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Sugarcane bagasse biochars impact respiration and greenhouse gas emissions from a latosol

  • Biochar for a Sustainable Environment
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

A paucity in knowledge remains on the influence of biochar production temperature and the rate of application on greenhouse gas emissions from soil. The objective of this column experiment was to evaluate a biochar thermosequence by doses on CO2, N2O, and CH4 emissions from a latosol following nitrogen fertilizer application following a pre-incubation period.

Materials and methods

Biochar was produced from sugarcane bagasse pyrolyzed at 300, 500, and 700 °C (BC 300, BC 500, and BC 700, respectively). Biochars were added to air-dried latosol columns at rates of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 15 % (w/w), and the water content was brought to 95 % of water-filled pore space (WFPS). The emissions from columns were tested on days 1, 3, 7, 15, and 30 following a 30-day pre-incubation.

Results and discussion

All treatments showed a decrease in respiration across the study period. The higher doses of biochar of BC 300 and BC 700 resulted in significantly higher respiration than controls on days 15 and 30. Neither biochar dose nor temperature had a significant effect on CH4 emissions during the study period. Application of all biochars suppressed the emissions of N2O at all doses on days 1 and 3, compared to the control. N2O emissions from higher temperature biochar-amended soil at 2, 5, 10, and 15 % were greater than that from corresponding treatments of lower-temperature biochar-amended soil on days 15 and 30.

Conclusions

Soil respiration and overall greenhouse gas emission from latosol increased with biochar dose and pyrolysis temperature in the 30-day study period due to increasing water retention facilitated by biochar. Careful consideration is needed when applying bagasse biochar as it changes N cycling and soil physical properties.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge that this study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41161053, 41271337, and 21577131), the earmarked foundation for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-34), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China (LZ15D010001), and the Special Funding for the Introduced Innovative R&D Team of Dongguan (2014607101003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Protection and Development Utilization of Tropical Crop Germplasm Resources (Hainan University) Ministry of Education, Haikou, Hainan, 570228, China

    Wangang Deng

  2. College of Agriculture, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan, 570228, China

    Wangang Deng & Hailong Wang

  3. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 1243 Bruxner Highway, Wollongbar, NSW, 2477, Australia

    Lukas Van Zwieten

  4. Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou, 571737, China

    Zhaomu Lin

  5. Guangdong Dazhong Agriculture Science Co. Ltd., Hongmei Town, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523169, China

    Xingyuan Liu & Hailong Wang

  6. Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, The University of Auckland, The Faculty of Engineering, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Ajit K Sarmah

  7. Key Laboratory of Soil Contamination Bioremediation of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A&F University, Lin’an, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311300, China

    Hailong Wang

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  1. Wangang Deng
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  2. Lukas Van Zwieten
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  3. Zhaomu Lin
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  4. Xingyuan Liu
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Correspondence to Hailong Wang.

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Responsible editor: Yong Sik Ok

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Deng, W., Van Zwieten, L., Lin, Z. et al. Sugarcane bagasse biochars impact respiration and greenhouse gas emissions from a latosol. J Soils Sediments 17, 632–640 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1347-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1347-4

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