Net changes of soil C stocks in two grassland soils 26 months after simulated pasture renovation including biochar addition

Abstract

Abstract The use of deep‐rooting pasture species as a management practice can increase the allocation of plant carbon (C) below ground and enhance C storage. A 2‐year lysimeter trial was set up to compare changes in C stocks of soils under either deep‐ or shallow‐rooting pastures and investigate whether biochar addition below the top 10 cm could promote root growth at depth. For this i) soil ploughing at cultivation was simulated in a silt loam soil and in a sandy soil by inverting the 0 to 10 and 10‐ to 20‐cm‐depth soil layers, and a distinctive biochar (selected for each soil to overcome soil‐specific plant growth limitations) was mixed at 10 Mg ha−1 in the buried layer, where appropriate and ii) three pasture types with contrasting root systems were grown. In the silt loam, soil inversion resulted in a general loss of C (2.0–8.1 Mg ha−1), particularly in the buried horizon, under shallow‐rooting pastures only. The addition of a C‐rich biochar (equivalent to 7.6 Mg C ha−1) to this soil resulted in a net C gain (21–40% over the non‐biochar treatment, P < 0.10) in the buried layer under all pastures; this overcame the loss of C in this horizon under shallow‐rooting pastures. In the sandy soil, all pastures were able to maintain soil C stocks at 10–20 cm depth over time, with minor gains of C (1.6–5.1 Mg ha−1) for the profile. In this soil, the exposure of a skeletal‐ and nutrient‐depleted soil layer at the surface may have fostered root growth at depth. The addition of a nutrient‐rich biochar (equivalent to 3.6 Mg C ha−1) to this soil had no apparent effect on C stocks. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms through which soil C stocks at depth are preserved.

Keywords

• biochar management
• carbon stocks
• grasslands
• pasture renovation
• sandy soil
• silt loam soil