Biochar carbon stability in four contrasting soils

Summary There is a limited understanding of the effects of soil properties on biochar carbon (C) stability. This knowledge is essential to evaluate the capacity of biochar for long-term soil C sequestration fully. In this study two biochars, produced by slow pyrolysis at 450 or 550 ◦ C from a δ 13 C-depleted (−36.4‰) Eucalyptus saligna Sm. woody material, were incubated in four soils (Inceptisol, Entisol, Oxisol and Vertisol) of contrasting chemical and mineralogical properties. The total biochar-C mineralized over 12 months was 0.30–1.14 and 0.97–2.71% from the soil-biochar mixtures incubated at 20 and 40 ◦ C, respectively. The total biochar-C mineralized (mg CO2-C per unit of native soil organic C (SOC) basis) from soils incubated with the 450 ◦ C biochar was approximately twice the corresponding amount mineralized from the 550 ◦ C biochar systems. The influence of soil properties on biochar-C mineralization was greater for the 450 ◦ C biochar than the 550 ◦ Cb iochar. The smallest proportion of C mineralized from the 450 ◦ C biochar occurred in the Inceptisol incubated at 20 ◦ Ca nd in the Oxisol at 40 ◦ C. However, when expressed on a per unit of native SOC basis, the C mineralization of the 450 and 550 ◦ C biochars was least in the Oxisol and greatest in the Inceptisol at both incubation temperatures. Mean residence times (MRTs) of the biochars estimated using the two-pool exponential model varied between 44 and 610 years. The estimated MRT of the biochars may vary under field conditions depending upon the environmental conditions and addition of labile C from plants. Our results indicate that biochar-C was stabilized by variable charge minerals in the Oxisol and that the stabilization occurred rapidly at high temperatures.