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Impact of biochar and manure application on in situ carbon dioxide flux, microbial activity, and carbon budget in degraded cropland soil of southern India
Author(s) -
Seki Mayuko,
Sugihara Soh,
Miyazaki Hidetoshi,
Jegadeesan Muniandi,
Kannan Pandian,
Bertrand Isabelle,
Tanaka Haruo
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.4234
Subject(s) - biochar , environmental science , carbon dioxide , soil carbon , carbon sequestration , soil respiration , flux (metallurgy) , environmental chemistry , moisture , agronomy , chemistry , manure , ecosystem , total organic carbon , soil water , soil science , ecology , biology , pyrolysis , organic chemistry
Biochar application is attracting attention to be an effective soil organic carbon (SOC) management to prevent land degradation, though quantitative information of its effect on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) flux and associated microbial responses is still scarce, especially in degraded tropical agroecosystems. We conducted a 27‐month field experiment with periodically measuring environmental factors, CO 2 efflux rate, microbial biomass C (MBC), and SOC stock, and evaluated the impact of land management (control (C), biochar (B; 8.2 Mg C ha −1 ), farmyard manure (FYM) (M; 1.1 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 ), and a mixture of both (BM) on CO 2 flux, microbial responses (MBC and qCO 2 as microbial activity) and C budget, in tropical alkaline cropland of southern India. Based on the relationship between the CO 2 efflux rate and environmental factors, cumulative CO 2 flux was estimated at 2.4, 2.7, 4.0, and 3.7 Mg C ha −1 in the C, B, M, and BM treatments, respectively. Biochar application increased soil moisture though did not affect CO 2 flux, causing a positive C budget (6.7 Mg C ha −1 ), because of the limited response of microbes to increased soil moisture due to the small amount of SOC. Biochar and FYM combined application did not increase CO 2 flux compared with FYM alone, contributing to the largest SOC increment (8.9 Mg C ha −1 ) with a positive C budget (9.1 Mg C ha −1 ), due to little difference of microbial responses between the two treatments. Hence, biochar application combined with FYM could be an effective SOC management in the degraded cropland of southern India.