title: Biochar diminishes nitrous oxide and nitrate leaching from diverse nutrient sources.
abstract: Manure generated by intensive livestock operations poses potential ecological risk in the form of water pollution and greenhouse gas emission. To assess the impact of biochar on coarse-textured soils under contrasting nutrient management regimes, a 55-d incubation was conducted using unplanted soil columns amended with manure, slurry, or fertilizer (plus unamended control), each with or without biochar applied at 2% soil mass (dry weight basis). Under repeated leaching, the cumulative NO emission from the columns was significantly affected by the presence of biochar ( < 0.0001), although these data were not normally distributed. Results indicated that the biochar-amended soils emitted significantly less NO than their unamended counterparts, with the exception of manure-amended soils. The presence of biochar increased the pH of column leachate by 0.08 to 1.70 and significantly decreased the cumulative amount of mineral N leached from the soil. The presence of biochar significantly increased the amount of PO-P in soil leachate, but there was no significant difference between the means for any of the amendments used on their own relative to their biochar-amended counterparts. The data demonstrate that biochar could potentially aid in the mitigation of NO emissions from certain soils and in N loss in leachate from soil amended with slurry, manure, or fertilizer used in livestock systems.
authors.forename: Teri E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Angst
authors.forename: Colin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Reay
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Tanya A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Peshkur
authors.forename: Saran P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sohi
mesh_terms: D005308:Fertilizers; D008372:Manure; D009566:Nitrates; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D008372:Manure; D009566:Nitrates; D012987:Soil; D009609:Nitrous Oxide