Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration after Biochar Application: A Global Meta-Analysis
2021
Gross, Arthur | Bromm, Tobias | Glaser, Bruno
Biochar application to soil has the potential to sequester carbon in the long term because of its high stability and large-scale production potential. However, biochar technologies are still relatively new, and the global factors affecting the long-term fate of biochar in the environment are still poorly understood. To fill this important research gap, a global meta-analysis was conducted including 64 studies with 736 individual treatments. Field experiments covered experimental durations between 1 and 10 years with biochar application amounts between 1 and 100 Mg ha⁻¹. They showed a mean increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks by 13.0 Mg ha⁻¹ on average, corresponding to 29%. Pot and incubation experiments ranged between 1 and 1278 days and biochar amounts between 5 g kg⁻¹ and 200 g kg⁻¹. They raised SOC by 6.3 g kg⁻¹ on average, corresponding to 75%. More SOC was accumulated in long experimental durations of >500 days in pot and incubation experiments and 6–10 years in field experiments than in shorter experimental durations. Organic fertilizer co-applications significantly further increased SOC. Biochar from plant material showed higher C sequestration potential than biochar from fecal matter, due to higher C/N ratio. SOC increases after biochar application were higher in medium to fine grain textured soils than in soils with coarse grain sizes. Our study clearly demonstrated the high C sequestration potential of biochar application to agricultural soils of varying site and soil characteristics.
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