRA and GRAMP websites (globalresearchalliance.org/maggnet; gramp.org.uk).