Jeewani Peduruhewa H, Agbomedarho Emmanuella Oghenefejiro, Evans Chris D, Chadwick David R, Jones Davey L
School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW UK.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW UK.
Biochar. 2025;7(1):110. doi: 10.1007/s42773-025-00487-7. Epub 2025 Sep 15.
Despite their high agricultural productivity, drained and cultivated peats are highly susceptible to degradation and significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study investigates the potential of water table manipulation and biochar application to mitigate GHG losses from agricultural peats. However, balancing the need for agricultural production with securing the ecosystem function of the peat under high water table (WT) conditions poses a significant challenge. Therefore, we grew lettuce in a controlled mesocosm experiment with either a high (HW) or low (LW) water table and monitored emissions of CO, CH and NO over 4 months using a mesocosm method. Concurrent measurements of soil solution, plant measurements and microbial sequencing allowed identification of the key controls on GHG emissions. Raising the WT significantly reduced CO emissions (18%), and NO emission (40%), but eventually increased CH emission (2.5-fold) compared to the Control + LW. Biochar amendment with raised WT provided the strongest reduction in CO equivalent GHG emission (4.64 t COeq ha yr), compared to Control + LW. We found that biochar amendment modified the microbial community composition and diversity (Shannon index 8.9-9.3), lowering the relative abundance of peat decomposers (such as Ascomycota). Moreover, biochar amendments produced 38-56% greater lettuce biomass compared to the unamended controls, irrespective of water table level, suggesting that biochar application could generate economic benefits in addition to reduced GHG emissions. Mechanisms responsible for these effects appeared to be both abiotic (e.g. via effects of the biochar physicochemical composition) and biotic via changing the soil microbiome. Overall, the combination of high-water table and biochar amendment enhanced total soil C, reduced peat decomposition, suppressed CH and NO emissions, and enhanced crop yields.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42773-025-00487-7.
尽管排水开垦的泥炭地具有较高的农业生产力，但它们极易退化，也是温室气体（GHG）排放的重要来源。本研究调查了控制水位和施用生物炭以减轻农业泥炭地温室气体排放的潜力。然而，在高水位（WT）条件下，平衡农业生产需求与确保泥炭地生态系统功能面临重大挑战。因此，我们在可控的中宇宙实验中种植生菜，设置高水位（HW）或低水位（LW）条件，并使用中宇宙方法在4个月内监测一氧化碳（CO）、甲烷（CH）和一氧化氮（NO）的排放。同时测量土壤溶液、植物指标和微生物测序，以确定温室气体排放的关键控制因素。与对照+低水位相比，提高水位显著降低了CO排放（18%）和NO排放（40%），但最终增加了CH排放（2.5倍）。与对照+低水位相比，高水位条件下添加生物炭使等效CO温室气体排放减少最多（4.64吨COeq·公顷·年）。我们发现，添加生物炭改变了微生物群落组成和多样性（香农指数8.9 - 9.3），降低了泥炭分解者（如子囊菌门）的相对丰度。此外，无论水位如何，添加生物炭的生菜生物量比未添加对照高出38 - 56%，这表明施用生物炭除了减少温室气体排放外，还能产生经济效益。造成这些影响的机制似乎既有非生物因素（如通过生物炭物理化学组成的影响），也有生物因素，即通过改变土壤微生物群落。总体而言，高水位和生物炭添加的组合增加了土壤总碳含量，减少了泥炭分解，抑制了CH和NO排放，并提高了作物产量。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s42773-025-00487-7获取的补充材料。
