{
  "abstract": "Agrivoltaic (AV) systems that combine horticultural crops with photovoltaic (PV) infrastructure on the same land parcel can provide mutual benefits for crop performance, electricity production, and water use in semi-arid climates. Whether semi-arid AV systems provide additional benefits for soil development and carbon (C) accumulation remains unclear. Larger aboveground biomass and yield production, which has been observed in semi-arid AV for certain crops, may accelerate C loss by supporting more continual and extensive microbial and root respiration, resulting in net zero or negative change in soil C over a growing season. Alternatively, AV systems may retain more soil C by reducing stress-induced respiration. To test these contrasting hypotheses, we compared crop biomass and yield, soil carbon pools, and semi-continuous microclimate and respired carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) emissions for two horticultural crops grown in an experimental AV site in southern Arizona, USA. Over one summer growing season, we observed an approximately 9% reduction in daily mean soil CO ₂ efflux from legume (cowpea, Vigna unguiculata ) and 48% reduction from aromatic herb (basil, Ocimum basilicum ) beds, with the strongest impacts of AV appearing during the early monsoon season when plants were mature. On diel timescales, AV soil CO ₂ efflux peaked later in the day compared to conventional horticultural beds, corresponding to lagged increases in soil temperature under solar panels. Smaller CO ₂ efflux in AV coincided with a doubling of aboveground crop biomass. Both crops and cover types experienced similar declines in soil C over the growing season, indicating that reduced CO ₂ efflux did not correspond to a measurable increase in soil C during this period and highlighting the need to resolve other C transformation and loss pathways. Complementing its well-described food-water-energy benefits, we find potential for AV to reduce soil CO ₂ efflux and urge future research to identify changes to soil C cycling that result from the addition of PV to horticultural landscapes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Development & Environment, University of Arizona",
    "Universidad de Sonora Hermosillo",
    "University of Arizona",
    "University of California",
    "Biosphere 2"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Holly M Andrews",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5173-0826"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Fabiana Olea Carrasco"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alyssa Salazar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zoe Gineris"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Talitha H Neesham-McTiernan",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4793-9720"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "G Darrel Jenerette",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2387-7537"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "David Moore"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Greg A Barron-Gafford",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1333-3843"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93jddcgebgt47.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1dd",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "93jddcgebgt47",
  "issns": [
    "1748-9326"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1dd",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1111|Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221022619",
  "pdf_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1dd/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-22",
  "publisher": "IOP Publishing",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93jddcgebgt47.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:55Z",
      "native_id": "10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1dd",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb1dd"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:1111|Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics",
      "subfield": "hydrology-soils"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Reduced summer carbon dioxide efflux from semi-arid agrivoltaic compared to conventional horticultural soil",
  "title_text": "Reduced summer carbon dioxide efflux from semi-arid agrivoltaic compared to conventional horticultural soil",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:55Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93jddcgebgt47",
  "venue": "Environmental Research Letters",
  "versions": []
}