Global warming accelerates decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) pools with varying rates and temperature sensitivities. Black carbon (BC) materials are among the slowest decomposing components of the SOC pool. Although BC is a large component of SOC in many systems, the influence of temperature on decomposition of BC bearing different chemical and physical structures remains poorly understood. Four BC materials, produced by carbonizing corn residue and oak wood at 350 and 600 degrees C (corn-350-BC, corn-600-BC, oak-350-BC, and oak-600-BC), were mixed with pure sand and incubated at 4, 10, 20, 30, 45, and 60 degrees C for 1 year. Corn-BC was more porous than oak-BC as determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Increasing the charring temperature from 350 to 600 degrees C led to greater aromaticity with 5-15% more C in aromatic rings and a 39-57% increase in both nonprotonated aromatic C and aromatic bridgehead C quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and a greater degree of order and development of C layers as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). With a temperature increase from 4 to 60 degrees C, C loss of corn-350-BC increased from 10 to 20%, corn-600-BC, from 4 to 20%, oak-350-BC, from 2.3 to 15%, and oak-600-BC from 1.5 to 14% of initial C content, respectively. Temperature sensitivity (Q(10)) decreased with increasing incubation temperature and was highest in oak-600-BC, followed by oak-350-BC, corn-600-BC, and corn-350-BC, indicating that decomposition of more stable BC was more sensitive to increased temperature than less stable materials. Carbon loss and potential cation exchange capacity (CECp) significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with O/C ratios and change in O/C ratios, suggesting that oxidative processes were the most important mechanism controlling BC decomposition in this study.

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Black carbon (BC) is a quantitatively important C pool in the global C cycle due to its relative recalcitrance compared with other C pools. However, mechanisms of BC oxidation and accompanying molecular changes are largely unknown. In this study, the long-term dynamics in quality and quantity of BC were investigated in cultivated soil using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. BC particles and changes in BC stocks were obtained from soil collected in fields that were cleared from forest by fire at 8 different times in the past (2, 3, 5, 20, 30, 50, 80 and 100 years before sampling) in western Kenya. BC contents rapidly decreased from 12.7 to 3.8 mg C g -1 soil during the first 30 years following deposition, after which they slowly decreased to a steady state at 3.5 mg C g -1 soil. BC-derived C losses from the top 0.1 m over 100 years were estimated at 6,000 kg C ha -1 . The initial rapid changes in BC stocks resulted in a mean residence time of only around 8.3 years, which was likely a function of both decomposition as well as transport processes. The molecular properties of BC changed more rapidly on surfaces than in the interior of BC particles and more rapidly during the first 30 years than during the following 70 years. The Oc/C ratios (Oc is O bound to C) and carbonyl groups (C=O) increased over the first 10 and 30 years by 133 and 192%, respectively, indicating oxidation was an important process controlling BC quality. Al, Si, polysaccharides, and to a lesser extent Fe were found on BC particle surfaces within the first few years after BC deposition to soil. The protection by physical and chemical stabilization was apparently sufficient to not only minimize decomposition below detection between 30 and 100 years after deposition, but also physical export by erosion and vertical transport below 0.1 m.

Black carbon (BC) is a quantitatively important C pool in the global C cycle due to its relative recalcitrance compared with other C pools. However, mechanisms of BC oxidation and accompanying molecular changes are largely unknown. In this study, the long-term dynamics in quality and quantity of BC were investigated in cultivated soil using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. BC particles and changes in BC stocks were obtained from soil collected in fields that were cleared from forest by fire at 8 different times in the past (2, 3, 5, 20, 30, 50, 80 and 100 years before sampling) in western Kenya. BC contents rapidly decreased from 12.7 to 3.8 mg C g -1 soil during the first 30 years following deposition, after which they slowly decreased to a steady state at 3.5 mg C g -1 soil. BC-derived C losses from the top 0.1 m over 100 years were estimated at 6,000 kg C ha -1 . The initial rapid changes in BC stocks resulted in a mean residence time of only around 8.3 years, which was likely a function of both decomposition as well as transport processes. The molecular properties of BC changed more rapidly on surfaces than in the interior of BC particles and more rapidly during the first 30 years than during the following 70 years. The Oc/C ratios (Oc is O bound to C) and carbonyl groups (C=O) increased over the first 10 and 30 years by 133 and 192%, respectively, indicating oxidation was an important process controlling BC quality. Al, Si, polysaccharides, and to a lesser extent Fe were found on BC particle surfaces within the first few years after BC deposition to soil. The protection by physical and chemical stabilization was apparently sufficient to not only minimize decomposition below detection between 30 and 100 years after deposition, but also physical export by erosion and vertical transport below 0.1 m.

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Because of climate change, insufficient soil moisture may increasingly limit crop productivity in certain regions of the world. This may be particularly consequential for biofuel crops, many of which will likely be grown in drought-prone soils to avoid competition with food crops. Biochar is the byproduct of a biofuel production method called pyrolysis. If pyrolysis becomes more common as some scientists predict, biochar will become more widely available. We asked, therefore, whether the addition of biochar to soils could significantly increase the availability of water to a crop. Biochar made from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) shoots was added at the rate of 1% of dry weight to four soils of varying texture, and available water contents were calculated as the difference between field capacity and permanent wilting point water contents. Biochar addition significantly increased the available water contents of the soils by both increasing the amount of water held at field capacity and allowing plants to draw the soil to a lower water content before wilting. Among the four soils tested, biochar amendment resulted in an additional 0.8-2.7 d of transpiration, which could increase productivity in drought-prone regions or reduce the frequency of irrigation. Biochar amendment of soils may thus be a viable means of mitigating some of the predicted decrease in water availability accompanying climate change that could limit the future productivity of biofuel crops.

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