The impact of pristine and modified rice straw biochar on the emission of greenhouse gases from a red acidic soil

Muhammad Numan Khan; Dongchu Li; Asad Shah; Jing Huang; Lu Zhang; Avelino Núñez-Delgado; Tainfu Han; Jiangxue Du; Sehrish Ali; Tanveer Ali Sial; Zhilong Lan; Sikandar Hayat; Yi Song; Yijing Bai; Huimin Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.112676

The impact of pristine and modified rice straw biochar on the emission of greenhouse gases from a red acidic soil

Environ Res. 2022 May 15:208:112676. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112676. Epub 2022 Jan 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Laboratory for Improving Quality of Arable Land, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
² National Engineering Laboratory for Improving Quality of Arable Land, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China; National Observation Station of Qiyang Agri-Ecology System, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qiyang, 426182, Hunan, China, Beijing, 100081, China.
³ Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Engineering Polytechnic School, Campus Univ. s/n, University of Santiago de Compostela, 27002, Lugo, Univ. Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
⁴ College of Natural Resources & Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China.
⁵ College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
⁶ School of Resources and Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, Henan, 454010, China.
⁷ National Engineering Laboratory for Improving Quality of Arable Land, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China; National Observation Station of Qiyang Agri-Ecology System, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qiyang, 426182, Hunan, China, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: zhanghuimin@caas.cn.

PMID: 34998810
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112676

Abstract

With the growing awareness of environmental impacts of land degradation, pressure is mounting to improve the health and productivity of degrading soils, which could be achieved through the use of raw and modified biochar materials. The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the efficiency of pristine and Mg-modified rice-straw biochar (RBC and MRBC) for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and improvement of soil properties. A 90 days' incubation experiment was conducted using treatments which included control (CK), two RBC dosages (1% and 2.5%), and two MRBC doses (1% and 2.5%). Soil physico-chemical and biological properties were monitored to assess the effects due to the treatments. Results showed that both biochars improved soil physicochemical properties as the rate of biochar increased. The higher rates of biochar (RBC_2.5 and MRBC_2.5) particularly increased enzymatic activities (Catalase, Invertase and Urease) in comparison to the control. Data obtained for phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentration indicated an increase in the Gram-negative bacteria (G-), actinomycetes and total PLFA with the increased biochar rate, while Gram-positive bacteria (G+) showed no changes to either level of biochar. As regards fungi concentration, it decreased with the biochar addition, whereas arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) showed non-significant changes. The release of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O showed a decreasing trend over the time. CO₂ cumulative emission decreased for MRBC₁ (5%) and MRBC_2.5 (9%) over the pristine biochar treatments. The cumulative N₂O emission decreased by 15-32% for RBC₁ and RBC_2.5 and by 22-33% for MRBC₁ and MRBC_2.5 as compared to the control, whereas CH₄ emission showed non-significant changes. Overall, the present study provides for the first-time data that could facilitate the correct use of Mg-modified rice biochar as a soil additive for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emission and improvement of soil properties.

Keywords: Biochar; Enzymatic activities; Greenhouse gas emission; Magnesium modification; Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Agriculture / methods
Charcoal
Greenhouse Gases*
Nitrous Oxide
Oryza*
Soil / chemistry

Substances

Greenhouse Gases
Soil
biochar
Charcoal
Nitrous Oxide