Shifts in microbial community and water-extractable organic matter composition with biochar amendment in a temperate forest soil

Mitchell, Perry J.; Simpson, André J.; Soong, Ronald; Simpson, Myrna J.

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.11.017

Cited by 221 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Biochar addition was expected to increase microbial activity, causing a release of C (Luo et al 2011), as was documented in 24-week incubations of the same soil by Mitchell et al (2015). This effect is thought to be due to either the mineralization of labile C in the biochar particles or the stimulation of microbial activity through additions of labile nutrients (Mukherjee and Lal 2013;Ameloot et al 2013), though these effects can be short-lived (Steinbeiss et al 2009).…”

Section: Microbial Activitymentioning

confidence: 86%

“…We build upon the work of Sackett et al (2014), who characterized soil properties at this site up to 12 months after biochar addition and found that biochar increased availability of limiting plant nutrients. In addition, Mitchell et al (2015) documented changes in soil microbial flora in a 24-week incubation experiment of these soils, most notably finding an increase in the ratio of bacteria to fungi and a decrease in the ratio of Gram-negative to Gram-positive bacteria with biochar addition. The field results presented here span 2 years postaddition, when we expected that surface-applied biochar would have pronounced effects on soil properties and, consequently, the biomass, activity, and composition of the soil microbial community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Soil microbial responses over 2 years following biochar addition to a north temperate forest

et al. 2015

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Soil microbial biomass, activity, and community composition were studied 1 and 2 years after biochar, phosphorus (P), and biochar+P additions to the soil of a north temperate, mixed-deciduous, P-limited forest in Central Ontario, Canada. Biochar was pyrolyzed on site from sugar maple and white spruce sawdust at ca. 400°C, and P was added as triple superphosphate. Biochar additions of 5 t ha −1 (approximately 0.4 to 1 kg P ha −1 ) had minor effects on bacterial and fungal community composition, fungi/bacteria ratios, microbial biomass, and microbial C mineralization, with significant changes only being detected in the organic layer for additions of maple biochar. In contrast, additions of 200 kg P ha −1 did alter soil chemical properties and reduced both microbial biomass and fungi/bacteria ratios. We conclude that biochar addition at 5 t ha −1 is neither beneficial nor toxic to the soil microbes in a northern hardwood forest on acidic soils, suggesting that biochar amendments can be used to sequester C without adversely affecting the soil microbial community.

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Section: Microbial Activitymentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Soil microbial responses over 2 years following biochar addition to a north temperate forest

et al. 2015

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“…Recent research has only begun to identify PyOM effects on soil microbial communities, and it is clear that PyOM additions to soil can induce changes in soil microbial community composition. Most current evidence has been gathered using fingerprinting approaches, such as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (Bingeman et al, 1953;Jin, 2010;Kolton et al, 2011) or denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (Kolton et al, 2011;Chen et al, 2013), or by surveying phospholipid fatty acids to assess microbial diversity at low phylogenetic resolution (Dunavin, 1969;Jindo et al, 2012;Gomez et al, 2014;Watzinger et al, 2014;Mitchell et al, 2015). In addition, clone libraries targeting functional genes (Song et al, 2014) and some highthroughput DNA sequencing approaches have been applied to survey microorganisms in PyOM systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of microbial community composition and soil organic carbon mineralization in soil following addition of pyrogenic and fresh organic matter

et al. 2016

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Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) additions to soils can have large impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling. As the soil microbial community drives SOC fluxes, understanding how PyOM additions affect soil microbes is essential to understanding how PyOM affects SOC. We studied SOC dynamics and surveyed soil bacterial communities after OM additions in a field experiment. We produced and mixed in either 350°C corn stover PyOM or an equivalent initial amount of dried corn stover to a Typic Fragiudept soil. Stover increased SOC-derived and total CO 2 fluxes (up to 6x), and caused rapid and persistent changes in bacterial community composition over 82 days. In contrast, PyOM only temporarily increased total soil CO 2 fluxes (up to 2x) and caused fewer changes in bacterial community composition. Of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that increased in response to PyOM additions, 70% also responded to stover additions. These OTUs likely thrive on easily mineralizable carbon (C) that is found both in stover and, to a lesser extent, in PyOM. In contrast, we also identified unique PyOM responders, which may respond to substrates such as polyaromatic C. In particular, members of Gemmatimonadetes tended to increase in relative abundance in response to PyOM but not to fresh organic matter. We identify taxa to target for future investigations of the mechanistic underpinnings of ecological phenomena associated with PyOM additions to soil.

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“…Pyrolysis conditions and feedstock material influence the chemical composition and physical structure of biochar (Cimò et al, 2014). Wood-derived biochar (WBC) with particle diameters < 2 μm had skeletal and particle densities of 1.96 and 0.60 g cm -3 , respectively (Brewer et al, 2014;Mitchell et al, 2015), and a surface area of 75 m 2 g -1 . Application of WBC to soils could alter soil workability (W), as assessed through the soil plastic limit (θ pl ), optimum moisture content (θ opt ) for tillage, and aggregate tensile strength (σ t ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of wood-derived biochar on the physico-mechanical and chemical characteristics of agricultural soils

Ahmed¹,

Raghavan²

2018

International Agrophysics

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A b s t r a c t. Amendment of soil with biochar has been shown to enhance fertility and increase crop productivity, but the specific influence of biochar on soil workability remains unclear. Select physico-mechanical and chemical properties of clay loam and sandy loam soils were measured after amendment with wood-derived biochar of two particle size ranges (0.5-425 and 425-850 µm) at five dosages ranging from 0.5 to 10% dry weight. Whereas the clay loam soil workability decreased when the finer wood-derived biochar was applied at rates of 6 or 10%, soil fertility was not enhanced. The sandy loam soil, due to Proctor compaction, significantly decreased in bulk density with 6 and 10% wood-derived biochar amendments indicating higher soil resistance to compaction.

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Shifts in microbial community and water-extractable organic matter composition with biochar amendment in a temperate forest soil

Cited by 221 publications

References 61 publications

Soil microbial responses over 2 years following biochar addition to a north temperate forest

Soil microbial responses over 2 years following biochar addition to a north temperate forest

Dynamics of microbial community composition and soil organic carbon mineralization in soil following addition of pyrogenic and fresh organic matter

Influence of wood-derived biochar on the physico-mechanical and chemical characteristics of agricultural soils

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