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Initial biochar effects on plant productivity derive from N fertilization

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Abstract

Background and aim

Biochar application to soil is widely claimed to increase plant productivity. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not conclusively described. Here, we aim to elucidate these mechanisms using stable isotope probing.

Methods

We conducted two experiments with uniquely double-labelled (15N and 13C) biochar and its feedstock (residue), applied separately at 15 Mg ha−1. Both experiments contained three treatments: biochar amendment (Biochar), unpyrolysed residue amendment (Residue) and a no addition control (Control). Experiment I was a 119 day pot experiment seeded with Lolium perenne. Experiment II was a 71 day incubation experiment without plants in which CO2 and N2O fluxes were measured.

Results

Both Biochar and Residue significantly increased aboveground productivity compared to Control (140% and 160%, respectively). Initial N immobilisation was stimulated in Residue, whereas not in Biochar. 13C–CO2 analysis confirmed that biochar was significantly more recalcitrant than residue. 15N analysis showed that 2% and 0.3% of grass N was derived from the amended material in Residue and Biochar, respectively.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that biochar-induced yield increases derive from a combination of reduced N immobilization and a moderate N fertilization effect. Although in the short term biochar might offer benefits compared to residue incorporation, it is unlikely that biochar yield gains will be sustainable for the decades to centuries that biochar C can be expected to reside in soil.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (No. GA526/09/1762) and funding from the Emerging Science fund of the Production Ecology and Resource Conservation (PE&RC) graduate school of Wageningen UR, Netherlands. We are also grateful for the assistance of André Maassen for watering plants, and Jaap Nelemans and Willeke van Tintelen for technical assistance in the laboratory and Ana Prada for assistance with formatting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crop and Environment Sciences, Harper Adams University, Newport, TF10 8NB, UK

    Simon Jeffery

  2. Department of Soil Quality, Wageningen University, Wageningen, 6700AA, The Netherlands

    Ilse Memelink & Jan Willem van Groenigen

  3. Low Carbon Energy and Environment Network, Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3EB, UK

    Edward Hodgson & Sian Jones

  4. Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Tess F. J. van de Voorde & Liesje Mommer

  5. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    T. Martijn Bezemer

  6. Institute of Biology, Section Plant Ecology and Phytochemistry, Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    T. Martijn Bezemer

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  1. Simon Jeffery
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Correspondence to Simon Jeffery.

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Jeffery, S., Memelink, I., Hodgson, E. et al. Initial biochar effects on plant productivity derive from N fertilization. Plant Soil 415, 435–448 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3171-z

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