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17 - The Use of Stable Isotopes in Understanding the Impact of Biochar on the Nitrogen Cycle

from Part IV - Biochar Application as a Soil Amendment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2016

By
Rebecca Hood-Nowotny
Edited by
Viktor J. Bruckman ,
Esin Apaydın Varol ,
Bașak B. Uzun  and
Jay Liu
Viktor J. Bruckman
Affiliation:
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Esin Apaydın Varol
Affiliation:
Anadolu University, Turkey
Bașak B. Uzun
Affiliation:
Anadolu University, Turkey
Jay Liu
Affiliation:
Pukyong National University, South Korea
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Summary

Abstract

The practice of applying biochar to soil could increase crop production and sequester carbon, whilst tightening leaky nitrogen cycles. Biochar has been shown to improve soil properties and even reduce greenhouse gas emissions, however the underlying mechanisms that lead to yield increases and GHG mitigation still elude us. Recent and ongoing studies have demonstrated that detailed analysis of the inherent biogeochemical processes using stable isotope techniques can unravel the complex soil–plant interactions and begin to tease out the multifaceted impacts of biochar on soil processes and plant growth. Here we present a range of nitrogen isotope techniques that could be, or have been, used to understand the changes in dominant processes in the nitrogen cycle following biochar addition.

Type
Chapter
Information
Biochar
A Regional Supply Chain Approach in View of Climate Change Mitigation
 , pp. 351 - 367
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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