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Effect of biochar addition on short-term N2O and CO2 emissions during repeated drying and wetting of an anthropogenic alluvial soil

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Abstract

Agricultural soils are an important source of greenhouse gases (GHG). Biochar application to such soils has the potential of mitigating global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Under irrigation, the topsoils in arid regions experience repeated drying and wetting during the crop growing season. Biochar incorporation into these soils would change the soil microbial environment and hence affect GHG emissions. Little information, however, is available regarding the effect of biochar addition on carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils undergoing repeated drying and wetting. Here, we report the results of a 49-day aerobic incubation experiment, incorporating biochar into an anthropogenic alluvial soil in an arid region of Xinjiang Province, China, and measuring CO2 and N2O emissions. Under both drying–wetting and constantly moist conditions, biochar amendment significantly increased cumulative CO2 emission. At the same time, there was a significant reduction (up to ~20 %) in cumulative N2O emission, indicating that the addition of biochar to irrigated agricultural soils may effectively slow down global warming in arid regions of China.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support for this work was given by International Scientific and Technological Cooperation and Exchange Projects (2015DFG92450), 973 Program (No. 2013CB956702), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (S&T programs assisting Xinjiang), the International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Project of Guizhou Province (Grant Number G [2012]7050), “The Dawn of West China” Talent Training Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Number [2012]179) and the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Number SKLEG2014912).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Fang Yang, Xinqing Lee, Bing Wang, Jianzhong Cheng & Qian Wang

  2. Chengdu Hydrogeological and Engineering Geological Team, Chengdu, 610072, China

    Fang Yang

  3. Landcare Research, Private Bag, 11052, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand

    Benny K. G. Theng

  4. Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qian Wang

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  1. Fang Yang
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Correspondence to Xinqing Lee or Bing Wang.

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Yang, F., Lee, X., Theng, B.K.G. et al. Effect of biochar addition on short-term N2O and CO2 emissions during repeated drying and wetting of an anthropogenic alluvial soil. Environ Geochem Health 39, 635–647 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-016-9838-9

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