Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2019
Abstract
Biochar has been shown to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils, but the effect is highly variable across studies and the mechanisms are under debate. To improve our mechanistic understanding of biochar effects on N2O emission, we monitored kinetics of NO, N2O and N2 accumulation in anoxic slurries of a peat and a mineral soil, spiked with nitrate and amended with feedstock dried at 105 °C and biochar produced at 372, 416, 562 and 796 °C at five different doses. Both soils accumulated consistently less N2O and NO in the presence of high-temperature chars (BC562 and BC796), which stimulated reduction of denitrification intermediates to N2, particularly in the acid peat. This effect appeared to be strongly linked to the degree of biochar carbonisation as predicted by the H:C ratio of the char. In addition, biochar surface area and pH were identified as important factors, whereas ash content and CEC played a minor role. At low pyrolysis temperature, the biochar effect was soil dependent, suppressing N2O accumulation in the mineral soil, but enhancing it in the peat soil. This contrast was likely due to the labile carbon content of low temperature chars, which contributed to immobilise N in the mineral soil, but stimulated denitrification and N2O emission in the peat soil. We conclude that biochar with a high degree of carbonisation, high pH and high surface area is best suited to supress N2O emission from denitrification, while low temperature chars risk supporting incomplete denitrification.
Abstract
Biochar is a carbon-rich material that, due to its inherent resistance to decomposition, is primarily developed with the aim of sequestering carbon in soil. Despite the convincing benefits of biochar as a climate mitigation solution, it has not yet advanced much beyond the research stage, notably because its effect on yield are too modest. Therefore, there is a need for win-win biochar solutions benefiting both food production and climate mitigation. Such a solution is the development of biochar fertilizers, which capitalizes on the capacity of biochar to capture and release nutrients. This effect is largely attributed to the porous structure and large surface area of biochar, with surface charges and ash content also appearing to play a role. The nutrient-retaining capacity of biochar appears to vary among studies investigating different types of biochar exposed to different types of nutrients (mineral anions and cations, organic molecules) under different conditions. In the present study, we will report on a meta-analysis of published biochar properties that are associated with controlling the sorption of nutrients. As biochar properties largely depend on pyrolysis conditions and feedstock properties, this work contributes to the selective design of biochars for the purpose of improving nutrient use efficiency.
Abstract
At the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO, formerly Bioforsk), biochar has been a topic of research since 2009 through both laboratory and field studies. Initial results demonstrated that biochar produced from clean biomass is safe to use on agricultural soils, and that pyrolysis temperatures of ≥370 °C are necessary for producing biochar that is resistant to decomposition on a timescale of 100 years. Further work identified the chemical transformations that are responsible for biochar stability and contributed to finding the best indicator of this stability. Throughout the years, we have had close collaboration with industry and farmers in Norway, where now industrial networks are in action and there is financial support for the implementation of biochar technology. Despite the convincing benefits of biochar as a climate mitigation solution, it has only slowly advanced beyond the research stage, notably because its effect on yield are too modest. There is therefore a need for win-win biochar solutions benefiting both food production and climate mitigation. Such a solution is the development of biochar fertilizers, which capitalizes on the capacity of biochar to capture and release nutrients. As biochar properties largely depend on pyrolysis conditions and feedstock properties, our current work contributes to the selective design of biochars for the purpose of improving nutrient use efficiency.
Authors
Christophe Moni Hanna Marika Silvennoinen Bruce A. Kimball Erling Fjelldal Marius Brenden Ingunn Burud Andreas Svarstad Flø Daniel RasseAbstract
Background: Global warming is going to affect both agricultural production and carbon storage in soil worldwide. Given the complexity of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, in situ experiments of climate warming are necessary to predict responses of plants and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from soils. Arrays of infrared (IR) heaters have been successfully applied in temperate and tropical agro-ecosystems to produce uniform and large increases in canopy surface temperature across research plots. Because this method had not yet been tested in the Arctic where consequences of global warming on GHG emission are expected to be largest, the objective of this work was to test hexagonal arrays of IR heaters to simulate a homogenous 3 °C warming of the surface, i.e. canopy and visible bare soil, of five 10.5-m2 plots in an Arctic meadow of northern Norway. Results: Our results show that the IR warming setup was able to simulate quite accurately the target + 3 °C, thereby enabling us to simulate the extension of the growing season. Meadow yield increased under warming but only through the lengthening of the growing season. Our research also suggests that, when investigating agricultural systems on the Arctic, it is important to start the warming after the vegetation is established,. Indeed, differential emergence of meadow plants impaired the homogeneity of the warming with patches of bare soil being up to 9.5 °C warmer than patches of vegetation. This created a pattern of soil crusting, which further induced spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation. However, in the Arctic these conditions are rather rare as the soil exposed by snow melt is often covered by a layer of senescent vegetation which shelters the soil from direct radiation. Conclusions: Consistent continuous warming can be obtained on average with IR systems in an Arctic meadow, but homogenous spatial distribution requires that the warming must start after canopy closure.
Authors
Synnøve Smebye Botnen Marie Louise Davey Anders Aas Tor Carlsen Ella Thoen Einar Heegaard Unni Vik Philipp Dresch Sunil Mundra Ursula Peintner Andy F. S. Taylor Håvard KauserudAbstract
Aim Polar and alpine ecosystems appear to be particularly sensitive to increasing temperatures and the altered precipitation patterns linked to climate change. However, little is currently known about how these environmental drivers may affect edaphic organisms within these ecosystems. In this study, we examined communities of plant root‐associated fungi (RAF) over large biogeographical scales and along climatic gradients in the North Atlantic region in order to gain insights into the potential effects of climate variability on these communities. We also investigated whether selected fungal traits were associated with particular climates. Locations Austria, Scotland, Mainland Norway, Iceland, Jan Mayen and Svalbard. Taxa Root fungi associated with the ectomycorrhizal and herbaceous plant Bistorta vivipara. Methods DNA metabarcoding of the ITS1 region was used to characterize the RAF of 302 whole plant root systems, which were analysed by means of ordination methods and linear modelling. Fungal spore length, width, volume and shape, as well as mycelial exploration type (ET) of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) basidiomycetes were summarized at a community level. Results The RAF communities exhibited strong biogeographical structuring, and both compositional variation as well as fungal species richness correlated with annual temperature and precipitation. In accordance with general island biogeography theory, the least species‐rich RAF communities were found on Jan Mayen, a remote and small island in the North Atlantic Ocean. Fungal spores tended to be more elongated with increasing latitude. We also observed a climate effect on which mycelial ET was dominating among the ectomycorrhizal fungi. Main conclusions Both geographical and environmental variables were important for shaping root‐associated fungal communities at a North Atlantic scale, including the High Arctic. Fungal OTU richness followed general biogeographical patterns and decreased with decreasing size and/or increasing isolation of the host plant population. The probability of possessing more elongated spores increases with latitude, which may be explained by a selection for greater dispersal capacity among more isolated host plant populations in the Arctic.
Abstract
The belowground environment is heterogeneous and complex at fine spatial scales. Physical structures, biotic components and abiotic conditions create a patchwork mosaic of potential niches for microbes. Questions remain about mechanisms and patterns of community assembly belowground, including: Do fungal and bacterial communities assemble differently? How do microbes reach the roots of host plants? Within a 4 m2 plot in alpine vegetation, high throughput sequencing of the 16S (bacteria) and ITS1 (fungal) ribosomal RNA genes was used to characterise microbial community composition in roots and adjacent soil of a viviparous host plant (Bistorta vivipara). At fine spatial scales, beta-diversity patterns in belowground bacterial and fungal communities were consistent, although compositional change was greater in bacteria than fungi. Spatial structure and distance-decay relationships were also similar for bacteria and fungi, with significant spatial structure detected at <50 cm among root- but not soil-associated microbes. Recruitment of root microbes from the soil community appeared limited at this sampling and sequencing depth. Possible explanations for this include recruitment from low-abundance populations of soil microbes, active recruitment from neighbouring plants and/or vertical transmission of symbionts to new clones, suggesting varied methods of microbial community assembly for viviparous plants. Our results suggest that even at relatively small spatial scales, deterministic processes play a significant role in belowground microbial community structure and assembly.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Junbin ZhaoAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
James Fourqurean Sparkle Malone Edward Castaneda Sean Charles Carl Fitz Daniel Gann David Ho John Kominoski Christian Lopes Steven. F. Oberbauer Gregory Starr Christina Staudhammer Tiffany Troxler Bryce Van Dam Junbin ZhaoAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Academic – FluxCalR: a R package for calculating CO2 and CH4 fluxes from static chambers
Junbin Zhao
Authors
Junbin ZhaoAbstract
As the main drivers of climate change, greenhouse gas (e.g., CO2 and CH4) emissions have been monitored intensively across the globe. The static chamber is one of the most commonly used approaches for measuring greenhouse gas fluxes from ecosystems (e.g., stem/soil respiration, CH4 emission, etc.) because of its easy implementation, high accuracy and low cost (Pumpanen et al., 2004). To perform the measurements, a gas analyzer is usually used to measure the changes of greenhouse gas concentrations within a closed chamber that covers an area of interest (e.g., soil surface) over a certain period of time (usually several minutes). The flux rates (F) are then calculated from the recorded gas concentrations assuming that the changing rate is linear: F = vol/(R · T a · area) · dG/dt where vol is the volume of the chamber (l), R is the universal gas constant (l atm K-1 mol-1), Ta is the ambient temperature (K), area is the area of the chamber base (m2 ), and dG/dt is the rate of the measured gas concentration change over time t (ppm s-1) (i.e., the slope of the linear regression).