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| Evaluating the effects of biochar amendment on crop yield and soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission using meta-analysis |
| Received:April 13, 2018 |
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| KeyWord:biochar;meta-analysis;crop yield;greenhouse gas;field experiment |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | LIU Cheng | Institute of Resources, Ecological and Environment of Agricultural, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China | | | LIU Xiao-yu | Institute of Resources, Ecological and Environment of Agricultural, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China | xiaoyuliu@njau.edu.cn | | ZHANG Xu-hui | Institute of Resources, Ecological and Environment of Agricultural, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China | | | LI Lian-qing | Institute of Resources, Ecological and Environment of Agricultural, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China | | | PAN Gen-xing | Institute of Resources, Ecological and Environment of Agricultural, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China | |
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| Abstract: |
| In this study, a meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of biochar amendment on crop yield, soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas mitigation potential. The dataset was derived from field studies conducted in mainland China. The papers were published in either Chinese or English. This study showed that biochar soil amendment significantly increased crop yield by increased crop yield by 15.1% on average, whereas rice yield was increased by 10.4% and the grain yield of dry land crops was increased by an average of 16.4%. The changes in grain yield following biochar amendment were influenced by soil and biochar properties as well as soil management practices. With regards to experimental soils acidity and texture were important factors influencing the response of crop yield to biochar amendment. Substantially greater yield increases were observed in soil with very low pH and clayey and sandy texture. In addition to soil properties, biochar properties also influenced the response of crop yield to biochar amendment. No yield increases were observed when agricultural soils were amended with biochar produced at a high temperature (>550℃). Biochar amendment decreased nitrous oxide (N2O) emission by 13.6% in dry crop land and decreased methane (CH4) emission from paddy soil by 15.2%. Soil acidity and texture were found to be important factors that regulate the response of N2O emission to biochar amendment. In strongly acid soils, the addition of biochar had no effect on N2O emission, whereas in neutral or alkaline soils, biochar significantly decreased N2O emission. In terms of soil texture, the diminishing effects of biochar were in the order of loam > sand > clay. In loamy soils, biochar amendment decreased N2O emission by 33.9%. Nitrous oxide emission decreased significantly in soils amended with biochar under a nitrogen fertilizer application rate higher than 150 kg·hm-2. In rice paddies, biochar amendment decreased N2O emission by 24.4%, which was significantly higher than the value in dry cropland soils. Soil texture and pH significantly affected the response of CH4 emission to biochar amendment. In strongly acidic or sandy soils, biochar amendment markedly decreased the emission of CH4. In soils with a sandy texture, biochar decreased CH4 emission by 25.9%. In conclusion, our study shows that biochar soil amendment can increase crop yield and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in China's croplands. In the future, we suggest that it will be preferable to apply biochar to soils with lower fertility, such as acidic, clayey, or sandy soils, and to dry crop land rather than paddy soils. Furthermore, biochar produced at a pyrolyzing temperature lower than 550℃ would be more suitable for the amendment of agricultural soils. |
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