Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(5):263-275 | DOI: 10.17221/121/2023-PSE

Biochar addition enhances annual carbon stocks and ecosystem carbon sink intensity in saline soils of the Hetao Irrigation District, Inner MongoliaOriginal Paper

Ruxin Zhang1, Zhongyi Qu2,3, Wei Yang1,3, Liping Wang1,3, Dongliang Zhang1, Lu Liu4, Junjie Li1, Zhimin Zhang5
1 College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, P.R. China
2 College of Energy and Environment, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, P.R. China
3 Autonomous Region Collaborative Innovation Center for Integrated Management of Water Resources and Water Environment in the Inner Mongolia Reaches of the Yellow River, Hohhot, P.R. China
4 Northern Construction Management Department, China Three Gorges Renewables (Group) Co., Ltd., Beijing, P.R. China
5 Inner Mongolia Hetao Irrigation District Water Development Center Yichang Branch Center Yihe Canal Water Supply Station, Bayan Nur, P.R. China

Biochar has demonstrated potential for stabilising high yields and sequestering carbon in dryland farmland, but it is unclear whether biochar affects the carbon sequestration capacity and carbon balance of annual farmland ecosystems. For this purpose, we conducted a plot control trial in salinised farmland in 2019–2021, where we set three treatments, control, and two biochar rates, 0 (CK), 15 (B15), and 30 t/ha (B30). The results showed that biochar application decreased soil organic carbon stocks in the early part of the experiment (first freeze and freeze period); these increased in the later part, and overall, the biochar treatments increased soil organic carbon storage by 3–6% compared with the control. Compared with the control (CK), biochar inhibited the total soil respiration rate and microbial respiration rate significantly (P < 0.05) during the crop growing period compared with the freeze-thaw period. After two years of freeze-thaw cycling, biochar application increased sunflower plant carbon sequestration and net primary productivity and suppressed total soil microbial respiration, thereby increasing net ecosystem productivity. Therefore, the application of biochar is conducive to carbon sequestration in farmland ecosystems and presents a carbon sink effect, thus being a good choice for improving the soil carbon pool and reducing emissions in the northern dry zone.

Keywords: food production; straw biochar; agroecosystem; salinisation; biomass; permafrost

Received: March 20, 2023; Revised: February 25, 2024; Accepted: March 4, 2024; Prepublished online: April 10, 2024; Published: April 22, 2024  Show citation

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Zhang R, Qu Z, Yang W, Wang L, Zhang D, Liu L, et al.. Biochar addition enhances annual carbon stocks and ecosystem carbon sink intensity in saline soils of the Hetao Irrigation District, Inner Mongolia. Plant Soil Environ. 2024;70(5):263-275. doi: 10.17221/121/2023-PSE.
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