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Temperature sensitivity of different soil carbon pools under biochar addition

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the temperature sensitivity of labile and relatively recalcitrant forest soil carbon (C) pools amended with biochar during short-term incubation. Biochars were prepared using sugar cane residue under pyrolysis temperatures of 300 and 700 °C (i.e., BC300 and BC700), respectively. Coarse particulate organic matter and acid hydrolysis residue were separated from a forest soil and treated as the labile and recalcitrant C pools of the soil, respectively. Temperature sensitivity of the soil C pools was characterized using the Q10 values (i.e., the proportional increase in respiration per 10 °C rise). The increased Q10 values of treatments in the earlier stage were attributable to instantaneously increased aromatic C content. The following decreased Q10 values were related to the consumption of labile C. However, the two types of biochars led to similar Q10 values in the same C pools at the later stage of incubation, which was closely related to the nearly humic-like component content in the dissolved organic matter. The different temporal distributions of Q10 values were attributable to changes of aromatic C content and continuous consumption of labile components.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Xiaojie Wang, Guanhong Chen, Shuyan Wang, Leiyi Zhang & Renduo Zhang

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  1. Xiaojie Wang
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  2. Guanhong Chen
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  3. Shuyan Wang
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  4. Leiyi Zhang
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  5. Renduo Zhang
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Correspondence to Renduo Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Wang, X., Chen, G., Wang, S. et al. Temperature sensitivity of different soil carbon pools under biochar addition. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 4130–4140 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3822-0

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