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Agronomy
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The Role of Biochar in the Sustainability of the Agroecological...
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The Role of Biochar in the Sustainability of the Agroecological Environment—2nd Edition

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 3510

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xiaoyun Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Interests: biochar technology; environmental geochemistry; soil remediation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fan Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Interests: biochar technology; carbon sequestration; soil amendment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biochar is a carbon-rich material produced by the pyrolysis of biomass, which has become a hotspot in the fields of agriculture, energy, and the environment. It has been indicated that biochar application could strengthen the benefits of soil fertility, such as improvements in soil microbial activity, the abatement of bulk density, the amelioration of nutrient and water-holding capacity, and increasing soil organic matter. In addition, biochar shows great affinity for pollutants in the environment and has been regarded as an effective agricultural management practice for mitigating the threats of climate change. More interestingly, biochar technology is considered to be in line with modern agricultural development concepts; that is, biochar might play important roles in the remediation of soil pollution, the protection of the agricultural environment, the maintenance of ecosystem balance, the promotion of a virtuous cycle in the agricultural environment, and sustainable development. This Special Issue seeks to increase our knowledge of novel advances concerning the application of biochar in the agroecological environment, covering biological, chemical, physical, biochemical, and environmental aspects.

Dr. Xiaoyun Xu
Dr. Fan Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biochar
  • agriculture
  • ecosystem
  • sustainability
  • soil remediation
  • soil amendment
  • carbon sink

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1232 KiB  
Article
Biochar Application and Mowing Independently and Interactively Influence Soil Enzyme Activity and Carbon Sequestration in Karst and Red Soils in Southern China
by Wenjia Luo, Daniel F. Petticord, Shiwen Zhu, Shaowu Zhu, Yuanlong Wu, Xun Yi, Xinyue Wang, Yili Guo and Xuxin Song
Agronomy 2025, 15(1), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010252 - 20 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1039
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC), a critical component of the global carbon cycle, represents the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir, and is thus a major component of influencing climate regulation and ecosystem health. Grasslands store substantial carbon in their soils, but this carbon reservoir is [...] Read more.
Soil organic carbon (SOC), a critical component of the global carbon cycle, represents the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir, and is thus a major component of influencing climate regulation and ecosystem health. Grasslands store substantial carbon in their soils, but this carbon reservoir is easily degraded by both grazing and mowing, particularly in vulnerable karst landscapes. This study investigates the potential of biochar, a carbon-rich soil amendment, as a management tool to maintain SOC or mitigate the degradation of SOC during mowing in karst grasslands in Southern China, using both red acidic and calcareous soils as experimental variables. T SOC fractions, soil enzyme activities, and soil pH were measured to determine the effect of mowing and biochar application on carbon stability and microbial activity. Consistent with expectations, mowing increases belowground biomass and promotes carbon loss through increased microbial activity, particularly in calcareous soils where mowing also decreases soil pH, increasing acidity and reducing the stability of Ca–carbon complexes. Biochar, however, counteracted these effects, increasing both particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC), especially in red soils where the addition of biochar greatly increased soil pH (from 5.4 to 6.33) (an effect not observed in the already-alkaline karst soils). Enzyme activities related to carbon degradation, such as β-D-Glucosidase and peroxidase, increased in biochar-amended soils (β-D-Glucosidase increased from 12.77 to 24.53 nmol/g/h and peroxidase increased from 1.1 to 2.36 mg/g/2h), each of which contribute to the degradation of carbon containing organic matter so that it may be ultimately stored in more recalcitrant forms. Mowing led to reduced polyphenol oxidase activity, but the presence of biochar mitigated these losses, protecting SOC pools (increased from 0.03 to 0.79 mg/g/2h). This study highlights biochar as an effective tool for enhancing SOC stability in karst grasslands, particularly in acidic soils, and suggests that integrating biochar into mowing regimes may optimize carbon sequestration while reducing fire risk. These findings offer valuable theoretical guidance for developing sustainable land management in sensitive ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biochar in the Sustainability of the Agroecological Environment—2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 6296 KiB  
Article
New Insights into the Enhancement Effect of Exogenous Calcium on Biochar Stability during Its Aging in Farmland Soil
by Hongyan Nan, Yunqiu Jiang, Weiqi Zhou, Ling Zhao and Fan Yang
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1676; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071676 - 22 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1824
Abstract
Converting biowaste into biochar and incorporating it into soil is recognized as an effective method for carbon (C) sequestration. However, biochar inevitably undergoes an aging process in soil, which influences its stability, and ultimately threatens its carbon sequestration ability. This study selected CaCl [...] Read more.
Converting biowaste into biochar and incorporating it into soil is recognized as an effective method for carbon (C) sequestration. However, biochar inevitably undergoes an aging process in soil, which influences its stability, and ultimately threatens its carbon sequestration ability. This study selected CaCl2 as an exogenous additive of sewage sludge and bone dreg for producing Ca-rich biochars, and both surface C and bulk C stability in them were investigated under three aging processes (dry–wet aging, freeze–thaw aging, and natural aging in farmland soil). The results showed that the above three aging processes resulted in oxidized surface C in Ca-rich biochar decreasing by 10~23%, 28~41%, and 0~74%, respectively, compared with that in pristine biochar, while oxidized bulk C decreased by 6~10%, 0~1%, and 0~35%, respectively. This was attributed to the “protective effect” of Ca-containing crystals on the biochar surface, including CaO, Ca5(PO4)3Cl, Ca5(PO4)3(OH), Ca8H2(PO4)6·H2O, and Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, which intervened in the oxidation of C–C/C=C in biochar but also reduced the generation of a fragmented C structure. By comprehensively assessing surface C and bulk C stability under three aging processes, final C sequestration in Ca-rich biochar increased to 27~80%, compared to that in pristine biochar (23~74%). Therefore, Ca-rich biochar is more dominant than pristine biochar, considering C sequestration potential during long-term aging in soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biochar in the Sustainability of the Agroecological Environment—2nd Edition)
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