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Interactive effects of biochar addition and elevated carbon dioxide concentration on soil carbon and nitrogen pools in mine spoil

  • Soils, Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the effects of biochar on improving nitrogen (N) pools in mine spoil and examine the effects of elevated CO2 on soil carbon (C) storage.

Materials and methods

The experiment consisted of three plant species (Austrostipa ramossissima, Dichelachne micrantha, and Lomandra longifolia) planted in the N-poor mine spoil with application of biochar produced at three temperatures (650, 750, and 850 °C) under both ambient (400 μL L−1) and elevated (700 μL L−1) CO2. We assessed mine spoil total C and N concentrations and stable C and N isotope compositions (δ13C and δ15N), as well as hot water extractable organic C (HWEOC) and total N (HWETN) concentrations.

Results and discussion

Soil total N significantly increased following biochar application across all species. Elevated CO2 induced soil C loss for A. ramossissima and D. micrantha without biochar application and D. micrantha with the application of biochar produced at 750 °C. In contrast, elevated CO2 exhibited no significant effect on soil total C for A. littoralis, D. micrantha, or L. longifolia under any other biochar treatments.

Conclusions

Biochar application is a promising means to improve N retention and thus, reduce environmentally harmful N fluxes in mine spoil. However, elevated CO2 exhibited no significant effects on increasing soil total C, which indicated that mine spoil has limited potential to store rising atmospheric CO2.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Australian Research Council at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia) and by the Griffith University PhD scholarships and operating funding. The spoil mine soil was provided by Newcastle University (Newcastle, NSW, Australia) and Thiess Pty Ltd. (Singleton, NSW, Australia) and the biochar was provided by the University of Western Australia (Perth, WA, Australia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, 4111, Australia

    Yaling Zhang, Shahla Hosseini Bai, Carl Menke, Manyun Zhang & Zhihong Xu

  2. Soil and Environment Analysis Centre, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Hong Chen

  3. GeneCology Research Centre, Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai

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  1. Yaling Zhang
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  2. Hong Chen
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  3. Shahla Hosseini Bai
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Correspondence to Yaling Zhang or Zhihong Xu.

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Responsible editor: Caixian Tang

Yaling Zhang and Hong Chen are the equal first authors.

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Zhang, Y., Chen, H., Bai, S.H. et al. Interactive effects of biochar addition and elevated carbon dioxide concentration on soil carbon and nitrogen pools in mine spoil. J Soils Sediments 17, 2400–2409 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1757-6

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