<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Biochar is widely used as a soil amendment to improve soil properties and as a tool to absorb net carbon from the atmosphere. In this study we determined the signatures of organic molecular markers in soil following the incorporation of 5 and 10 t/ha biochar in a Fluvisol, cultivated with maize at the experimental field of the ISSAPP “N. Poushkarov” institute in Bulgaria. The <italic>n-</italic>alkane distribution in the biochar treated soils was uni- or bimodal maximizing at n-C17 alkane, n-C18 or C18 branched alkanes, i.e. there was an imprint of biomass burning, e.g. from the biochar due to predominance of short chain (&lt; C20) homologues and increased microbial activity (presence of branched alkanes). This is also confirmed by the values for the average chain length (ACL) of n-alkanes which indicated prevalence of homologues of shorter chain (20–21 C atoms) in the variants of longer biochar residence time. There was evidence of trans-13-docosenamide, which originated from biochar. Fatty acids and fatty alcohols distributions also implicate microbial contribution to soil organic matter (SOM), supporting the suggestion that biochar addition can improve soil microbiological status.</p>
</abstract>

Biochar is widely used as a soil amendment to improve soil properties and as a tool to absorb net carbon from the atmosphere. In this study we determined the signatures of organic molecular markers in soil following the incorporation of 5 and 10 t/ha biochar in a Fluvisol, cultivated with maize at the experimental field of the ISSAPP “N. Poushkarov” institute in Bulgaria. The n-alkane distribution in the biochar treated soils was uni- or bimodal maximizing at n-C17 alkane, n-C18 or C18 branched alkanes, i.e. there was an imprint of biomass burning, e.g. from the biochar due to predominance of short chain (< C20) homologues and increased microbial activity (presence of branched alkanes). This is also confirmed by the values for the average chain length (ACL) of n-alkanes which indicated prevalence of homologues of shorter chain (20–21 C atoms) in the variants of longer biochar residence time. There was evidence of trans-13-docosenamide, which originated from biochar. Fatty acids and fatty alcohols distributions also implicate microbial contribution to soil organic matter (SOM), supporting the suggestion that biochar addition can improve soil microbiological status.

Changes in organic molecular marker signatures in soils amended with biochar during a three-year experiment with maize on a Fluvisol

Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection, Department of Agrochemistry

Department of Geography, College of Science

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Biochar is widely used as a soil amendment to improve soil properties and as a tool to absorb net carbon from the atmosphere. In this study we determined the...

Changes in organic molecular marker signatures in soils amended with biochar during a three-year experiment with maize on a Fluvisol

Published Online: Nov 16, 2022

Page range: 401 - 409

Received: Jul 28, 2022

Accepted: Aug 31, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2022-0025

Keywords
Biochar, Organic molecular markers, Fluvisol

© 2022 Irena Atanassova et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Changes in organic molecular marker signatures in soils amended with biochar during a three-year experiment with maize on a Fluvisol

Published Online: Nov 16, 2022

Page range: 401 - 409

Received: Jul 28, 2022

Accepted: Aug 31, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2022-0025

KeywordsBiochar, Organic molecular markers, Fluvisol

© 2022 Irena Atanassova et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Biochar, Organic molecular markers, Fluvisol