Biochar effect on the mineralization of soil organic matter

Autores

  • Sander Bruun University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Life Sciences
  • Tarek EL-Zahery Mansoura University, Faculty of Agriculture

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-3921.pab2012.v47.9849

Palavras-chave:

terra preta de índio, estabilidade da matéria orgânica, efeito “priming”, radiocarbono

Resumo

The objective of this work was to verify whether the addition of biochar to the soil affects the degradation of litter and of soil organic matter (SOM). In order to investigate the effect of biochar on the mineralization of barley straw, soil was incubated with 14C-labelled barley straw with or without unlabelled biochar. To investigate the effect of straw on the mineralization of biochar, soil was incubated with 14C-labelled biochar with or without straw. In addition, to investigate the effect of biochar on old SOM, a soil labelled by applying labelled straw 40 years ago was incubated with different levels of biochar. All experiments had a control treatment, without any soil amendment. The effect of biochar on the straw mineralization was small and nonsignificant. Without biochar, 48±0.2% of the straw carbon was mineralized within the 451 days of the experiment. In comparison, 45±1.6% of C was mineralized after biochar addition of 1.5 g kg‑1. In the SOM‑labelled soil, the organic matter mineralized more slowly with the increasing doses of biochar. Biochar addition at 7.7 g kg‑1 reduced SOM mineralization from 6.6 to 6.3%, during the experimental period. The addition of 15.5 g kg‑1 of biochar reduced the mineralized SOM to 5.7%. There is no evidence of increased degradation of either litter or SOM due to biochar addition; consequently, there is no evidence of decreased stability of SOM.

Biografia do Autor

Sander Bruun, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Life Sciences

Department of Agricultural and Ecology

Tarek EL-Zahery, Mansoura University, Faculty of Agriculture

Soils Department, Faculty of Agriculture Mansoura University

Publicado

2012-06-15

Como Citar

Bruun, S., & EL-Zahery, T. (2012). Biochar effect on the mineralization of soil organic matter. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira, 47(5), 665–671. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-3921.pab2012.v47.9849