Degradability of black carbon and its impact on trace gas fluxes and carbon turnover in paddy soils   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Christian Knoblauch  Arina-Ann Maarifat  Stephan M. Haefele 《Soil biology & biochemistry》2011,43(9):1768-1778

Rice paddy soils are characterized by anoxic conditions, anaerobic carbon turnover, and significant emissions of the greenhouse gas methane. A main source for soil organic matter in paddy fields is the rice crop residue that is returned to fields if not burned. We investigated as an alternative treatment the amendment of rice paddies with rice residues that have been charred to black carbon. This treatment might avoid various negative side effects of traditional rice residue treatments. Although charred biomass is seen as almost recalcitrant, its impact on trace gas (CO₂, CH₄) production and emissions in paddy fields has not been studied. We quantified the degradation of black carbon produced from rice husks in four wetland soils in laboratory incubations. In two of the studied soils the addition of carbonised rice husks resulted in a transient increase in carbon mineralisation rates in comparison to control soils without organic matter addition. After almost three years, between 4.4% and 8.5% of the black carbon added was mineralised to CO₂ under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. The addition of untreated rice husks resulted in a strong increase in carbon mineralisation rates and in the same time period 77%-100% of the added rice husks were mineralised aerobically and 31%-54% anaerobically. The ¹³C-signatures of respired CO₂ gave a direct indication of black carbon mineralisation to CO_2. In field trials we quantified the impact of rice husk black carbon or untreated rice husks on soil respiration and methane emissions. The application of black carbon had no significant effect on soil respiration but significantly enhanced methane emissions in the first rice crop season. The additional methane released accounted for only 0.14% of black carbon added. If the same amount of organic carbon was added as untreated rice husks, 34% of the applied carbon was released as CO₂ and methane in the first season. Furthermore, the addition of fresh harvest residues to paddy fields resulted in a disproportionally high increase in methane emissions. Estimating the carbon budget of the different rice crop residue treatments indicated that charring of rice residues and adding the obtained black carbon to paddy fields instead of incorporating untreated harvest residues may reduce field methane emissions by as much as 80%. Hence, the production of black carbon from rice harvest residues could be a powerful strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from rice fields.  相似文献   

Effects and fate of biochar from rice residues in rice-based systems   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  

S.M. Haefele  Y. KonboonW. Wongboon  S. AmaranteA.A. Maarifat  E.M. PfeifferC. Knoblauch 《Field Crops Research》2011,121(3):430-440

Although crop residues constitute an enormous resource, actual residue management practices in rice-based systems have various negative side effects and contribute to global warming. The concept of a combined bioenergy/biochar system could tackle these problems in a new way. Rice residues would be used for energy production, thereby reducing field burning and the use of fossil fuels, and the biochar by-product could help to improve soils, avoid methane emissions, and sequester carbon in soils. To examine some of these promises, we conducted field experiments from 2005 to 2008 in three different rice production systems. Objectives were to study the effect of biochar from rice husks on soil characteristics, assess the stability of carbonized rice residues in these different systems, and evaluate the agronomic effect of biochar applications. The results showed that application of untreated and carbonized rice husks (RH and CRH) increased total organic carbon, total soil N, the C/N ratio, and available P and K. Not significant or small effects were observed for soil reaction, exchangeable Ca, Mg, Na, and the CEC. On a fertile soil, the high C/N ratio of CRH seemed to have limited N availability, thereby slightly reducing grain yields in the first three seasons after application. On a poor soil, where the crop also suffered from water stress, soil chemical and physical improvements increased yields by 16-35%. Together with a parallel study including methane and CO₂ emission measurements at one site, the results strongly suggest that CRH is very stable in various rice soils and systems, possibly for thousands of years. However, the study also showed that CRH was very mobile in some soils. Especially in poor sandy soil, about half of the applied carbon seemed to have moved below 0.30 m in the soil profile within 4 years after application. We concluded that biochar from rice residues can be beneficial in rice-based systems but that actual effects on soil fertility, grain yield, and soil organic carbon will depend on site-specific conditions. Long-term studies on biochar in field trials seem essential to better understand biochar effects and to investigate its behavior in soils.  相似文献