Fate of soil‐applied black carbon: downward migration, leaching and soil respiration

Major, Julie; Lehmann, Johannes; Rondón, Marco Antonio; Goodale, Christine L.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02044.x

Cited by 665 publications

(480 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…These findings are 564 consistent with previous studies that reported minimal DOC leaching from biochar-amended 565 field plots (Bell and Worrall, 2011;Major et al, 2010). Most of the DOC was lost during the first 566 flush, suggesting that the majority of leachable C may be removed during the first rain event 567…”

Section: Implications For C Sequestration 563supporting

confidence: 83%

Impacts of biochar concentration and particle size on hydraulic conductivity and DOC leaching of biochar–sand mixtures

Liu

Dugan

Masiello

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology

166

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8The amendment of soil with biochar can sequester carbon and alter hydrologic properties by 9 changing physical and chemical characteristics of soil. To understand the effect of biochar 10 amendment on soil hydrology, we measured the hydraulic conductivity (K) of biochar-sand 11 mixtures as well as dissolved organic carbon in leachate. Specifically, we assessed the effects of 12 biochar concentration and particle size on K and amount of DOC in the soil leachate. To better 13 understand how physical properties influenced K, we also measured the skeletal density of 14 biochars and sand, and the bulk density, the water saturation, and the porosity of biochar-sand 15 mixtures. Our model soil was sand (0.251-0.853 mm) with biochar rates from 2-10 wt% (g 16 biochar/g total soil x100%). As biochar (<0.853 mm) concentration increased from 0 to 10 wt%, 17 K decreased by 72 ± 3%. 18 1 Present address: Environmental Program, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO 2 Present address: Rm. 3307, French Family Science Center, Duke University, NC 2 When biochar particle size was equal to, greater than, and less than particle size of sand, we 19 found that biochar in different particle sizes have different effects on K. For a 2 wt% biochar 20 rate, K decreased by 72 ± 2% when biochar particles were finer than sand particles, and 21 decreased by 15 ± 2% when biochar particles were coarser than sand particles. When biochar and 22 sand particle size were comparable, we observed no significant effect on K. We propose that the 23 decrease of K through the addition of fine biochar was because finer biochar particles filled 24 spaces between sand particles, which increased tortuosity and reduced pore throat size of the 25 mixture. The decrease of K associated with coarser biochar was caused by the bimodal particle 26 size distribution, resulting in more compact packing and increased tortuosity. 27The loss of biochar C as DOC was related to both biochar rate and particle size. The 28 cumulative DOC loss was 1350% higher from 10 wt% biochar compared to pure sand. This 29 large increase reflected the very small DOC yield from pure sand. In addition, DOC in the 30 leachate decreased as biochar particle size increased. For all treatments, the fraction of carbon 31 lost as DOC ranged from 0.06 to 0.18 wt% of biochar. These experiments suggest that mixing 32 sandy soils with biochar is likely to reduce infiltration rates, holding water near the surface 33 longer with little loss of biochar-derived carbon to groundwater and streams. 34

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Section: Implications For C Sequestration 563supporting

confidence: 83%

Impacts of biochar concentration and particle size on hydraulic conductivity and DOC leaching of biochar–sand mixtures

Liu

Dugan

Masiello

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology

166

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“…This figure compiles data from surface horizons of 20 long-term field experiments (up to 23 years) in temperate climate, using 13 C labelling to trace the residence time of bulk SOM and of individual molecular compounds. The variation in turnover time is also seen in the compounds of microbial origin analysed for 13 fire-derived carbon does undergo oxidation and transport, as we now know from archaeological settings 28 , soils 29,30 , and from breakdown products in river 31 and ocean water 32,33 . In a field experiment, firederived residues were even observed to decompose faster than the remaining bulk organic matter, with 25% lost over 100 years (ref.…”

Section: Soil Humic Substancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

Schmidt

Torn

Abiven

et al. 2011

Nature

Self Cite

4,741

106

3,153

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Globally, soil organic matter (SOM) contains more than three times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or terrestrial vegetation. Yet it remains largely unknown why some SOM persists for millennia whereas other SOM decomposes readily-and this limits our ability to predict how soils will respond to climate change. Recent analytical and experimental advances have demonstrated that molecular structure alone does not control SOM stability: in fact, environmental and biological controls predominate. Here we propose ways to include this understanding in a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models, thereby improving predictions of the SOM response to global warming.Understanding soil biogeochemistry is essential to the stewardship of ecosystem services provided by soils, such as soil fertility (for food, fibre and fuel production), water quality, resistance to erosion and climate mitigation through reduced feedbacks to climate change. Soils store at least three times as much carbon (in SOM) as is found in either the atmosphere or in living plants 1 . This major pool of organic carbon is sensitive to changes in climate or local environment, but how and on what timescale will it respond to such changes? The feedbacks between soil organic carbon and climate are not fully understood, so we are not fully able to answer these questions 2-7 , but we can explore them using numerical models of soil-organic-carbon cycling. We can not only simulate feedbacks between climate change and ecosystems, but also evaluate management options and analyse carbon sequestration and biofuel strategies. These models, however, rest on some assumptions that have been challenged and even disproved by recent research arising from new isotopic, spectroscopic and molecularmarker techniques and long-term field experiments.Here we describe how recent evidence has led to a framework for understanding SOM cycling, and we highlight new approaches that could lead us to a new generation of soil carbon models, which could better reflect observations and inform predictions and policies.

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“…Third, biochar has been applied as a soil additive and shown to produce multiple potential environmental and economic benefits. These include improved soil fertility and crop yield, carbon stabilization and storage, reduced emissions of greenhouse gases (specifically, N 2 O and CH 4 ) from soil, better retention and reduced leaching of nutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus), improved surface-and groundwater quality, and adsorption of organic and metallic contaminants [1,2,[8][9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar‐mediated reductive transformation of nitro herbicides and explosives

Oh¹,

Son²,

Chiu³

2013

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

129

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Abstract-Biochar, a subset of black carbon produced via pyrolysis of biomass, has received much attention in recent years due to its potential to address many important issues, from energy and climate to agriculture and environmental quality. Biochar is known to influence the fate and transport of organic contaminants, although its role has been generally assumed to be as an adsorbent. In this study, the authors investigated the ability of biochar to catalyze the reductive reactions of nitro herbicides and explosives. Two biochars, derived from poultry litter and wastewater biosolids, were found to promote the reductive removal of the dinitro herbicides pendimethalin and trifluralin and the explosives 2,4-dinitrotoluene and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) by dithiothreitol. Parallel experiments using another black carbon material, graphite powder or granular activated carbon, in place of a biochar resulted in comparable rate enhancement to show reduction products, such as 2,4-diaminotoluene and formaldehyde. A cyclization product of trifluralin and reduction products of dinitrotoluene and RDX were detected only when biochar and dithiothreitol were both present, supporting the ability of biochar to promote redox reactions. Three possible catalysts, including graphene moieties, surface functional groups, and redox-active metals, in biochar may be responsible for the biochar-mediated reactions. The environmental significance, implications, and applications of this previously unrecognized role of biochar are discussed. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2013;32:501-508. # 2012 SETAC

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Fate of soil‐applied black carbon: downward migration, leaching and soil respiration

Cited by 665 publications

References 63 publications

Impacts of biochar concentration and particle size on hydraulic conductivity and DOC leaching of biochar–sand mixtures

Impacts of biochar concentration and particle size on hydraulic conductivity and DOC leaching of biochar–sand mixtures

Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property

Biochar‐mediated reductive transformation of nitro herbicides and explosives

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