Increasing Rates of Biochar Application to Soil Induce Stronger Negative Priming Effect on Soil Organic Carbon Decomposition

Abstract

Although the understanding of biochar stability in soil has improved in recent years, there is a lack of knowledge about how both the soil and biochar carbon (C) mineralisations are affected as a function of biochar amount applied to soil. Thus, increasing amounts of biochar were added to a Quartzipsamment in order to evaluate its priming effect on soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition. We hypothesised that biochar will increase negative priming on native SOC mineralisation as function of its application rate to soil. The biochar was produced from sugarcane straw through slow pyrolysis at 450 °C, and a laboratory incubation was conducted for 90 days with the following treatments: soil-alone (C3 source), biochar-alone (C4 source) and soil with biochar at rates equivalent to 0.4% (T1), 0.8% (T2) and 1.9% (T3) (w/w). In the first day of incubation, biochar amendment reduced soil C mineralisation rates from 58 to 88% compared to the soil-alone as a function of increasing biochar application rates. This reduction was mainly attributed to the mineralisation of easily available substrates from incomplete pyrolysis, which were preferentially used by soil micro-organisms at early stages of incubation. This effect, however, subsided after 7 days of incubation and it was not sufficient to induce co-metabolism of SOC decomposition, which were 43% (T1)–71% (T3) lower compared to the control (soil-alone) after 90 days of incubation. This was reflected in the priming effect data, which confirmed the hypothesis that increasing application rates of biochar to soil induce stronger negative priming on SOM mineralisation. The predicted size of recalcitrant biochar C pool varied from 98.8% (T1) to 99.9% (T3) of the total biochar C with respective mean residence time of 454 and 1539 years. It was concluded that increasing rates of biochar application to soil induce stronger negative priming effect on SOC due to the higher proportional quantity of biochar labile C and preferential utilisation of this easily available C source by micro-organisms. However, the size and long residence time of the recalcitrant C pool of biochar confirm its stability in soil, thus being considered an opportunity for C sequestration in OC-poor soils. Additionally, this study draws encouraging perspectives on the evaluation of sugarcane straw as a chemical feedstock and an alternative biofuel through pyrolysis, providing appreciable amounts of a renewable product with a great potential for carbon storage.