Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions
Biochar soil amendment may provide the forestry sector with a formidable tool to simultaneously sequester carbon (C) in the soil and aboveground by enhancing plant productivity, yet several key uncertainties remain. Crucially, empirical evidence of long-term effects of biochar management on vegetati...
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ftslunivuppsala:oai:pub.epsilon.slu.se:25000 2023-05-15T17:44:58+02:00 Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions Grau-Andrés, Roger Pingree, Melissa Öquist, Mats Wardle, David Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Gundale, Michael 2021 application/pdf https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/25000/ https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/25000/1/grau-andres_r_et_al_210824.pdf en eng eng https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/25000/1/grau-andres_r_et_al_210824.pdf Grau-Andrés, Roger and Pingree, Melissa and Öquist, Mats and Wardle, David and Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte and Gundale, Michael (2021). Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions. GCB Bioenergy. 13 , 1329-1342 [Research article] Forest Science Research article NonPeerReviewed 2021 ftslunivuppsala 2022-01-09T19:16:34Z Biochar soil amendment may provide the forestry sector with a formidable tool to simultaneously sequester carbon (C) in the soil and aboveground by enhancing plant productivity, yet several key uncertainties remain. Crucially, empirical evidence of long-term effects of biochar management on vegetation and on greenhouse gas emissions in forest ecosystems is scarce. Using a large field experiment in a young managed boreal forest in northern Sweden, we investigated the effects of biochar (applied either on the soil surface or mixed in the soil 8-9 years prior to this study) on supply rates of soil nutrients, on survival and growth of planted Pinus sylvestris, on community composition of the understory vegetation, and on forest floor fluxes of N2O, CH4, and CO2. We found that biochar promoted P. sylvestris survival only when biochar was applied on the soil surface. Conversely, biochar enhanced P. sylvestris growth overall, resulting in a 19% increase in C stored in biomass. Biochar also altered the composition of the understory vegetation, especially when mixed into the soil, and promoted a more resource-conservative community (i.e., with more ericaceous shrubs and less graminoids and forbs). Meanwhile, supply rates of the main soil nutrients were largely unaffected by biochar. Finally, we found that biochar did not alter overall N2O and CO2 emissions and CH4 uptake from the forest floor. Our findings show that biochar amendment increased the net C input to the system, since, besides directly increasing soil C stocks, biochar enhanced biomass growth without increasing soil C losses. Therefore, our study suggests that biochar could potentially be used for emissions abatement in intensively managed boreal forests. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Epsilon Open Archive |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Epsilon Open Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftslunivuppsala |
language |
English |
topic |
Forest Science |
spellingShingle |
Forest Science Grau-Andrés, Roger Pingree, Melissa Öquist, Mats Wardle, David Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Gundale, Michael Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions |
topic_facet |
Forest Science |
description |
Biochar soil amendment may provide the forestry sector with a formidable tool to simultaneously sequester carbon (C) in the soil and aboveground by enhancing plant productivity, yet several key uncertainties remain. Crucially, empirical evidence of long-term effects of biochar management on vegetation and on greenhouse gas emissions in forest ecosystems is scarce. Using a large field experiment in a young managed boreal forest in northern Sweden, we investigated the effects of biochar (applied either on the soil surface or mixed in the soil 8-9 years prior to this study) on supply rates of soil nutrients, on survival and growth of planted Pinus sylvestris, on community composition of the understory vegetation, and on forest floor fluxes of N2O, CH4, and CO2. We found that biochar promoted P. sylvestris survival only when biochar was applied on the soil surface. Conversely, biochar enhanced P. sylvestris growth overall, resulting in a 19% increase in C stored in biomass. Biochar also altered the composition of the understory vegetation, especially when mixed into the soil, and promoted a more resource-conservative community (i.e., with more ericaceous shrubs and less graminoids and forbs). Meanwhile, supply rates of the main soil nutrients were largely unaffected by biochar. Finally, we found that biochar did not alter overall N2O and CO2 emissions and CH4 uptake from the forest floor. Our findings show that biochar amendment increased the net C input to the system, since, besides directly increasing soil C stocks, biochar enhanced biomass growth without increasing soil C losses. Therefore, our study suggests that biochar could potentially be used for emissions abatement in intensively managed boreal forests. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Grau-Andrés, Roger Pingree, Melissa Öquist, Mats Wardle, David Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Gundale, Michael |
author_facet |
Grau-Andrés, Roger Pingree, Melissa Öquist, Mats Wardle, David Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Gundale, Michael |
author_sort |
Grau-Andrés, Roger |
title |
Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions |
title_short |
Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions |
title_full |
Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions |
title_fullStr |
Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions |
title_sort |
biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter n2o, ch4, and co2 emissions |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/25000/ https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/25000/1/grau-andres_r_et_al_210824.pdf |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_relation |
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/25000/1/grau-andres_r_et_al_210824.pdf Grau-Andrés, Roger and Pingree, Melissa and Öquist, Mats and Wardle, David and Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte and Gundale, Michael (2021). Biochar increases tree biomass in a managed boreal forest, but does not alter N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions. GCB Bioenergy. 13 , 1329-1342 [Research article] |
_version_ |
1766147669797896192 |