Trade‐offs in carbon‐degrading enzyme activities limit long‐term soil carbon sequestration with biochar addition

ABSTRACT Biochar amendment is one of the most promising agricultural approaches to tackle climate change by enhancing soil carbon (C) sequestration. Microbial‐mediated decomposition processes are fundamental for the fate and persistence of sequestered C in soil, but the underlying mechanisms are unc...

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Published in:Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 2023-08, Vol.98 (4), p.1184-1199
Main Authors: Feng, Jiao, Yu, Dailin, Sinsabaugh, Robert L., Moorhead, Daryl L., Andersen, Mathias Neumann, Smith, Pete, Song, Yanting, Li, Xinqi, Huang, Qiaoyun, Liu, Yu‐Rong, Chen, Ji
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acclimation
Acclimatization
biochar addition
Carbon
Carbon Sequestration
Cellulase
Cellulases
Charcoal
Climate change
Degradation
Enzymatic activity
enzyme activity
Enzymes
experimental duration
Ligninase
Macromolecules
Meta-analysis
Microorganisms
Organic soils
Phenolic compounds
Phenols
Polysaccharides
Saccharides
Soil
Soil amendment
soil carbon sequestration
soil microorganism
Soil microorganisms
Soils
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Summary:ABSTRACT Biochar amendment is one of the most promising agricultural approaches to tackle climate change by enhancing soil carbon (C) sequestration. Microbial‐mediated decomposition processes are fundamental for the fate and persistence of sequestered C in soil, but the underlying mechanisms are uncertain. Here, we synthesise 923 observations regarding the effects of biochar addition (over periods ranging from several weeks to several years) on soil C‐degrading enzyme activities from 130 articles across five continents worldwide. Our results showed that biochar addition increased soil ligninase activity targeting complex phenolic macromolecules by 7.1%, but suppressed cellulase activity degrading simpler polysaccharides by 8.3%. These shifts in enzyme activities explained the most variation of changes in soil C sequestration across a wide range of climatic, edaphic and experimental conditions, with biochar‐induced shift in ligninase:cellulase ratio correlating negatively with soil C sequestration. Specifically, short‐term (
ISSN:1464-7931
1469-185X
DOI:10.1111/brv.12949