Abstract:
Biochar is a promising material for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to carbon sequestration, it has positive effect on the ozone-depleting gas nitrous oxide (N
2O), which is with long residence time and strong warming potential. In this research effort, an anaerobic incubation experiment was conducted. Three treatments with different biochar application rates were set, taking account of biochar to soil ratio (
w/
w):0 (0BC), 1% (1%BC) and 5% (5%BC). Soil gravimetric water content was controlled at 20%. According to the robotized incubation platform providing real-time determination of N
2O and N
2 concentrations and soil denitrification functional gene abundance measurement, we analyzed the impact of biochar on N
2O consumption and biological mechanisms. The main results indicated that after a 20-hour anaerobic incubation, the denitrification functional gene abundance of 0BC treatment was 6.80×10
7 (
nirK), 5.59×10
8 (
nirS), 1.22×10
8 (
nosZ) gene copies per gram soil, respectively. Compared with 0BC treatment, the
nirS gene abundance of 1%BC treatment increased from the initial 2.65×10
8 to 7.43×10
8 gene copies per gram soil, while, the
nosZ gene abundance increased by an order of magnitude from 4.82×10
7to 1.50×10
8 gene copies per gram soil. However, there was no significant change in
nirK gene abundance. And the denitrification functional gene abundance of 5%BC treatment did not show marked variations. In conclusion, the N
2/(N
2O+N
2) ratio of treatments with biochar application was clearly higher than 0BC treatment. The results of correlation analysis showed that
nirS and
nosZ gene abundance was significantly correlated with the N
2O concentration at 0.01 level, and the abundance of
nirS and
nosZ genes all increased as N
2O concentration declined at the end of the experiment. Therefore, in the present trial, a 1% biochar addition significantly increased the abundance of denitrifying bacteria with
nirS and
nosZ genotypes and N
2/(N
2O+N
2) ratio, and promoted the complete reduction of N
2O to N
2. The main mechanism of the biochar effect on N
2O emission was the enhanced reduction activities and gene expression of
nosZ-containing microorganisms, resulting in complete denitrification.