Biochar-Induced Priming Effects in Young and Old Poplar Plantation Soils

Abstract

The priming effect (PE) induced by biochar provides a basis for evaluating its carbon (C) sequestration potential in soils. A 60 days' laboratory incubation was conducted, which involved the amendment of biochar (1% of soil mass) produced from rice straw at 300ºC (B300) and 500ºC (B500) to young (Y) and old (O) poplar plantation soils, with the aim of studying the responses of biochar-induced PEs to poplar plantation ages. This incubation included six treatments: Y + CK (control), Y + B300, Y + B500, O + CK, O + B300, and O + B500. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the B300 amended soils, while it was decreased in the B500 amended soils compared to the CK. The primed CO2 emissions were 2.35 times higher in the Y + B300 than the O + B300 treatments, which was measured to be 18.6 and 5.56 mg C•kg -1 with relative PEs of 12.4% and 3.35%, respectively. However, there was little difference between the primed CO2 emissions in Y + B500 and O + B500 treatments, which were measured to be -24.9 and -29.6 mg•C•kg -1 with relative PEs of -16.6% and -17.8%, respectively. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was significantly lower in the young poplar plantation soil than that in the old poplar plantation soil regardless of biochar amendment throughout the incubation, indicating greater C-limit of soil microorganisms in the young poplar plantation soil. Using 13 C isotope tracing, neither B300 nor B500 decreased native soil-derived DOC, which indicated that the negative B500-induced PEs were not due to a reduction in the availability of native soil-derived C. In conclusion, the response of biochar-induced PEs to poplar plantation age depends on biochar types while soil available C indirectly affects biocharinduced PEs. Further studies should focus on how the interactive effects between soil C availability and microbial community impacts biochar-induced PEs.

Carbon mineralization in subtropical alluvial arable soils amended with sugarcane bagasse and rice husk biochars

“…These results indicate that biochars and aged biochars have a negative priming effect (PE) on CO 2 -C evolution. Biochars produced at high temperatures are commonly reported to induce negative PEs (Zimmerman et al, 2011;Lu et al, 2020). Negative PEs induced by biochars pyrolyzed at high temperatures are thought to result from a reduction in the availability of native SOC, due to (1) the increase in adsorption capacity of biochar (Kimetu and Lehmann, 2010;Cross and Sohi, 2011), because of the increase of specific surface area of biochar and the decrease of mineralizable C (Kasozi et al, 2010;Conte and Laudicina, 2017), and (2) the formation of stable aggregates that physically protect SOC (Kader et al, 2010;Lu et al, 2014).…”

Biochar can Increase Chinese Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) Yield, Decrease Nitrogen and Phosphorus Leaching Losses in Intensive Vegetable Soil

“…Biochar, a solid material obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment, has attained extensive attention due to its agronomical and environmental benefits in agroecosystems [8][9][10][11]. Regarding to the effects of biochar on N cycling in vegetable production system, many literatures reported its influences on NH 3 volatilization and N 2 O emission from both stable crop and vegetable production systems [12][13][14][15].…”

Dual-Functional Titanium(IV) Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography Approach for Enabling Large-Scale Profiling of Protein Mannose-6-Phosphate Glycosylation and Revealing Its Predominant Substrates

“…Glycosylation as a diverse protein post-translational modification (PTM) plays crucial roles in various biological processes of living organisms. 1,2 It is well demonstrated that functions of proteins are frequently modulated by different types of glycans added to either asparagine (N-linked) or serine/threonine (O-linked) residues. [3][4][5] Aberrant glycosylation is also involved in numerous diseases.…”