Spectroscopic and molecular characterization of biochar-derived dissolved organic matter and the associations with soil microbial responses

Abstract Dissolved organic matter (DOM) released from biochar can influence the microbial community structure, but the inherent mechanism associated with the structure of biochar-derived DOM remains insufficiently elucidated. In this study, the spectroscopic characteristics and molecular structures of biochar-derived DOM were studied, and the microbial responses to biochar-derived DOM were explored. With increasing biochar pyrolysis temperature (PT), the molecular weight and proportions of aliphatic and fulvic acid-like compounds in the biochar-derived DOM decrease along with an reduction in the amount of DOM released from the biochars, but the proportions of combustion-derived condensed polycyclic aromatics and humic acid-like and soluble microbial byproduct-like compounds increased. Accordingly, the humification index, H/C and (O+N)/C values also decreased. The spectroscopic characteristics of biochar-derived DOM were distinct from those of natural substrates. Moreover, the DOM extracted from biochar raw materials contained a high proportion of aliphatic compounds, while the DOM derived from high-PT biochars (500 °C) had similar characteristics to fulvic acid-like and soluble microbial byproduct-like compounds. The microbial abundance and community structure varied in different DOM solutions. The relative abundances (RAs) of eight genera (e.g. Dyadobacter, Sphingobacterium and Novosphingobium) had significantly positive correlations with the content of aliphatic compounds, while RAs of seven genera (e.g. Methylotenera, Acinetobacter and Reyranella) had significant positive correlations with the content of high-aromatic combustion-derived condensed polycyclic aromatics. These results are helpful for obtaining a deep understanding of the potential influences of various types of biochar-derived DOM on terrestrial and aquatic microbiology.