A critical review of biochar-based nitrogen fertilizers and their effects on crop production and the environment

Gao, Yurong; Fang, Zheng; Zwieten, Lukas Van; Bolan, Nanthi; Dong, Dan; Quin, B. F.; Meng, Jun; Li, Fangbai; Wu, Fengchang; Wang, Hailong; Chen, Wenfu

doi:10.1007/s42773-022-00160-3

Cited by 73 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…Biochar is a fine-grained, degradation-resistant porous substance produced by slow pyrolysis of plant and animal biomass at low to medium temperatures under limited oxygen conditions (Shaaban et al 2018a, b), and has been widely used in fields to mitigate soil N 2 O emissions (Zhang et al 2021(Zhang et al , 2022. The mechanisms of N 2 O reduction by biochar application include: (1) improvement of soil aeration, (2) suppression of denitrifiers in soil, and (3) adsorption of soil mineralized N (Wu et al 2018;Gao et al 2022;Wei et al 2022). Biochar has also been proven to reduce earthworm-induced soil N 2 O emissions by changing the anoxic microzone of earthworms' gut and functional gene abundance of earthworms' casts during the short-term incubation experiment (Wu et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing biochar addition for vermicomposting: a comprehensive evaluation of earthworms’ activity, N2O emissions and compost quality

Zheng

et al. 2023

Biochar

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Biochar addition has been widely used in the field to mitigate soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and can be considered as a potential method to reduce N2O emissions during vermicomposting. However, excessive biochar addition may inhibit earthworms’ activity. Thus, it is crucial to clarify the optimum addition volumes of biochar during vermicomposting. This study evaluated the impact of addition of various amounts of biochar (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% of total amount of feedstock) on earthworms’ (Eiseniafetida) activity, N2O emission and compost quality during vermicomposting. Compared with the treatment without biochar added, 5% of biochar application significantly increased earthworm total biomass (from 177.5 to 202.2 g pot−1), and cumulative burrowing activity (from 47.0% to 52.2% pixel per terrarium). The increased earthworms activity stimulated the vermicomposting process and led to the best quality of compost, which showed the highest total nutrient content (5.38%) and a significantly higher germination percentage of seeds (88%). Although N2O emissions were slightly increased by 5% biochar addition, a non-significant difference was found between the treatment with 5% biochar and the treatment without biochar added. On the contrary, 20% and 25% biochar addition not only lowered N2O emissions, but also significantly decreased the quality of compost. The results suggest that 5% biochar application is an appropriate amount to improve the quality of compost without significant N2O emissions. Graphical Abstract

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing biochar addition for vermicomposting: a comprehensive evaluation of earthworms’ activity, N2O emissions and compost quality

Zheng

et al. 2023

Biochar

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“…Carbon-based functional materials are recently regarded as effective and ideal agricultural soils remediation amendments (Liu et al, 2020(Liu et al, , 2021Qiu et al, 2022), which not only reduce the bioavailability of soil Cd but also enhance soil organic carbon benefiting for soil health (Bian et al, 2014;Gao et al, 2022). It also has been suggested that these carbon-based amendments can sequester carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon-based strategy enables sustainable remediation of paddy soils in harmony with carbon neutrality

Ran

et al. 2022

carbon res

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Carbon-based materials have been widely used in agricultural land contamination remediation. However, the sustainability and carbon footprint of its remediation actions and application methods for heavy metals contaminated agricultural land are still unclear. Herein, two representative carbon-based remediation materials biochar and peat are selected to systematically evaluate the sustainability and net ecosystem carbon budget (NECB) of remediation action during the life cycle based on paddy field trials. Life cycle assessment results show that the application of biochar for the remediation of cadmium contaminated paddy fields is more harmful to human health and ecosystems than that of peat remediation action. Meanwhile, one-time addition of the remediation materials has less negative impact on the environment (human health, ecosystems, and resources) compared with multiple times addition. Carbon-based materials enable sustainable remediation of paddy soils and the overall sustainability score (97.4) of peat was higher than that of biochar (88.4) remediation action. In contrast, carbon footprint results show that the NECB of biochar exhibited a higher positive value of 33.73 t CO2-eq/ha (dosage: 15 t/ha) compared with peat, and the prediction results show that 90% of carbon in biochar remained in soil and peat only remained 82% after 40 years, which indicating that biochar contributed more finely to carbon sequestration than peat during the remediation action. Thus, this study provides new insights into the different carbon-based materials for the sustainability of paddy soils remediation and in harmony with carbon neutral plan. Graphical abstract

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“…They are rapidly converted into ammonia in soils through ammonification to meet the N demands of the rice, but the large mineral N pools that occur lead to N loss. 3,20,22 On the other hand, biocharbased N fertilizers avoid the formation of a large mineral N pools because they release N slowly, which may also lead to its inability to better meet the N demand of rice, 20 thus weakening the yieldincreasing effect. The partial substitution of chemical fertilizers with biochar-based fertilizers may be a potential N fertilizermanagement measure to obtain a stronger yield-increasing effect while reducing N pollution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies confirmed that the effects of biochar‐based fertilizer on crop yield and N loss may be closely related to soil microorganisms. However, compared with chemical fertilizers, 19 the exploration of the effect of biochar based fertilizers on microbial communities is still at its early stage 20 . The influence of partial substitution of chemical fertilizers with biochar‐based fertilizers on microbial communities has not been reported until now.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Urea‐based N fertilizers are the most commonly used N source in paddy fields. They are rapidly converted into ammonia in soils through ammonification to meet the N demands of the rice, but the large mineral N pools that occur lead to N loss 3,20,22 . On the other hand, biochar‐based N fertilizers avoid the formation of a large mineral N pools because they release N slowly, which may also lead to its inability to better meet the N demand of rice, 20 thus weakening the yield‐increasing effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of biochar‐based urea substituting urea on rice yield, bacterial community and nitrogen cycling in paddy fields

Zhang

Chen

et al. 2022

J Sci Food Agric

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BACKGROUND There is an increasing understanding of the importance of biochar‐based fertilizers in agroecosystems. However, no research has evaluated the effects of partial substitution of urea with biochar‐based urea on rice yields and soil microbial communities. We therefore investigated the rice yields, bacterial communities, and gene abundance involved in nitrogen in silty clay and sandy loam soil paddy fields treated with urea (U), total substitution of urea with biochar‐based urea (BSU), partial substitution of urea with biochar‐based urea in basal and tillering fertilizers (BSU1), and partial substitution of urea with biochar‐based urea in panicle fertilizers (BSU2). RESULTS Compared with U, applying biochar‐based urea increased rice yields, with BSU2 having the most notable effect. Principal coordinate analysis revealed that bacterial communities treated with BSU2 in both soils were significantly different from those treated with U and BSU, most probably due to the decrease in pH caused by the decrease in the concentration of ammonium. The relative abundance of Subdivision3_genera_incertae_sedis, Azotobacter, Geobacter, Buchnera, and Terrimonas in silty clay soils and Saccharibacteria_genera_incertae_sedis and Geobacter in sandy loam soils significantly increased when treated with BSU2 and was positively correlated with rice yields, indicating that the improvements in rice yield were associated with changes in bacterial communities. Based upon amoA/narG related to nitrate accumulation and norB/nosZ related to nitrous oxide emissions, BSU2 enabled a lower risk of nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions in both soils, in comparison with the U and BSU treatments. CONCLUSION The BSU2 treatment had a stronger yield‐increasing effect than biochar‐based urea alone and lowered the risk of nitrogen pollution, which is beneficial to the sustainable development of paddy fields. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

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A critical review of biochar-based nitrogen fertilizers and their effects on crop production and the environment

Cited by 73 publications

References 100 publications

Optimizing biochar addition for vermicomposting: a comprehensive evaluation of earthworms’ activity, N2O emissions and compost quality

Optimizing biochar addition for vermicomposting: a comprehensive evaluation of earthworms’ activity, N2O emissions and compost quality

Carbon-based strategy enables sustainable remediation of paddy soils in harmony with carbon neutrality

Influence of biochar‐based urea substituting urea on rice yield, bacterial community and nitrogen cycling in paddy fields

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