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Soil biota, carbon cycling and crop plant biomass responses to biochar in a temperate mesocosm experiment

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Abstract

Background and aims

Biochar addition to soil is a carbon capture and storage option with potential to mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, yet the consequences for soil organisms and linked ecosystem processes are inconsistent or unknown. We tested biochar impact on soil biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and their interactions, in temperate agricultural soils.

Methods

We performed a 27-month factorial experiment to determine effects of biochar, soil texture, and crop species treatments on microbial biomass (PFLA), soil invertebrate density, crop biomass and ecosystem CO2 flux in plant-soil mesocosms.

Results

Overall soil microbial biomass, microarthropod abundance and crop biomass were unaffected by biochar, although there was an increase in fungal-bacterial ratio and a positive relationship between the 16:1ω5 fatty acid marker of AMF mass and collembolan density in the biochar-treated mesocosms. Ecosystem CO2 fluxes were unaffected by biochar, but soil carbon content of biochar-treated mesocosms was significantly lower, signifying a possible movement/loss of biochar or priming effect.

Conclusions

Compared to soil texture and crop type, biochar had minimal impact on soil biota, crop production and carbon cycling. Future research should examine subtler effects of biochar on biotic regulation of ecosystem production and if the apparent robustness to biochar weakens over greater time spans or in combination with other ecological perturbations.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council Open CASE PhD studentship grant (NE/HO18085/1). Thanks to Blair McKenzie and Euan Caldwell (James Hutton Institute) and Sean Case (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) for providing advice and assistance with experimental set-up. Thanks to Adam Butler (Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland) for advice on LMMs. Thanks to Stuart Smith, Emily Taylor, Scott McKenzie, Will Hentley, Albert Johnston and Wilma Johnston for assistance with experiment set-up, maintenance and data collection.

Data statement

Raw data will be archived at the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre http://eidc.ceh.ac.uk/. Summary data (means + SE) for soil invertebrate densities, above-belowground crop biomass and PFLA are contained in online resources linked to this article (Tables 7S–9S).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, EH26 0QB, UK

    Sarah A. McCormack & Adam J. Vanbergen

  2. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4AP, UK

    Sarah A. McCormack & Nick Ostle

  3. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    Richard D. Bardgett

  4. The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, UK

    David W. Hopkins

  5. SRUC – Scotland’s Rural College, Peter Wilson Building, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK

    David W. Hopkins

  6. Centralised Chemistry Facility, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster, Bailrigg, LA1 4AP, UK

    M. Glória Pereira

  7. Agroécologie, AgroSup Dijon, INRA, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, F-21000, Dijon, France

    Adam J. Vanbergen

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  1. Sarah A. McCormack
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Correspondence to Adam J. Vanbergen.

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McCormack, S.A., Ostle, N., Bardgett, R.D. et al. Soil biota, carbon cycling and crop plant biomass responses to biochar in a temperate mesocosm experiment. Plant Soil 440, 341–356 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04062-5

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