Microbial biomass growth, following incorporation of biochars produced at 350 °C or 700 °C, in a silty-clay loam soil of high and low pH
Abstract
Biochar has been widely proposed as a soil amendment, with reports of benefits to soil physical, chemical and biological properties. To quantify the changes in soil microbial biomass and to understand the mechanisms involved, two biochars were prepared at 350 °C (BC350) and 700 °C (BC700) from Miscanthus giganteus, a C4 plant, naturally enriched with 13C. The biochars were added to soils of about pH 4 and 8, which were both sampled from a soil pH gradient of the same soil type. Isotopic (13C) techniques were used to investigate biochar C availability to the biomass. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the microbial colonization, and Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) to highlight structural changes at the surface of the biochars. After 90 days incubation, BC350 significantly increased the biomass C concentration relative to the controls in both the low (p < 0.05) and high pH soil (p < 0.01). It declined between day 90 and 180. The same trend occurred with soil microbial ATP. Overall, biomass C and ATP concentrations were closely correlated over all treatments (R2 = 0.87). This indicates that neither the biomass C, nor ATP analyses were affected by the biochars, unless, of course, they were both affected in the same way, which is highly unlikely. About 20% of microbial biomass 13C was derived from BC350 after 90 days of incubation in both low and high pH soils. However, less than 2% of biomass 13C was derived from BC700 in the high pH soil, showing very low biological availability of BC700. After 90 days of incubation, microbial colonization in the charsphere (defined here as the interface between soil and biochar) was more pronounced with the BC350 in the low pH soil. This was consistent with the biomass C and ATP results. The microbial colonization following biochar addition in our study was mainly attributed to biochar C availability and its large surface area. There was a close linear relationship between 13CO2 evolved and biomass 13C, suggesting that biochar mineralization is essentially a biological process. The interactions between non-living and living organic C forms, which are vital in terms of soil fertility and the global C cycle, may be favoured in the charsphere, which has unique properties, distinct from both the internal biochar and the bulk soil.
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Biochars produced through a slow pyrolysis process at temperature of >500 °C from various feedstocks with lower ligno-cellulosic contents (i.e., manure, fruit peels, leaf litter) resulted in greater microbial biomass in biochar-amended soils.
“Some other studies also reported that biochars produced through a slow pyrolysis process at temperature of >500 °C from various feedstocks with lower ligno-cellulosic contents (i.e., manure, fruit peels, leaf litter) resulted in greater microbial biomass in biochar-amended soils (Ameloot et al., 2013;Domene et al., 2014;Luo et al., 2013).”
From Biochar implications for sustainable agriculture and environment: A review (2019) · cites this paper as Luo et al., 2013
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“Moreover, the presence of recalcitrant C or toxic aromatic compounds under repeated D-W2 and D-W3 can result in a decline in bacterial biomass [47].”
Background
- Authors
- Luo, Y., Durenkamp, M., De Nobili, M., Lin, Q., Devonshire, B. J., & Brookes, P. C.
- Affiliations
- Rothamsted Research (GB)
- China Agricultural University (CN)
- Venue
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-02
- Volume
- 57
- Pages
- 513-523
- ISSN
- 0038-0717 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2020319781
- Cited by
- 310
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 20.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry (publishedVersion)
- Rothamsted Repository (Rothamsted Repository) (submittedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System (University of Udine) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Chinese Scholarship Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- NSF (41071206)
- Biotechnology and Biological Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Keywords
- biochar, soil microbial biomass, soil pH, Miscanthus × giganteus, biochar pyrolysis temperature, microbial colonization, soil organic carbon, soil fertility, soil amendment, ATP, microbial biomass carbon, soil carbon sequestration, biochar surface area
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