Abstract
Background and Aims
Biochar has been shown to aid soil fertility and crop production in some circumstances. We investigated effects of the addition of Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) biochar to a coarse textured soil on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics.
Methods
Wheat was grown for 10 weeks, in soil treated with biochar (0, 5, or 25 t ha−1) in full factorial combination with nitrogen (N) treatments (organic N, inorganic N, or control). Samples were analysed for plant biomass, soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN), N mineralisation, CO2 evolution, community level physiological profiles (CLPP) and ammonia oxidising bacterial community structure.
Results
MBC significantly decreased with biochar addition while MBN was unaltered. Net N mineralisation was highest in control soil and significantly decreased with increasing addition of biochar. These findings could not be attributed to sorption of inorganic N to biochar. CO2 evolution decreased with 5 t ha−1 biochar but not 25 t ha−1. Biochar addition at 25 t ha−1 changed the CLPP, while the ammonia oxidising bacterial community structure changed only when biochar was added with a N source.
Conclusion
We conclude that the activity of the microbial community decreased in the presence of biochar, through decreased soil organic matter decomposition and N mineralisation which may have been caused by the decreased MBC.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
analysis of variance
- AOB:
-
ammonia oxidising bacteria
- BC:
-
black carbon
- CLPP:
-
community level physiological profile
- DMRT:
-
Duncan’s multiple range test
- EC:
-
electrical conductivity
- IRGA:
-
infra-red gas analyser
- MBC:
-
microbial biomass carbon
- MBN:
-
microbial biomass nitrogen
- PCR:
-
polymerase chain reaction
- PERMANOVA:
-
permutational analysis of variance
- T-RFLP:
-
terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism
- WHC:
-
water holding capacity
References
Aciego Pietri JC, Brookes PC (2008) Relationships between soil pH and microbial properties in a UK arable soil. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1856–1861
Anderson, JPE (1982) Soil Respiration. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR. (eds), Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties, Second Edition. Agronomy Monograph 9:ASA–SSSA, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 831–871
Anderson MJ (2001) Permutation tests for univariate or multivariate analysis of variance and regression. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:626–639
Anderson JPE, Domsch K (1978) A physiological method for the quantitative measurement of microbial biomass in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 10:215–221
Atkinson CJ, Fitzgerald JD, Hipps NA (2010) Potential mechanisms for achieving agricultural benefits from biochar application to temperate soils: a review. Plant Soil 337:1–18
Ball PN, MacKenzie MD, DeLuca TH, Holben WE (2010) Wildfire and charcoal enhance nitrification and ammonium-oxidizing bacterial abundance in dry montane forest soils. J Environ Qual 39:1243–1253
Berglund LM, DeLuca TH, Zackrisson O (2004) Activated carbon amendments to soil alter nitrification rates in Scots pine forests. Soil Biol Biochem 36:2067–2073
Blackwood CB, Hudleston D, Zak DR, Buyer JS (2007) Interpreting ecological diversity indices applied to terminal restriction fragment polymorphism data: insights from simulated microbial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 73:5276–5283
Brunauer S, Emmett PH, Teller E (1938) Adsorption of gases in multimolecular layers. J Am Chem Soc 60:309–319
Chan KY, Van Zwieten L, Meszaros I, Downie A, Joseph S (2008) Using poultry litter biochars as soil amendments. Aust J Soil Res 46:437–444
Cheng C, Lehmann J, Thies JE, Burton SD, Engelhard MH (2006) Oxidation of black carbon by biotic and abiotic processes. Org Geochem 37:1477–1488
Cheng C, Lehmann J, Engelhard MH (2008) Natural oxidation of black carbon in soils: Changes in molecular form and surface charge along a climosequence. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:1598–1610
Clough TJ, Condron LM (2010) Biochar and the nitrogen cycle: introduction. J Environ Qual 39:1218–1223
DeBoer W, Kowalchuk GA (2001) Nitrification in acid soil: micro-organisms and mechanisms. Soil Biol Biochem 33:853–866
Deenik JL, McClellan T, Uehara G, Antal MJ, Campbell S (2010) Charcoal volatile matter content influence plant growth and soil nitrogen transformations. Soil Sci Soc Am J 74:1259–1270
Degens BP, Harris JA (1997) Development of a physiological approach to measuring the catabolic diversity of soil microbial communities. Soil Biol Biochem 29:1309–1320
DeLuca TH, MacKenzie MD, Gundale MJ, Holben WE (2006) Wildfire-produced charcoal directly influences nitrogen cycling in Ponderosa pine forests. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:448–453
Dunbar J, Ticknor LO, Kuske CR (2001) Phylogenetic specificity and reproducibility and new method for analysis of terminal restriction fragment profiles of 16S rRNA genes from bacterial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:190–197
Durenkamp M, Luo Y, Brookes PC (2010) Impact of black carbon addition to soil on the determination of soil microbial biomass by fumigation extraction. Soil Biol Biochem 42:2026–2029
Girvan MS, Campbell CD, Killham K, Prosser JI, Glover LA (2005) Bacterial diversity promotes community stability and functional resilience after perturbation. Environ Microbiol 7:301–313
Glaser B, Lehmann J, Zech W (2002) Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal—a review. Biol Fertil Soil 35:219–230
Gleeson DB, Müller C, Banerjee S, Ma W, Siciliano SD, Murphy DV (2010) Response of ammonia oxidizing archaea and bacteria to changing water filled pore space. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1888–1891
Graber ER, Harel YM, Kolton M, Cytryn E, Silber A, David DR, Tsechansky L, Borenshtein M, Elad Y (2010) Biochar impact on development and productivity of pepper and tomato grown in fertigated soilless media. Plant Soil 337:481–496
Griffiths RI, Whiteley AS, O’Donnell AG, Bailey MJ (2000) Rapid method for coextraction of DNA and RNA from natural environments for analysis of ribosomal DNA- and RNA-based microbial community composition. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:5488–5491
Gundale MJ, DeLuca TH (2007) Charcoal effects on soil solution chemistry and growth of Koeleria macrantha in the ponderosa pine/Douglas fir ecosystem. Biol Fertil Soil 43:303–311
Hina K, Bishop P, Camps Arbestain M, Calvelo-Pereira R, Maciá-Agulló JA, Hindmarsh J, Hanly JA, Macías F, Hedley MJ (2010) Producing biochars with enhanced surface activity through alkaline pretreatment of feedstocks. Aust J Soil Res 48:606–617
Horz HP, Barbrook A, Field CB, Bohannan BJM (2004) Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria respond to multifactorial global change. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:15136–15141
Isbell RF (1996) The Australian soil classification. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne
Joergensen RG, Brookes PC (1990) Ninhydrin-reactive nitrogen measurements of microbial biomass in 0.5 M K2SO4 soil extracts. Soil Biol Biochem 22:1023–1027
Jones DL, Murphy DV, Khalid M, Ahmad W, Edwards-Jones G, DeLuca TH (2011) Short-term biochar-induced increase in soil CO2 release is both biotically and abiotically mediated. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1723–1731
Kamphake LJ, Hannah SA, Cohen JM (1967) Automated analysis for nitrate by hydrazine reduction. Water Res 1:205–216
Kempers AJ, Luft AG (1988) Re-examination of the determination of environmental nitrate as nitrite by reduction with hydrazine. Anal 113:1117–1120
Keith A, Singh B, Singh BP (2011) Interactive priming of biochar and labile organic matter mineralization in a smectite-rich soil. Environ Sci Technol In press. doi:10.1021/es202186j
Kolb SE, Fermanich KJ, Dornbush ME (2009) Effect of charcoal quantity on microbial biomass and activity in temperate soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 73:1173–1181
Krom MD (1980) Spectrophotometric determination of ammonia; a study of a modified Berthelot reaction using salicylate and dichloroisocyanurate. Anal 105:305–316
Lalor BM, Cookson WR, Murphy DV (2007) Comparison of two methods that assess soil community level physiological profiles in a forest ecosystem. Soil Biol Biochem 39:454–462
Lawes Agricultural Trust (2007) Genstat 10th Edition. VSN International Ltd, Hemel Hempstead, U.K
Lehmann J, da Silva JP, Steiner C, Nehls T, Zech W, Glaser B (2003) Nutrient availability and leaching in an archaeological Anthrosol and a Ferralsol of the Central Amazon basin: fertilizer, manure and charcoal amendments. Plant Soil: 249:343–357
Lehmann J, Joseph S (2009) Biochar for environmental management: an introduction. In: Lehmann J, Joseph S (eds) Biochar for environmental management, science and technology. Earthscan, London, pp 1–12
Lehmann J, Gaunt J, Rondon M (2006) Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems – a review. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 11:403–427
Lehmann J, Rillig M, Thies J, Masiello CA, Hockaday WC, Crowley D (2011) Biochar effects on soil biota - a review. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1812–1836
Liang B, Lehmann J, Sohi SP, Thies JE, O’Neill B, Trujillo L, Gaunt J, Solomon D, Grossman J, Neves EG, Luizão FJ (2010) Black carbon affects the cycling of non-black carbon in soil. Org Geochem 41:206–213
Liang B, Lehmann J, Solomon D, Kinyangi J, Grossman J, O’Neill B, Skjemstad JO, Thies J, Luizão FJ, Peterson J, Neves EG (2006) Black carbon increases cation exchange capacity in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1719–1730
Ogawa M, Okimori Y, Takahashi F (2006) Carbon sequestration by carbonisation of biomass and forestation: three case studies. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 11:429–444
Pietikäinen J, Kiikkilä O, Fritze H (2000) Charcoal as a habitat for microbes and its effect on the microbial community of the underlying humus. Oikos 89:231–242
Plymouth Marine Laboratory (2007) Primer 6 and Permanova+β18. Primer E Ltd, Roborough
Preston CM, Schmidt MWI (2006) Black (pyrogenic) carbon: a synthesis of current knowledge and uncertainties with special consideration of boreal regions. Biogeosci 3:397–420
Rayment GE, Lyons DJ (2011) Alkaline earth carbonates. In: Rayment GE, Lyons DJ (eds) Soil chemical methods - Australasia. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, pp 415–425
R Core Development Team (2007) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
Rotthauwe JH, Witzel KP, Liesack W (1997) The ammonia monooxygenase structural gene amoA as a functional marker: molecular fine scale analysis of natural ammonia oxidising populations. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:4704–4712
Scallan Ú, Liliensiek A, Clipson N, Connolly J (2008) RiboSort: a program for automated data preparation and exploratory analysis of microbial community fingerprints. Mol Ecol Notes 8:95–98
Schmidt MWI, Noack AG (2000) Black carbon in soils and sediments: Analysis, distribution, implications, and current challenges. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 14:777–793
Searle PL (1984) The Berthelot or indophenol reaction and its use in the analytical chemistry of nitrogen – a review. Anal 109:549–568
Smith JL, Collins HP, Bailey VL (2010) The effect of young biochar on soil respiration. Soil Biol Biochem 42:2345–2347
Sohi SP, Krull E, Lopez-Capel E, Bol R (2010) A review of biochar and its use and function in soil. Adv Agron 105:47–82
Sparling GP, Gupta VVSR, Zhu C (1993) Release of ninhydrin-reactive compounds during fumigation of soil to estimate microbial C and N. Soil Biol Biochem 25:1803–1805
Spokas KA, Baker JM, Reicosky DC (2010) Ethylene: potential key for biochar amendment impacts. Plant Soil 333:443–452
Steinbeiss S, Gleixner G, Antonietti M (2009) Effect of biochar amendment on soil carbon balance and soil microbial activity. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1301–1310
Steiner C, Das KC, Garcia M, Förster B, Zech W (2008) Charcoal and smoke extract stimulate the soil microbial community in a highly weathered xanthic Ferralsol. Pedobiol 51:359–366
Stevenson BA, Sparling GP, Schipper LA, Degens BP, Duncan LC (2004) Pasture and forest soil microbial communities show distinct patterns in their catabolic respiration responses at a landscape scale. Soil Biol Biochem 36:49–55
Strong DT, Sale PWG, Helyar KR (1998) The influence of the soil matrix on nitrogen mineralisation and nitrification. II. The pore system as a framework for mapping the organisation of the soil matrix. Aust J Soil Res 36:855–872
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707
Wu J, Joergensen RG, Pommerening B, Chaussod R, Brookes PC (1990) Measurement of soil microbial biomass C by fumigation-extraction—an automated procedure. Soil Biol Biochem 22:1167–1169
Zackrisson O, Nilsson MC, Wardle DA (1996) Key ecological function of charcoal from wildfire in the Boreal forest. Oikos 77:10–19
Zimmerman AR (2010) Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar). Environ Sci Technol 44:1295–1301
Acknowledgements
DND and DVM were funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and DBG by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant (DP0985832). DLJ was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. The authors thank Prof. R.J. Gilkes for his characterisation advice and Dr Y. Sawada and Mr M.N. Smirk for their technical assistance. The authors also acknowledge Dr P.S. Blackwell, of the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), for providing the soil, biochar and advice.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Johannes Lehmann.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dempster, D.N., Gleeson, D.B., Solaiman, Z.M. et al. Decreased soil microbial biomass and nitrogen mineralisation with Eucalyptus biochar addition to a coarse textured soil. Plant Soil 354, 311–324 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1067-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1067-5