TITLE:
Role of Biochar Amendment on Soil Carbon Mineralization and Microbial Biomass
AUTHORS:
Yimin Wang, Ming Li
KEYWORDS:
Biochar, Soil, Soil Carbon Mineralization, Microbial Biomass
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.6 No.11,
November
30,
2018
ABSTRACT: To understand the influence of biochar properties (pyrolysis temperature and types) on soil physicochemical properties, we investigated the changes of soil organic carbon mineralization, nutrient contents and microbial biomass after 135 d incubation. Results showed that both corn straw (CB) and rice straw (RB) derived biochars increase the mineralization of organic carbon and nitrogen in the soil, and these biochars pyrolysised at 500?C (CB500, RB500) significantly enhanced the mineralization of soil organic nitrogen. In comparison with control treatment, the application of biochar significantly increased the contents of soil organic carbon, available P and K in soil. Moreover, the activity of soil microbe was enhanced with biochar amendment. Among all treatments, RB500 significantly increased the content of soil microbial biomass carbon (379 ± 9 mg?kg?1) in soil. Our results suggested that the application of biochars to soil improve soil quality, while the biochar type and pyrolysis temperature should be taken into consideration before its application in agro-ecosystem.