High soil charcoal production temperature greatly reduces nitrification in the boreal forest soils
Abstract
Climate change is projected to alter wildfire regimes (i.e. fire intensity, severity and frequency) in Canada's boreal forests. Studies have demonstrated that a change in fire intensity had a significant effect on the physico-chemical and functional properties of biochar. In addition, biochar produced at different temperature had substantial effects on soil microbial and nutrient dynamics. However, these past studies depended on a destructive sampling approach, which prevented us from continuous, long-term monitoring of these dynamic soil properties. To address this, forest floor material were amended with one of six different treatments (n=5): (i) Tannins, (ii) charcoal 450, (iii) charcoal 850, (iv) charcoal 450 + tannins, (v) Charcoal 850 + tannins, and (vi) unamended control. Soil fluxes of inorganic nitrogen (N) were continually monitored over ten months (once monthly) using microdialysis. All treatments showed highest fluxes of N at the onset of the study (i.e. January and February) after which both fluxes of NH4+ and NO3- showed a steep decline returning to background levels throughout the remaining eight months of the study. Further, higher charcoal production temperature and tannins addition lowered NO3- fluxes, while only higher charcoal production temperature reduced NH4+ fluxes in the treatments. Using the non-invasive microdialysis approach we are able to perform a non-destructive, long term, continuous monitoring of soil N fluxes and show that wildfire intensity viz-a-viz biochar production temperature would affect soil N nitrification in the boreal forests in a changing climate.
- Publication:
-
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- April 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019EGUGA..2118669O