title: Reduced carbon sequestration potential of biochar in acidic soil.
abstract: Biochar application in soil has been proposed as a promising method for carbon sequestration. While factors affecting its carbon sequestration potential have been widely investigated, the number of studies on the effect of soil pH is limited. To investigate the carbon sequestration potential of biochar across a series of soil pH levels, the total carbon emission, CO2release from inorganic carbon, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) of six soils with various pH levels were compared after the addition of straw biochar produced at different pyrolysis temperatures. The results show that the acidic soils released more CO2(1.5-3.5 times higher than the control) after the application of biochar compared with neutral and alkaline soils. The degradation of both native soil organic carbon (SOC) and biochar were accelerated. More inorganic CO2release in acidic soil contributed to the increased degradation of biochar. Higher proportion of gram-positive bacteria in acidic soil (25%-36%) was responsible for the enhanced biochar degradation and simultaneously co-metabolism of SOC. In addition, lower substrate limitation for bacteria, indicated by higher C-O stretching after the biochar application in the acidic soil, also caused more CO2release. In addition to the soil pH, other factors such as clay contents and experimental duration also affected the phsico-chemical and biotic processes of SOC dynamics. Gram-negative/gram-positive bacteria ratio was found to be negatively related to priming effects, and suggested to serve as an indicator for priming effect. In general, the carbon sequestration potential of rice-straw biochar in soil reduced along with the decrease of soil pH especially in a short-term. Given wide spread of acidic soils in China, carbon sequestration potential of biochar may be overestimated without taking into account the impact of soil pH.
authors: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.
authors: Yaqi
authors: Y
authors: Sheng
authors: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Zhan
authors: Department of Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution Process and Control, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China. Electronic address: zlz@zju.edu.cn.
authors: Lizhong
authors: L
authors: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D002606:Charcoal / Q000378:metabolism*; D002681:China; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D012987:Soil; C540010:biochar; D002606:Charcoal; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Biochar; Microorganisms; Soil carbon sequestration; pH