Carbon dioxide emissions from semi-arid soils amended with biochar alone or combined with mineral and organic fertilizers

Abstract

Semi-arid soils cover a significant area ofEarth's land surface and typically contain large amounts of inorganic C. Determining the effects ofbiochar additions on e0 2 emissions fram semi-arid soils is therefore essential for evaluating the potential ofbiochar as aclimate change mitigation strategy. Here, we measured the e0 2 that evolved fram semi-arid calcareous soils amended with biochar at rates of Oand 20 t ha-1 in a full factorial combination with three different fertilizers (mineral fertilizer, municipal solid waste compost, and sewage sludgel applied at four rates (equivalent to O, 75, 150, and 225 kg potentially available N ha-1 1during 182 days of aerabic incubation. A double exponential mode!, which describes cumulative e0 2 emissions fram two active soil e compartments with different turnover rates (one relatively stable and the other more labile l, was found to fit very well all the experimental datasets. In genera!, the organic fertilizers increased the size and decomposition rate of the stable and labile soil e pools. In contrast, biochar addition had no effects on any of the double exponential model parameters and did not interact with the effects ascribed to the type and rate of fertilizer. After 182 days of incubation, soil organic and microbial biomass e contents tended to increase with increasing the application rates of organic fertilizer, especially of compost, whereas increasing the rate of mineral fertilizer tended to suppress microbial biomass. Biochar was found to increase both organic and inorganic e contents in soil and not to interact with the effects oftype and rate of fertilizer on efractions. As a whole, our results suggest that the use of biochar as enhancer of semi-arid soils, either alone or combined with mineral and organic fertilizers, is unlikely to increase abiotic and biotic soil e0 2 emissions.

Effects of Biochar Application on CO2 Emissions from a Cultivated Soil under Semiarid Climate Conditions in Northwest China

“…Additionally, temperature and moisture during the incubation were obviously different from field conditions [35].…”

“…Additionally, the application of biochar powder and freshly burned litter also had lower or no significant effect on soil respiration [34]. However, the effect of biochar addition on soil C cycling could influence the soil CO 2 emission rate in the soil-water-gas system, since the fluctuation of SOC [35], dissolved organic carbon [36] and microbial biomass carbon that resulted from biochar addition could impact the mineralization of soil C. The balance of air and water was established in the proceeding of incubation and field conditions, and the liming effect of biochar (pH = 9.8) could absorb the released CO 2 from the biochar-soil system [29]. Additionally, biochar might suppress related microbial activity and thereby decrease the emission of CO 2 [37].…”

Emission of CO2 from biochar‐amended soils and implications for soil organic carbon

“…The search resulted in 46 peer‐reviewed papers published from 2009 to 2014 that were suitable for being included in the meta‐analysis (Spokas & Reicosky, ; Spokas et al ., ; Steinbeiss et al ., ; Novak et al ., ; Smith et al ., ; Bruun et al ., ; Jones et al ., ; Kharu et al ., ; Knoblauch et al ., ; Luo et al ., ; Streubel et al ., ; Zavalloni et al ., ; Zimmerman et al ., ; Aguilar‐Chávez et al ., ; Awad et al ., ; Bruun et al ., ; Case et al ., ; Dempster et al ., ; Galvez et al ., ; Jones et al ., ; Kuzyakov et al ., ; Quilliam et al ., ; Santos et al ., ; Singh et al ., ; Zhang et al ., ; Ameloot et al ., ; Bamminger et al ., ; Knicker et al ., ; Lai et al ., ; Major et al ., ; Malghani et al ., ; Mukome et al ., ; Saarnio et al ., ; Stewart et al ., ; van Zwieten et al ., ; Troy et al ., ; Yu et al ., ; Zhang et al ., ; Díaz‐Rojas et al ., ; Fernández et al ., ; Junna et al ., ; Maestrini et al ., ; Mukherjee & Zimmerman, ; Schimmelpfennig et al ., ; Sigua et al ., ; Whitman et al ., ). The database covered 288 side‐by‐side comparisons and is integrally available as an excel file at supporting information (Dataset_1_SuppInfo.xls).…”

Temperature and moisture responses to carbon mineralization in the biochar-amended saline soil

“…Recent studies have examined the C mineralization (C min ) in biochar-amended soils (Bolan et al, 2012;Fernández et al, 2014), mostly in acid soils (Sigua et al, 2014;Zhao et al, 2015). Few studies concerning biochar amendment in saline soils have focused on the effect of temperature on C min in soil.…”