Journal article
Effects of biochar application on soil greenhouse gas fluxes: a meta-analysis
Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Vol.9(4), pp.743-755
2017
Abstract
Biochar application to soils may increase carbon (C) sequestration due to the inputs of recalcitrant organic C. However, the effects of biochar application on the soil greenhouse gases (GHGs) fluxes appear variable among many case studies; therefore the efficacy of biochar as a carbon sequestration agent for climate change mitigation remains uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis of 91 published papers with 552 paired comparisons to obtain a central tendency of three main GHG fluxes (i.e., CO2, CH4, and N2O) in response to biochar application. Our results showed that biochar application significantly increased soil CO2 fluxes by 22.14%, but decreased N2O fluxes by 30.92% and did not affect CH4 fluxes. As a consequence, biochar application may significantly contribute to increased global warming potential (GWP) of total soil GHG fluxes due to the large stimulation of CO2 fluxes. However, soil CO2 fluxes were suppressed when biochar was added to fertilized soils, indicating that biochar application is unlikely to stimulate CO2 fluxes in the agriculture sector, in which N fertilizer inputs are common. Responses of soil GHG fluxes mainly varied with biochar feedstock source and soil texture, and the pyrolysis temperature of biochar. Soil and biochar pH, biochar applied rate and latitude also influence soil GHG fluxes, but to a more limited extent.Our findings provide a scientific basis for developing more rational strategies towards widespread adoption of biochar as a soil amendment for climate change mitigation
Details
- Title
- Effects of biochar application on soil greenhouse gas fluxes: a meta-analysis
- Authors
- Yanghui He (Author) - Fudan University, ChinaXuhui Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaLiling Jiang (Author) - Fudan University, ChinaMing Li (Author) - Fudan University, ChinaZhenggang Du (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaGuiyao Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaJunjiong Shao (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaXihua Wang (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaZhihong Xu (Author) - Griffith UniversityShahla Hosseini Bai (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringHelen M Wallace (Author) - Central Queensland UniversityCheng Yuan Xu (Author) - Central Queensland University
- Publication details
- Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Vol.9(4), pp.743-755
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1111/gcbb.12376
- ISSN
- 1757-1693
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Global Change Biology Bioenergy Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449506902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Agronomy
- Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
- Energy & Fuels
- Environmental Sciences
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