Impact of pine chip biochar on trace greenhouse gas emissions and soil nutrient dynamics in an annual ryegrass system in California

Angst, Teri E.; Six, Johan; Reay, Dave; Sohi, Saran

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2014.03.009

Cited by 87 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Notably, as a pyrolysed product, biochar is protected from rapid microbial degradation and is able to securely sequester carbon, contributing to mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions (Lehmann et al, 2006). The result of the present study collaborate the recent findings of Angst et al (2014) who reported that SOC was significantly increased due to the applications of different biochars. Haefele et al (2011) reported a 66.5% increase in organic carbon contents at elevated level of 41.3 t ha -1 (about 4%) using rice husk biochar in a near neutral soil.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Amelioration of a degraded ultisol with hardwood biochar: Effects on soil physico-chemical properties and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L)

C.¹,

Njoku²,

C.³

et al. 2017

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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A study was conducted in two consecutive cropping seasons to assess the effect of biochar on soil properties and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L) in an intensive cucumber-maize rotation based system of Abakaliki, Southeastern Nigeria. Five rates of hardwood biochar (0, 2.5, 3.75, 5 and 6.25 t ha -1 ) were used for the study. The study was laid out as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments and four replications. Data were collected from both soil and plant parameters. Soil samples (0 to 20 cm) were collected before and at harvest from different plots for soil chemical analyses. Results obtained from the study showed significant (P<0.05) improvement in soil properties. Bulk density (BD) was significantly (p<0.05) decreased in biochar amended plots. Total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), organic carbon (C), pH and exchangeable bases (K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and Na + ) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in biochar amended plots relative to the control. Biochar application significantly (p<0.05) increased vine length, number of fruits, fruit length and yield of cucumber compared to the control. On average, 6.25 t ha -1 rate of biochar application gave the highest improvement in soil properties while highest increase in yield and other agronomic parameters were observed in 5 t ha -1 rate of application. The study recommended 5 t ha -1 as the maximum rate of biochar application in the study area. Our results indicated that biochar application could be a possible way of improving soil properties and native soil carbon in the degraded ultisols and intensive cropping systems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Amelioration of a degraded ultisol with hardwood biochar: Effects on soil physico-chemical properties and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L)

C.¹,

Njoku²,

C.³

et al. 2017

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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“…In line with our results other field studies have shown significant reductions in N 2 O emissions following biochar amendment (Taghizadeh-Toosi et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2012). A number of studies found no significant effect of biochar addition in the field (Schimmelpfennig et al, 2014;Angst et al, 2014;Scheer et al, 2011;Karhu et al, 2011;Anderson et al, 2014). Often the much higher variability in the field and the low number of replications make it difficult to reproduce reduction effects observed in laboratory studies.…”

Section: N 2 O Emissionssupporting

confidence: 44%

“…Often the much higher variability in the field and the low number of replications make it difficult to reproduce reduction effects observed in laboratory studies. In particular, Angst et al (2014) found no significant difference but there was a tendency for lower emissions with biochar addition, suggesting that the variability in the field was too high to get significant effects. However there are also studies that showed increased emissions from biochar application in the field (Verhoeven and Six, 2014;Shen et al, 2014).…”

Section: N 2 O Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…In field situations, N 2 O reduction effects are typically difficult to verify because of less uniform conditions and a large spatial and temporal variability of fluxes (Felber et al, 2013;Schimmelpfennig et al, 2014). A few field experiments indicated an increase in N 2 O (e.g., Verhoeven and Six, 2014;, many showed no significant effects (Karhu et al, 2011;Scheer et al, 2011;Suddick and Six, 2013;Anderson et al, 2014;Angst et al, 2014) while other studies indicated decreasing N 2 O emissions (e.g., Van Zwieten et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2010;Taghizadeh-Toosi et al, 2011;Felber et al, 2013;Case et al, 2014). Only few studies with biochar have looked at N 2 O emissions beyond 120 days (Verhoeven and Six, 2014), hence there is a large uncertainty about longer term effects of biochar addition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of biochar and liming on soil nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate maize cropping system

Hüppi

Felber

Neftel

et al. 2015

SOIL

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Abstract. Biochar, a carbon-rich, porous pyrolysis product of organic residues may positively affect plant yield and can, owing to its inherent stability, promote soil carbon sequestration when amended to agricultural soils. Another possible effect of biochar is the reduction in emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O). A number of laboratory incubations have shown significantly reduced N 2 O emissions from soil when mixed with biochar. Emission measurements under field conditions however are more scarce and show weaker or no reductions, or even increases in N 2 O emissions. One of the hypothesised mechanisms for reduced N 2 O emissions from soil is owing to the increase in soil pH following the application of alkaline biochar. To test the effect of biochar on N 2 O emissions in a temperate maize cropping system, we set up a field trial with a 20 t ha −1 biochar treatment, a limestone treatment adjusted to the same pH as the biochar treatment (pH 6.5), and a control treatment without any addition (pH 6.1). An automated static chamber system measured N 2 O emissions for each replicate plot (n = 3) every 3.6 h over the course of 8 months. The field was conventionally fertilised at a rate of 160 kg N ha −1 in three applications of 40, 80 and 40 kg N ha −1 as ammonium nitrate. Cumulative N 2 O emissions were 52 % smaller in the biochar compared to the control treatment. However, the effect of the treatments overall was not statistically significant (p = 0.27) because of the large variability in the data set. Limed soils emitted similar mean cumulative amounts of N 2 O as the control. There is no evidence that reduced N 2 O emissions with biochar relative to the control is solely caused by a higher soil pH.

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“…N 2 O forms in soils as a result of microbiological nitrification and denitrification. The BC application contributed to change of soil conditions making them more favorable for nitrifiers due to enhancing aeration and increasing pH of soils as well as adsorption of nitrification inhibitors [1,14,[22][23][24]. However, the adsorption of NH 4 + on the BC surface or in its pores can result in the reduction of NH 4 + availability for nitrifiers [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Biological and Physical Parameters of Soils With Different Texture After Biochar Application

Buchkina¹,

Balashov²,

Šimanský³

et al. 2017

S-h. biol.

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A b s t r a c tMaintaining a favorable microbial and physical state of soils using new management practices is one of the key directions of sustainable land-use. Application of biochar (BC) is one of the new ways to improve soil quality and sustainability by increasing carbon sequestration and making significant changes in soil properties. Slow and fast pyrolysis is used to produce BC from different feedstock. Technological conditions of pyrolysis and feedstock type have key impacts on BC properties and its interaction with soils. Many previous studies have revealed a positive effect of BC on soil properties and crop yields. Nevertheless, there are uncertainties in the understanding of BC effects on microbial processes of nitrogen and carbon transformation in soils. In the present study, two types of BC were used: BC1 and BC2 were produced by fast and slow pyrolysis of wooden feedstock, respectively. The aims of the study were, firstly, to assess differences in the effects of BC1 and BC2 on hydrophysical properties of sandy and clayey loam soils, and, secondly, to assess the effects of differences in soil texture on the degree of impacts of BCs on soil nitrification and denitrification. Samples of sandy and clayey loam gleyic Fluvisols (Slovakia) were used in the experiment. An amount of the applied BC on a hectare-scale was equal to 15 and 30 tones. Water retention of the soil samples was measured using a pressure-plate apparatus at water potentials from 0.1 to 300 kPa. Nitrification and denitrification rates were determined in laboratory conditions by measuring nitrous oxide accumulation in flasks in which the soils were incubated for 48 hours at 25 С. Soil moisture content for nitrification and denitrification was equal to 48-55 % of the full saturation and 100 % saturation, respectively. The results indicate that BC1 and BC2 application increased water retention more for the sandy soil than for the clayey loam soil in the whole range of water potentials. Of the two biochars, BC2 had a greater influence on the water retention of both soils. Application of BC1 resulted in a significant decrease (p < 0.01) while application of BC2 produced only an insignificant decrease in nitrification rates in the clayey loam soil. BC1 and BC2 had no effect on nitrification rates in the sandy soil. Moreover, the application of the BCs at both rates contributed to a greater decrease in nitrification rates in the clayey loam soil than in the sandy soil.

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Impact of pine chip biochar on trace greenhouse gas emissions and soil nutrient dynamics in an annual ryegrass system in California

Cited by 87 publications

References 52 publications

Amelioration of a degraded ultisol with hardwood biochar: Effects on soil physico-chemical properties and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L)

Amelioration of a degraded ultisol with hardwood biochar: Effects on soil physico-chemical properties and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L)

Effect of biochar and liming on soil nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate maize cropping system

Changes in Biological and Physical Parameters of Soils With Different Texture After Biochar Application

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