Biochar to improve soil fertility. A review

Soil mineral depletion is a major issue due mainly to soil erosion and nutrient leaching. The addition of biochar is a solution because biochar has been shown to improve soil fertility, to promote plant growth, to increase crop yield, and to reduce contaminations. We review here biochar potential to improve soil fertility. The main properties of biochar are the following: high surface area with many functional groups, high nutrient content, and slow-release fertilizer. We discuss the influence of feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, pH, application rates, and soil types. We review the mechanisms ruling the adsorption of nutrients by biochar.

[1]  Shenggao Lu,et al.  Effect of rice husk biochar and coal fly ash on some physical properties of expansive clayey soil (Vertisol) , 2014 .

[2]  Y. Inoue,et al.  Biochar amendment techniques for upland rice production in Northern Laos 1. Soil physical properties, leaf SPAD and grain yield , 2009 .

[3]  A. Zimmerman,et al.  Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar). , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[4]  T. Clough,et al.  Biochar adsorbed ammonia is bioavailable , 2011, Plant and Soil.

[5]  C. Stewart,et al.  Co‐generated fast pyrolysis biochar mitigates green‐house gas emissions and increases carbon sequestration in temperate soils , 2013 .

[6]  S. Biniak,et al.  Influence of the surface chemistry of modified activated carbon on its electrochemical behaviour in the presence of lead(II) ions , 2004 .

[7]  Hongwei Wu,et al.  Removal and Recycling of Inherent Inorganic Nutrient Species in Mallee Biomass and Derived Biochars by Water Leaching , 2011 .

[8]  P. Lavelle,et al.  Contrasted effect of biochar and earthworms on rice growth and resource allocation in different soils , 2010 .

[9]  Bernd Marschner,et al.  Interactive priming of black carbon and glucose mineralisation , 2004 .

[10]  Paul Munroe,et al.  An investigation into the reactions of biochar in soil , 2010 .

[11]  Hongyan Jin.  Characterization Of Microbial Life Colonizing Biochar And Biochar-Amended Soils , 2010 .

[12]  W. Holben,et al.  Wildfire and charcoal enhance nitrification and ammonium-oxidizing bacterial abundance in dry montane forest soils. , 2010, Journal of environmental quality.

[13]  Mark H. Engelhard,et al.  Natural oxidation of black carbon in soils: Changes in molecular form and surface charge along a climosequence , 2008 .

[14]  Irina Subbotina,et al.  Black carbon decomposition and incorporation into soil microbial biomass estimated by 14C labeling , 2009 .

[15]  Ronghou Liu,et al.  Characterization of biochar from fast pyrolysis and its effect on chemical properties of the tea garden soil , 2014 .

[16]  Julie M Grossman,et al.  Black carbon affects the cycling of non-black carbon in soil , 2010 .

[17]  Winfried E. H. Blum,et al.  Nitrogen retention and plant uptake on a highly weathered central Amazonian Ferralsol amended with compost and charcoal , 2008 .

[18]  M. Fiers,et al.  Biochar induced soil microbial community change: Implications for biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus , 2011 .

[19]  Pollock Mr.  The growth of H. pertussis on media without blood. , 1947 .

[20]  G. Pan,et al.  Can biochar amendment be an ecological engineering technology to depress N2O emission in rice paddies?—A cross site field experiment from South China , 2012 .

[21]  L. Zwieten,et al.  Effect of biochar amendment on the soil-atmosphere exchange of greenhouse gases from an intensive subtropical pasture in northern New South Wales, Australia , 2011, Plant and Soil.

[22]  P. Boeckx,et al.  Effect of different biochar and fertilizer types on N2O and NO emissions , 2014 .

[23]  P. Brookes,et al.  Relationships between soil pH and microbial properties in a UK arable soil , 2008 .

[24]  Gareth Edwards-Jones,et al.  Biochar-mediated changes in soil quality and plant growth in a three year field trial , 2012 .

[25]  Jason D. Hoeksema,et al.  The promise and the potential consequences of the global transport of mycorrhizal fungal inoculum. , 2006, Ecology letters.

[26]  Masanori Okazaki,et al.  Effects of charcoal addition on N2O emissions from soil resulting from rewetting air-dried soil in short-term laboratory experiments , 2007 .

[27]  Christopher Ennis,et al.  Biochar: Carbon Sequestration, Land Remediation, and Impacts on Soil Microbiology , 2012 .

[28]  N. Comerford,et al.  Sorption and desorption of phosphate on biochar and biochar–soil mixtures , 2013 .

[29]  Davey L. Jones,et al.  Biochar effects on soil nutrient transformations , 2009 .

[30]  D. Reicosky,et al.  Impacts of woodchip biochar additions on greenhouse gas production and sorption/degradation of two herbicides in a Minnesota soil. , 2009, Chemosphere.

[31]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Short-term mesofauna responses to soil additions of corn stover biochar and the role of microbial biomass , 2015 .

[32]  Y. Hatate,et al.  Removal of nitrate-nitrogen from drinking water using bamboo powder charcoal. , 2004, Bioresource technology.

[33]  D. Laird,et al.  Impact of biochar amendments on the quality of a typical Midwestern agricultural soil , 2010 .

[34]  A. Cowie,et al.  Influence of biochars on nitrous oxide emission and nitrogen leaching from two contrasting soils. , 2010, Journal of environmental quality.

[35]  T. Balser,et al.  Microbial stress-response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. , 2007, Ecology.

[36]  John Gaunt,et al.  Bio-char Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems – A Review , 2006 .

[37]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  Using poultry litter biochars as soil amendments , 2008 .

[38]  Young-Kwon Park,et al.  Comparison of biochar properties from biomass residues produced by slow pyrolysis at 500°C. , 2013, Bioresource technology.

[39]  P. A. Jensen,et al.  Retention of Organic Elements during Solid Fuel Pyrolysis with Emphasis on the Peculiar Behavior of Nitrogen , 2005 .

[40]  Ajay K. Dalai,et al.  Steam and KOH activation of biochar : Experimental and modeling studies , 2008 .

[41]  K. Ro,et al.  Impact of pyrolysis temperature and manure source on physicochemical characteristics of biochar. , 2012, Bioresource technology.

[42]  A. Page.  Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties. , 1982 .

[43]  Warren J. Busscher,et al.  Selection and Use of Designer Biochars to Improve Characteristics of Southeastern USA Coastal Plain Degraded Soils , 2013 .

[44]  Hongwen Sun,et al.  Adsorption and catalytic hydrolysis of carbaryl and atrazine on pig manure-derived biochars: impact of structural properties of biochars. , 2013, Journal of hazardous materials.

[45]  John M. Baker,et al.  Ethylene: potential key for biochar amendment impacts , 2010, Plant and Soil.

[46]  Liu Yang,et al.  Biochar Improves Sugarcane Seedling Root and Soil Properties Under a Pot Experiment , 2014, Sugar Tech.

[47]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Corn growth and nitrogen nutrition after additions of biochars with varying properties to a temperate soil , 2012, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[48]  Xiangyu Tang,et al.  Quantifying the influence of biochar on the physical and hydrological properties of dissimilar soils , 2014 .

[49]  G. Cornelissen,et al.  The sorption and desorption of phosphate-P, ammonium-N and nitrate-N in cacao shell and corn cob biochars. , 2013, Chemosphere.

[50]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal – a review , 2002, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[51]  A. Zimmerman,et al.  Effect of biochar amendment on sorption and leaching of nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate in a sandy soil. , 2012, Chemosphere.

[52]  C. Atkinson,et al.  Potential mechanisms for achieving agricultural benefits from biochar application to temperate soils: a review , 2010, Plant and Soil.

[53]  Mark H. Engelhard,et al.  Oxidation of Black Carbon by Biotic and Abiotic Processes , 2006 .

[54]  Jiabao Zhang,et al.  Effects of biochar amendment on rapeseed and sweet potato yields and water stable aggregate in upland red soil , 2014 .

[55]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Biochar for environmental management : science, technology and implementation , 2015 .

[56]  C. Kammann,et al.  Plant growth improvement mediated by nitrate capture in co-composted biochar , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[57]  J. Pignatello,et al.  Characterization of aromatic compound sorptive interactions with black carbon (charcoal) assisted by graphite as a model. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[58]  Z. Cai,et al.  Wheat straw and its biochar have contrasting effects on inorganic N retention and N2O production in a cultivated Black Chernozem , 2012, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[59]  J. Davies,et al.  Parameters affecting adsorption of microorganisms on activated charcoal cloth , 2007 .

[60]  H. Blume,et al.  Page, A. L., R. H. Miller and D. R. Keeney (Ed., 1982): Methods of soil analysis; 2. Chemical and microbiological properties, 2. Aufl. 1184 S., American Soc. of Agronomy (Publ.), Madison, Wisconsin, USA, gebunden 36 Dollar. , 1985 .

[61]  S. Jien,et al.  Effects of biochar on soil properties and erosion potential in a highly weathered soil , 2013 .

[62]  E. Amezketa,et al.  Soil aggregate stability: a review , 1999 .

[63]  H. Andry,et al.  Effect of cow manure biochar on maize productivity under sandy soil condition , 2011 .

[64]  M. Antonietti,et al.  Material derived from hydrothermal carbonization: Effects on plant growth and arbuscular mycorrhiza , 2010 .

[65]  D. Crowley,et al.  Bacterial diversity of terra preta and pristine forest soil from the Western Amazon , 2007 .

[66]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Biochar and denitrification in soils: when, how much and why does biochar reduce N2O emissions? , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[67]  J. Paz-Ferreiro,et al.  Soil biochemical activities and the geometric mean of enzyme activities after application of sewage sludge and sewage sludge biochar to soil , 2011, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[68]  V. A. Selvi,et al.  Co-application of biochar and lignite fly ash on soil nutrients and biological parameters at different crop growth stages of Zea mays , 2013 .

[69]  M. Antal,et al.  Biochar characteristics and application rates affecting corn growth and properties of soils contrasting in texture and mineralogy , 2015 .

[70]  Jaewoo Chung,et al.  Biochar reduces the bioavailability and phytotoxicity of heavy metals , 2011, Plant and Soil.

[71]  A. Mukherjee,et al.  Organic carbon and nutrient release from a range of laboratory-produced biochars and biochar–soil mixtures , 2013 .

[72]  H. Fritze,et al.  Charcoal as a habitat for microbes and its effect on the microbial community of the underlying humus , 2000 .

[73]  D. Raes,et al.  Soil erosion rates in tropical villages: A case study from Lake Victoria Basin, Uganda , 2011 .

[74]  A. Cowie,et al.  Biochar and Emissions of Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases from Soil , 2012 .

[75]  D. Laird,et al.  Stability of Biochar in the Soil , 2009 .

[76]  K. Das,et al.  Impact of Two Different Biochars on Earthworm Growth and Survival , 2010 .

[77]  S. Sohi,et al.  A review of biochar and its use and function in soil , 2010 .

[78]  T. Ezawa,et al.  Enhancement of the effectiveness of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by inorganic soil amendments , 2002 .

[79]  Christophe Clément,et al.  Plant growth-promoting bacteria in the rhizo- and endosphere of plants: Their role, colonization, mechanisms involved and prospects for utilization , 2010 .

[80]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Bacterial Community Composition in Brazilian Anthrosols and Adjacent Soils Characterized Using Culturing and Molecular Identification , 2009, Microbial Ecology.

[81]  P. A. Jensen,et al.  Influence of fast pyrolysis temperature on biochar labile fraction and short-term carbon loss in a loamy soil , 2011 .

[82]  H. Shao,et al.  Biochar had effects on phosphorus sorption and desorption in three soils with differing acidity , 2014 .

[83]  R. G. Taketani,et al.  The Influence of Different Land Uses on the Structure of Archaeal Communities in Amazonian Anthrosols Based on 16S rRNA and amoA Genes , 2010, Microbial Ecology.

[84]  M. Rillig,et al.  Characteristics of Biochar: Biological Properties , 2012 .

[85]  G. Cao,et al.  Nutrient resorption of coexistence species in alpine meadow of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau explains plant adaptation to nutrient-poor environment , 2012 .

[86]  Bin Gao,et al.  Catechol and humic acid sorption onto a range of laboratory-produced black carbons (biochars). , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[87]  Lianqing Li,et al.  Effect of biochar amendment on yield and methane and nitrous oxide emissions from a rice paddy from Tai Lake plain, China. , 2010 .

[88]  E. A. Kirkby,et al.  Principles of Plant Nutrition , 1980, Springer Netherlands.

[89]  Maureen O’Callaghan,et al.  Unweathered Wood Biochar Impact on Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Bovine-Urine-Amended Pasture Soil , 2010 .

[90]  A. Zimmerman,et al.  Positive and negative carbon mineralization priming effects among a variety of biochar-amended soils. , 2011 .

[91]  Paul Munroe,et al.  Water extractable organic carbon in untreated and chemical treated biochars. , 2012, Chemosphere.

[92]  J. Skjemstad,et al.  Black Carbon Increases Cation Exchange Capacity in Soils , 2006 .

[93]  F. Miglietta,et al.  Biochar increases vineyard productivity without affecting grape quality: Results from a four years field experiment in Tuscany , 2015 .

[94]  K. Ro,et al.  Qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds on biochar. , 2011, Chemosphere.

[95]  S. Herbert,et al.  Characterization and influence of biochars on nitrous oxide emission from agricultural soil. , 2013, Environmental pollution.

[96]  K. Spokas,et al.  Biochar’s role as an alternative N-fertilizer: ammonia capture , 2011, Plant and Soil.

[97]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Medium-term effects of corn biochar addition on soil biota activities and functions in a temperate soil cropped to corn , 2014 .

[98]  S. Herbert,et al.  Characteristics and nutrient values of biochars produced from giant reed at different temperatures. , 2013, Bioresource technology.

[99]  R. Knight,et al.  Soil bacterial and fungal communities across a pH gradient in an arable soil , 2010, The ISME Journal.

[100]  D. Wardle,et al.  Response of soil microbial biomass dynamics, activity and plant litter decomposition to agricultural intensification over a seven-year period , 1999 .

[101]  G. Price,et al.  Effects of temperature and processing conditions on biochar chemical properties and their influence on soil C and N transformations , 2015 .

[102]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology , 2009 .

[103]  D. Wardle,et al.  Fire-Derived Charcoal Causes Loss of Forest Humus , 2008, Science.

[104]  L. Zwieten,et al.  Agronomic values of greenwaste biochar as a soil amendment , 2007 .

[105]  M. Rillig,et al.  Mycorrhizas and soil structure , 2006 .

[106]  G. Baiamonte,et al.  Structure alteration of a sandy-clay soil by biochar amendments , 2015, Journal of Soils and Sediments.

[107]  Jin-hua Yuan,et al.  The forms of alkalis in the biochar produced from crop residues at different temperatures. , 2011, Bioresource technology.

[108]  C. Taylor.  THE NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE PREDOMINANT BACTERIAL FLORA OF THE SOIL , 1951 .

[109]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Modelling the long-term response to positive and negative priming of soil organic carbon by black carbon , 2012, Biogeochemistry.

[110]  M. Cayuela,et al.  Residues of bioenergy production chains as soil amendments: immediate and temporal phytotoxicity. , 2011, Journal of hazardous materials.

[111]  S. Riha,et al.  Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol , 2010, Plant and Soil.

[112]  E. R. Turner.  The Effect of Certain Adsorbents on the Nodulation of Clover Plants , 1955 .

[113]  W. Holben,et al.  Wildfire‐Produced Charcoal Directly Influences Nitrogen Cycling in Ponderosa Pine Forests , 2006 .

[114]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Comment on "Fire-Derived Charcoal Causes Loss of Forest Humus" , 2008, Science.

[115]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Amazonian Anthrosols Support Similar Microbial Communities that Differ Distinctly from Those Extant in Adjacent, Unmodified Soils of the Same Mineralogy , 2010, Microbial Ecology.

[116]  G. Robertson,et al.  Nutrient mobility in variable- and permanent-charge soils , 1988 .

[117]  T. M. Bezemer,et al.  Biochars produced from individual grassland species differ in their effect on plant growth , 2014 .

[118]  Matthias C. Rillig,et al.  Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil – concepts and mechanisms , 2007, Plant and Soil.

[119]  Marcos Valério Garcia,et al.  Charcoal and smoke extract stimulate the soil microbial community in a highly weathered xanthic Ferralsol , 2008 .

[120]  P. Ambus,et al.  Effects of slow and fast pyrolysis biochar on soil C and N turnover dynamics , 2012 .

[121]  A. E. Ajayi,et al.  Effects of charcoal production on maize yield, chemical properties and texture of soil , 2004, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[122]  Y. Bissonnais,et al.  Improvement of soil aggregate stability by repeated applications of organic amendments to a cultivated silty loam soil , 2011 .

[123]  Martin M. F. Choi,et al.  Study on the toxic effects of diphenol compounds on soil microbial activity by a combination of methods. , 2009, Journal of hazardous materials.

[124]  Yingwu Yin,et al.  Properties of biochar obtained from pyrolysis of bamboo shoot shell , 2015 .

[125]  Caroline A. Masiello,et al.  Biochar effects on soil biota – A review , 2011 .

[126]  S. Norra,et al.  The influence of different land uses on mineralogical and chemical composition and horizonation of urban soil profiles in Qingdao, China , 2008 .

[127]  D. Laird,et al.  Biochar impact on Midwestern Mollisols and maize nutrient availability , 2014 .

[128]  P. Brookes,et al.  The potential feasibility for soil improvement, based on the properties of biochars pyrolyzed from different feedstocks , 2013, Journal of Soils and Sediments.

[129]  E. Graber,et al.  pH-dependent mineral release and surface properties of cornstraw biochar: agronomic implications. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[130]  M. Antal,et al.  Charcoal Volatile Matter Content Influences Plant Growth and Soil Nitrogen Transformations , 2010 .

[131]  P. Conte,et al.  Nature of water‐biochar interface interactions , 2013 .

[132]  M. Usher.  The Biology of Soil: A Community and Ecosystem Approach , 2008 .

[133]  W. Cornelis,et al.  Impact of a woody biochar on properties of a sandy loam soil and spring barley during a two-year field experiment , 2015 .

[134]  M. Velde,et al.  A quantitative review of the effects of biochar application to soils on crop productivity using meta-analysis , 2011 .

[135]  Julie E. Jones,et al.  Impact of biochar on mineralisation of C and N from soil and willow litter and its relationship with microbial community biomass and structure , 2013, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[136]  Wen-Tien Tsai,et al.  Textural and chemical properties of swine-manure-derived biochar pertinent to its potential use as a soil amendment. , 2012, Chemosphere.

[137]  S. Orlandini,et al.  Impact of biochar application on plant water relations in Vitis vinifera (L.) , 2014 .

[138]  Z. Jianping.  Soil erosion in Guizhou province of China: a case study in Bijie prefecture , 1999 .

[139]  C. Kammann,et al.  Fourfold Increase in Pumpkin Yield in Response to Low-Dosage Root Zone Application of Urine-Enhanced Biochar to a Fertile Tropical Soil , 2015 .

[140]  T. Clough,et al.  Biochar incorporation into pasture soil suppresses in situ nitrous oxide emissions from ruminant urine patches. , 2011, Journal of environmental quality.

[141]  V. Bailey,et al.  Reconciling apparent variability in effects of biochar amendment on soil enzyme activities by assay optimization , 2011 .

[142]  L. Kotlyar,et al.  Preparation and characterization of activated carbon derived from the thermo-chemical conversion of chicken manure. , 2007, Bioresource technology.