Effects of biochar and dicyandiamide combination on nitrous oxide emissions from Camellia oleifera field soil

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2019-02, Vol.26 (4), p.4070-4077
• Main Authors: Deng, Bang-Liang, Wang, Shu-Li, Xu, Xin-Tong, Wang, Hua, Hu, Dong-Nan, Guo, Xiao-Min, Shi, Qing-Hua, Siemann, Evan, Zhang, Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural management; Ammonium nitrate; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric composition; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Camellia oleifera; Charcoal; Climate change; Cultivation; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Emissions; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Farm buildings; Farming systems; Global warming; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Mitigation; Nitrification; Nitrous oxide; Research Article; Soil gases; Soil temperature; Soils; Sustainable development; System effectiveness; Urea; Waste management; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3900-3

Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils contribute substantially to global atmospheric composition. Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is one important greenhouse gas induces global warming. Nitrification inhibitors (NI) or biochar can be effective soil N 2 O emission mitigation strategies for agricultural soils. However, due to differences in crop physiological traits or agricultural management, the effectiveness of mitigation strategies varies among agricultural systems. Camellia oleifera is a woody oil plant widely grown and requires intensive N input, which will potentially increase N 2 O emissions. Thereby, mitigation of N 2 O emissions from C. oleifera field soil is vital for sustainable C. oleifera development. Besides NI, incorporation of C. oleifera fruit shell-derived biochar into its soil will benefit waste management and simultaneous mitigation of N 2 O emissions but this has not been investigated. Here, we conducted two studies to examine effects of biochar addition and NI (dicyandiamide, DCD) application on N 2 O emissions from C. oleifera field soil with different N (urea or NH 4 NO 3 ) and incubation temperatures. Biochar effects on nitrification rates varied among N treatments. Biochar applied in combination with DCD further reduced nitrification rates (for urea treatment, decreased from 1.1 to 0.3 mg kg −1  day −1 ). Biochar addition consistently increased soil N 2 O emissions (for urea treatment, increased from 0.03 to 0.08 ng g −1  h −1 ) and their temperature sensitivity. DCD application reduced soil N 2 O emissions with greater reductions with urea application. In future cultivation of intensively managed C. oleifera gardens, NI should be applied to mitigate N 2 O emissions if biochar is added, especially when urea is used.