Biochar and denitrification in soils: when, how much and why does biochar reduce N2O emissions?
Open accessAbstract
Agricultural soils represent the main source of anthropogenic N2O emissions. Recently, interactions of black carbon with the nitrogen cycle have been recognized and the use of biochar is being investigated as a means to reduce N2O emissions. However, the mechanisms of reduction remain unclear. Here we demonstrate the significant impact of biochar on denitrification, with a consistent decrease in N2O emissions by 10-90% in 14 different agricultural soils. Using the (15)N gas-flux method we observed a consistent reduction of the N2O/(N2 + N2O) ratio, which demonstrates that biochar facilitates the last step of denitrification. Biochar acid buffer capacity was identified as an important aspect for mitigation that was not primarily caused by a pH shift in soil. We propose the function of biochar as an "electron shuttle" that facilitates the transfer of electrons to soil denitrifying microorganisms, which together with its liming effect would promote the reduction of N2O to N2.
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Biochar can act as an electron shuttle to transfer electrons to denitrifying microbes, promoting conversion of N2O to N2.
“It has also been proposed that biochar can act as an “electron shuttle” to transfer electrons to denitrifying microbes (Cayuela et al., 2013), promoting to the last step in the denitrification process converting N 2 O to N 2”
From Comparing straw, compost, and biochar regarding their suitability as agricultural soil amendments to affect soil structure, nutrient leaching, microbial communities, and the fate of pesticides (2021) · cites this paper as Cayuela et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Cayuela, M. L., Sánchez-Monedero, M. A., Roig, A., Hanley, K., Enders, A., & Lehmann, J.
- Affiliations
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- Cornell University (US)
- ORCID
- Lehmann, Johannes
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2013-04-25
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1732-1732
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3635057
- OpenAlex
- W2110934367
- Cited by
- 743
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 52 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 70 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 69 · 2018: 61 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 56 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 46 · 2013: 7
- FWCI
- 71.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0965336)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (IOS-0965336)
- European Commission (277069)
- Fondation des Fondateurs
- FP7 People: Marie-Curie Actions
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Wastewater Treatment and Nitrogen Removal
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Keywords
- biochar, denitrification, nitrous oxide emissions, agricultural soils, black carbon, nitrogen cycling, electron shuttles, liming effect, N2O/N2 ratio, greenhouse gas emissions reduction
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Charcoal, Gases, Nitrogen, Nitrous Oxide, Soil, Denitrification
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