Effects of Biochar Application on Soil Properties, Plant Biomass Production, and Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Mini-Review

The rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations have effects on the worldwide ecosystems such as an increase in biomass production as well as changing soil processes and conditions. Since this affects the ecosystem’s net balance of greenhouse gas emissions, reliable projections about the CO2 impact are required. Deterministic models can capture the interrelated biological, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes under changing CO2 concentrations if long-term observations for model testing are provided. We used 13 years of data on above-ground biomass production, soil moisture, and emissions of CO2 and N2O from the Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) grassland experiment in Giessen, Germany. Then, the LandscapeDNDC ecosystem model was calibrated with data measured under current CO2 concentrations and validated under elevated CO2. Depending on the hydrological conditions, different CO2 effects were observed and captured well for all ecosystem variables but N2O emissions. Confidence intervals of ensemble simulations covered up to 96% of measured biomass and CO2 emission values, while soil water content was well simulated in terms of annual cycle and location-specific CO2 effects. N2O emissions under elevated CO2 could not be reproduced, presumably due to a rarely considered mineralization process of organic nitrogen, which is not yet included in LandscapeDNDC.

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Methane Emissions from Subtropical and Tropical Mangrove Ecosystems in Taiwan

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11040470 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 470

Author(s):

Chiao-Wen Lin ◽

Yu-Chen Kao ◽

Meng-Chun Chou ◽

Hsin-Hsun Wu ◽

Chuan-Wen Ho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Organic Matter Content ◽

Avicennia Marina ◽

Soil Parameters ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Mangrove Ecosystems ◽

Mangrove Soils

Mangroves are one of the blue carbon ecosystems. However, greenhouse gas emissions from mangrove soils may reduce the capacity of carbon storage in these systems. In this study, methane (CH4) fluxes and soil properties of the top 10 cm layer were determined in subtropical (Kandelia obovata) and tropical (Avicennia marina) mangrove ecosystems of Taiwan for a complete seasonal cycle. Our results demonstrate that CH4 emissions in mangroves cannot be neglected when constructing the carbon budgets and estimating the carbon storage capacity. CH4 fluxes were significantly higher in summer than in winter in the Avicennia mangroves. However, no seasonal variation in CH4 flux was observed in the Kandelia mangroves. CH4 fluxes were significantly higher in the mangrove soils of Avicennia than in the adjoining mudflats; this trend, however, was not necessarily recapitulated at Kandelia. The results of multiple regression analyses show that soil water and organic matter content were the main factors regulating the CH4 fluxes in the Kandelia mangroves. However, none of the soil parameters assessed show a significant influence on the CH4 fluxes in the Avicennia mangroves. Since pneumatophores can transport CH4 from anaerobic deep soils, this study suggests that the pneumatophores of Avicennia marina played a more important role than soil properties in affecting soil CH4 fluxes. Our results show that different mangrove tree species and related root structures may affect greenhouse gas emissions from the soils.

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ESTIMATING CARBON AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN REMOTE REGIONS OF CANADA

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprs-archives-xliii-b3-2021-575-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol XLIII-B3-2021 ◽

pp. 575-580

Author(s):

I. Ituen ◽

B. Hu

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Natural Forests ◽

Northern Ontario ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Soil Carbon Stock ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Environmental Properties ◽

Management Schemes

Abstract. Longer growing seasons in Northern Ontario are predicted, as a result of climate change. There is the expectation that there will be increased land use conversion from natural forests in Northern Ontario to capitalise on the new economic opportunities resulting from longer growing seasons. This study examines the impacts the land conversion – from forest to agricultural environment – has on the greenhouse gas emissions and soil properties. We use remote sensing technologies for detecting these changes. This paper highlights an automatic method we developed for change detection. The method was applied to the satellite data over a predominantly vegetated area of Northern Ontario for the period 2001 to 2016. The study showed how the forest air and soil properties transform over time from various land disturbances, and how subsequent management schemes affect the environmental properties such as greenhouse gas emissions and the soil carbon stock.

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Responses of Low-Cost Input Combinations on the Microbial Structure of the Maize Rhizosphere for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Plant Biomass Production

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2021.683658 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Caio Augusto Yoshiura ◽

Andressa Monteiro Venturini ◽

Lucas Palma Perez Braga ◽

Aline Giovana da França ◽

Maria do Carmo Catanho Pereira de Lyra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Biomass Production ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Control Plant ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Control Treatment ◽

Lignocellulose Degradation ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Maize Stover ◽

Plant Biomass Production

The microbial composition of the rhizosphere and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the most common input combinations in maize (Zea mays L.) cultivated in Brazil have not been characterized yet. In this study, we evaluated the influence of maize stover coverage (S), urea-topdressing fertilization (F), and the microbial inoculant Azospirillum brasilense (I) on soil GHG emissions and rhizosphere microbial communities during maize development. We conducted a greenhouse experiment and measured methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes from soil cultivated with maize plants under factorial combinations of the inputs and a control treatment (F, I, S, FI, FS, IS, FIS, and control). Plant biomass was evaluated, and rhizosphere soil samples were collected at V5 and V15 stages and DNA was extracted. The abundance of functional genes (mcrA, pmoA, nifH, and nosZ) was determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and the structure of the microbial community was assessed through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our results corroborate with previous studies which used fewer input combinations and revealed different responses for the following three inputs: F increased N2O emissions around 1 week after application; I tended to reduce CH4 and CO2 emissions, acting as a plant growth stimulator through phytohormones; S showed an increment for CO2 emissions by increasing carbon-use efficiency. IS and FIS treatments presented significant gains in biomass that could be related to Actinobacteria (19.0%) and Bacilli (10.0%) in IS, and Bacilli (9.7%) in FIS, which are the microbial taxa commonly associated with lignocellulose degradation. Comparing all factors, the IS (inoculant + maize stover) treatment was considered the best option for plant biomass production and GHG mitigation since FIS provides small gains toward the management effort of F application.

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Simulating the effect of tillage practices with the global ecosystem model LPJmL (version 5.0-tillage)

10.5194/gmd-2018-255 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Femke Lutz ◽

Tobias Herzfeld ◽

Jens Heinke ◽

Susanne Rolinski ◽

Sibyll Schaphoff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Management Practices ◽

Ecosystem Model ◽

Environmental Indicators ◽

Regional Patterns ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

No Till ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The effects of tillage on soil properties (e.g. soil carbon and nitrogen), crop productivity, and global greenhouse gas emissions have been discussed in the last decades. Global ecosystem models are limited in simulating tillage. Hence, they do not allow for analyzing the effects of tillage and cannot evaluate, for example, reduced-tillage or no-till as mitigation practices for climate change. In this paper, we describe the implementation of tillage related practices in the global ecosystem model LPJmL. The model is subsequently evaluated against reported differences between tillage and no-till management on several soil properties. To this end, simulation results are compared with published meta-analysis on tillage effects. In general, the model is able to reproduce observed tillage effects on global, as well as regional patterns of carbon and water fluxes. However, modeled N-fluxes deviate from the literature and need further study. The addition of the tillage module to LPJmL 5.0 opens opportunities to assess the impact of agricultural soil management practices under different scenarios with implications for agricultural productivity, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental indicators.

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Effect of Chinese Milk Vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) and Rice Straw Incorporated in Paddy Soil on Greenhouse Gas Emission and Soil Properties

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10050717 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 717

Author(s):

Qiaoying Ma ◽

Jiwei Li ◽

Muhammad Aamer ◽

Guoqin Huang

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Rice Straw ◽

Paddy Soil ◽

Chemical Fertilizer ◽

N2o Emissions ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Chinese Milk Vetch

Paddy soil is an important emission source of agricultural greenhouse gases. The excessive application of chemical fertilizer to paddy soil is one of the important reasons for high greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions can be reduced through optimized agricultural management measures. The incorporation of Chinese milk vetch (CMV) and rice straw in the field to replace some of the chemical fertilizer can reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, but the relationship between these emissions and soil properties after the incorporation of CMV and rice straw is unclear. Through the continuous determination of greenhouse gases and the physical and chemical properties of soil, it was found that the addition of CMV and straw could increase the emissions of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), but nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were lower. The effect of the combined incorporating of CMV and rice straw on soil properties was more significant than CMV alone. It was also found that CH4 and CO2 emissions were positively correlated with microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, pH, and soil catalase and β-xylosidase activities. In practice, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by water and fertilizer management.

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