Biochar applications and enzyme activity, carbon dioxide emission, and carbon sequestration in a calcareous soil

Abstract

Biochar is a carbon-rich product obtained by biomass pyrolysis and is considered as a means of carbon sequestration. However, there is limited knowledge regarding responses of soil respiration and C-cycle enzyme activities to BC in a calcareous soil. In this study, different biochar AS, TS, PP, CS were applied to the soil at different rates (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%) The highest increase in soil organic C content was observed in the TS treatment, while the AS treatment caused a slight increase of soil organic C. The highest MBC content was recorded in AS treatment and the lowest was observed in TS. The highest CO₂-C emission was recorded in the TS treatment. In contrast, the lowest CO₂-C emission was observed in the PP treatment due to its high recalcitrant C content and was attributed to a positive priming effect, stabilizing BC mineralization to improve the soil. The highest β-galactosidase enzyme activity was observed in the CS treatment and the lowest activity was observed in AS. The highest change in β-glycosidase enzyme activity was observed of PP treatment and the lowest was in AS biochar application. Thus, TS treatment is recommended to increase the organic C content of soils, and the PP biochar can be used to reduce CO₂-C emission. The TS, PP, and CS can be applied to increase enzyme activities. The study clearly shows that the addition of BC to arid soils may have a high potential to improve soil enzyme activities and subsequent carbon sequestration and biochemical cycles.

Keywords:

• Biochar
• carbon pools
• CO₂-C emission
• enzyme activities
• soil organic carbon

Authors’ contributions

Erdal Sakin: methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing – review and editing. İbrahim Halil Yanardağ: writing – review, editing, validation and visualization. Emrah Ramazanoğlu: resources, formal analysis, investigation. Biswanath Dari: review and editing. Debjani Sihi: review and editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.