REVIEW: Charcoal function and management in boreal ecosystems

Journal of Applied Ecology

Volumn 50, Issue 5, 2013, Pages 1197-1206

  Hart, Stephen ^a   Luckai, Nancy ^a  

^a LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Activated carbon; Boreal forest; Climate change; Forest management; Prescribed burn; Soil carbon; Wildfire

Indexed keywords

ACTIVATED CARBON; BIOMASS; BOREAL FOREST; CARBON SEQUESTRATION; CHARCOAL; CLIMATE CHANGE; ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT; FOREST MANAGEMENT; FOREST SOIL; PRESCRIBED BURNING; SOIL CARBON; SOIL ORGANIC MATTER; SUSTAINABILITY; WILDFIRE;

EID: 84890857810     PISSN: 00218901     EISSN: 13652664     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12136     Document Type: Review

References (97)

1. Akselsson, C., Berg, B., Meentemeyer, V. & Westling, O. (2005) Carbon sequestration rates in organic layers of boreal and temperate forest soils - Sweden as a case study. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 14, 77-84.
2. Amonette, J.E. & Joseph, S. (2009) Characteristics of biochar: microchemical properties. Biochar for Environmental Management (eds J. Lehmann & S. Joseph ), pp. 33-52. Earthscan, London.
3. Baldock, J.A. & Skjemstad, J.O. (2000) Role of the soil matrix and minerals in protecting natural organic materials against biological attack. Organic Geochemistry, 31, 697-710.
4. Balshi, M.S., Mcguire, A.D., Duffy, P., Flannigan, M. & Kicklighter, D.W. (2009) Vulnerability of carbon storage in North American boreal forests to wildfires during the 21st century. Global Change Biology, 15, 1491-1510.
5. Bergeron, Y., Gauthier, S., Kafka, V., Lefort, P. & Lesieur, D. (2001) Natural fire frequency for the eastern Canadian boreal forest: consequences for sustainable forestry. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 31, 384-391.
6. Bergeron, Y., Flannigan, M.D., Gauthier, S., Leduc, A. & Lefort, P. (2004) Past, current and future fire frequency in the Canadian boreal forest: implications for sustainable forest management. Ambio, 33, 356-360.
7. Bergeron, C., Ruel, J.-C., Elei, J.-G. & Mitchell, S.J. (2009) Root anchorage and stem strength of black spruce (Picea mariana) trees in regular and irregular stands. Forestry, 82, 29-41.
8. Berglund, L.M., DeLuca, T.H. & Zackrisson, O. (2004) Activated carbon amendments to soil alters nitrification rates in Scots pine forests. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 36, 2067-2073.
9. Boateng, A.A. (2007) Characterization and thermal conversion of charcoal derived from fluidized-bed fast pyrolysis oil production of switchgrass. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 46, 8857-8862.
10. Brais, S., Paré, D. & Ouimet, R. (2000) Impacts of wild fire severity and salvage harvesting on the nutrient balance of jack pine and black spruce boreal stands. Forest Ecology and Management, 137, 231-243.
11. Brodowski, S., John, B., Flessa, H. & Amelung, W. (2006) Aggregate-occluded black carbon in soil. European Journal of Soil science, 57, 539-546.
12. Bruun, S., Jensen, E.S. & Jensen, L.S. (2008) Microbial mineralization and assimilation of black carbon: dependency on degree of thermal alteration. Organic Geochemistry, 39, 839-845.
13. Bruun, S. & Luxhøi, J. (2008) Is biochar production really carbon-negative. Environmental Science & Technology, 42, 1388.
14. Burton, P.J., Messier, C., Weetman, G.F., Prepas, E.E., Adamowicz, W.I. & Tittler, R. (2003). The current state of boreal forestry and the drive for change. Towards Sustainable Management of the Boreal Forest (eds P.J. Burton, C. Messier, D.W. Smith & W.L. Adamowicz ), pp. 1-40. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, ON.
15. Busscher, W., Novak, J. & Ahmedna, M. (2003) Biochar addition to a southeastern USA coastal sand to decrease soil strength and improve soil quality. Proceedings of the ISTRO 18th Triennial Conference. Izmir, Turkey, June 15-19. pp. 1-4.
16. Carcaillet, C. & Talon, B. (2001) soil carbon sequestration by holocene fires inferred from soil charcoal in the dry French alps. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 33, 282-288.
17. Cherimisinoff, P.N. & Ellerbusch, F. (1978) Carbon Absorption Handbook. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
18. Cross, A. & Sohi, S.P. (2011) The priming potential of biochar products in relation to labile carbon contents and soil organic matter status. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 43, 2127-2134.
19. Cyr, D., Bergeron, Y., Gauthier, S. & Larouche, A.C. (2005) Are old-growth forests of the Clay Belt part of a fire-regulated mosaic? Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 35, 65-73.
20. Czimczik, C.I., Schmidt, M.W.I. & Schulze, E.-D. (2005) Effects of increasing fire frequency on black carbon and organic matter in podzols of Siberian scot's pine forests. European Journal of Soil science, 56, 417-428.
21. Czimczik, C.I., Preston, C.M., Schmidt, M.W.I. & Schulze, E.-D. (2003) How surface fire in Siberian Scots pine forests affects soil organic carbon in the forest floor: stocks, molecular structure, and conversion to black carbon (charcoal). Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 17, 1020-1040.
22. Davidson, E.A. & Janssens, I.A. (2006) Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change. Nature, 440, 165-173.
23. Deenik, J.L., McClellan, T., Uehara, G., Antal, M.J. & Campbell, S. (2010) Charcoal volatile matter content influences plant growth and soil nitrogen transformations. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 74, 1259-1270.
24. de Groot, W.J., Cantin, A.S. & Flannigan, M.D., Soja, A.J., Gowman, L. & Newbery, A. (2013) A comparison of Canadian and Russian boreal forest fire regimes. Forest Ecology and Management, 294, 23-34.
25. DeLuca, T.H. & Aplet, G.H. (2008) Charcoal and carbon storage in forest soils of the Rocky Mountain West. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6, 18-24.
26. DeLuca, T.H., Nilsson, M.-C. & Zackrisson, O. (2002) Nitrogen mineralization and phenol accumulation along a fire chronosequence in northern Sweden. Oecologia, 133, 206-214.
27. DeLuca, T.H., Mackenzie, M.D., Gundale, M.J. & Holben, W.E. (2006) Wildfire-produced charcoal directly influences nitrogen cycling in ponderosa pine forests. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 70, 448-453.
28. Demirbas, A. (2001a) Biomass to charcoal, liquid, and gaseous products via carbonization process. Energy Sources, 23, 579-587.
29. Demirbas, A. (2001b) Carbonization ranking of selected biomass for charcoal, liquid and gaseous products. Energy Conversion and Management, 42, 1229-1238.
30. Demirbas, A. (2004) Effects of temperature and particle size on bio-char yield from pyrolysis of agricultural residues. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 72, 243-248.
31. Demirbas, A. (2006) Effect of temperature on pyrolysis products from four nut shells. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 76, 285-289.
32. Demirbas, A. (2008) Biofuels sources, biofuel policy, biofuel economy and global biofuel projections. Energy Conversion and Management, 49, 2106-2116.
33. Fearnside, P.M., Leal Jr, N. & Fernandes, F.M. (1993) Rainforest burning and the global carbon budget: biomass, combustion efficiency, and charcoal formation in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Geophysical Research, 98, 16733-16743.
34. Fearnside, P.M., Maurício Lima de Alencastro Graça, P. & Rodrigues, F.J.A. (2001) Burning of Amazonian rainforests: burning efficiency and charcoal formation in forest cleared for cattle pasture near Manaus, Brazil. Forest Ecology and Management, 146, 115-128.
35. Fernandes, F.M., Skjemstad, J.O., Johnson, B.B., Wells, J.D. & Brooks, P. (2003) Characterization of carbonaceous combustion residues. I. Morphological, elemental and spectroscopic features. Chemosphere, 51, 785-795.
36. Gavin, D.G. (2003) Forest soil disturbance intervals inferred from soil charcoal radiocarbon dates. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 33, 2514-2518.
37. Glaser, B. & Amelung, W. (2003) Pyrogenic carbon in native grassland soils along a climosequence in North America. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 17, 33-1-33-8.
38. Glaser, B. & Haumaier, L. (2001) The 'Terra Preta' phenomenon: a model for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics. Naturwissenschaften, 88, 37-41.
39. Glaser, B., Lehmann, J. & Zech, W. (2002) Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal - a review. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 35, 219-230.
40. Glaser, B., Balashov, E., Haumaier, L., Guggenberger, G. & Zech, W. (2000) Black carbon in density fractions of anthropogenic soils of the Brazilian Amazon region. Organic Geochemistry, 31, 669-678.
41. Guggenberger, G., Rodionov, A., Shibistova, O., Grabe, M., Kasansky, O.A., Fuchs, H., Mikeyeva, N., Zrazhevskaya, G. & Flessa, H. (2008) Storage and mobility of black carbon in permafrost soils of the forest tundra ecotone in Northern Siberia. Global Change Biology, 14, 1367-1381.
42. Hockaday, W.C., Grannas, A.M., Kim, S. & Hatcher, P.G. (2006) Direct molecular evidence for the degradation and mobility of black carbon in soils from ultrahigh-resolution mass spectral analysis of dissolved organic matter from a dire-impacted forest soil. Organic Geochemistry, 37, 501-510.
43. Hockaday, W.C., Grannas, A.M., Kim, S. & Hatcher, P.G. (2007) The transformation and mobility of charcoal in a fire-impacted watershed. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 71, 3432-3442.
44. 2 release is both biotically and abiotically mediated. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 43, 1723-1731.
45. Kane, E.S., Hockaday, W.C., Turetsky, M.R., Masiello, C.A., Valentine, D.W., Finney, B.P. & Baldock, J.A. (2010) Topographic controls on black carbon accumulation in Alaskan black spruce forest soils: implications for organic matter dynamics. Biogeochemistry, 100, 39-56.
46. Knorr, W., Prentice, I.C., House, J.I. & Holland, E.A. (2005) Long-term sensitivity of soil carbon turnover to warming. Nature, 433, 298-301.
47. Kolb, S.E., Fermanich, K.J. & Dornbush, M.E. (2009) Effect of charcoal quantity on microbial biomass and activity in temperate soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 73, 1173-1181.
48. Kuhlbusch, T.A.J. (1998) Black carbon and the carbon cycle. Science, 280, 1903-1904.
49. 2. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 9, 491-501.
50. Kuhlbush, T.A.J., Andreae, M.O., Cachier, H., Goldammer, J.G., Lacaux, J.-P., Shea, R. & Crutzen, P.J. (1996) Black carbon formation by savanna fires: measurements and implications for the global carbon cycle. Journal of Geophysical Research, 101, 23651-23665.
51. Laird, D.A., Fleming, P., Davis, D.D., Horton, R., Wang, B. & Karlen, D.L. (2010) Impact of biochar amendments on the quality of a typical Midwestern agricultural soil. Geoderma, 158, 443-449.
52. Langmaid, K.K. (1964) Some effects of earthworm invasion in virgin podzols. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 44, 37.
53. Lehmann, J. (2007a) A handful of carbon. Nature, 447, 143-144.
54. Lehmann, J. (2007b) Bio-energy in the black. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 5, 381-387.
55. Lehmann, J. & Sohi, S. (2008) Comment on "fire-derived charcoal causes loss of forest humus". Science, 321, 1295.
56. Lehmann, J., da Silva Jr, J.P., Steiner, C., Nehls, T., Zech, W. & Glaser, B. (2003) Nutrient availability and leaching in an archaeological anthrosol and a ferralsol of the Central Amazon basin: fertilizer, manure and charcoal amendments. Plant and Soil, 249, 343-357.
57. Lehmann, J., Skjemstad, J.O., Sohi, S., Carter, J., Barson, M., Falloon, P., Coleman, K., Woodbury, P. & Krull, E. (2008) Australian climate-carbon cycle feedback reduced by soil black carbon. Nature Geoscience, 1, 832-835.
58. Liang, B., Lehmann, J., Solomon, D., Kinyangi, J., Grossman, J., O'Neill, B. et al. (2006) Black carbon increases cation exchange capacity in soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 70, 1719-1730.
59. Liang, B., Lehmann, J., Sohi, S.P., Thies, J.E., O'Neill, B., Trujillo, L. et al. (2009) Black carbon affects the cycling of non-black carbon in soil. Organic Geochemistry, 41, 206-213.
60. Luo, Y., Durenkamp, M., De Nobili, M., Lin, Q. & Brookes, P.C. (2011) Short term soil priming effects and the mineralisation of biochar following its incorporation to soils of different pH. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43, 2304-2314.
61. Lynch, J.A., Clark, J.S. & Stocks, B.J. (2004) Charcoal production, dispersal, and deposition from Fort Providence experimental fire: interpreting fire regimes from charcoal records in boreal forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 34, 1643-1656.
62. Major, J., Lehmann, J., Rondon, M.A. & Goodale, C.L. (2009) Fate of soil-applied black carbon: downward migration, leaching and soil respiration. Global Change Biology, 16, 1366-1379.
63. McCarthy, J. (2001) Gap dynamics of forest trees: a review with particular reference to boreal forests. Environmental Reviews, 9, 1-59.
64. Nguyen, B.T. & Lehmann, J. (2009) Black carbon decomposition under varying water regimes. Organic Geochemistry, 40, 846-853.
65. Novak, J., Lima, I.M., Xing, B., Gaskin, J.W., Steiner, C., Das, K.C. et al. (2009) Characterization of designer biochar produced at different temperatures and their effects on a loamy sand. Annals of Environmental Science, 13, 195-206.
66. Ohlson, M. & Tryterud, E. (2000) Interpretation of the charcoal record in forest soils: forest fires and their production and deposition of macroscopic charcoal. The Holocene, 10, 519-525.
67. Ohlson, M., Dahlberg, B., Økland, T., Brown, K.J. & Halvorsen, R. (2009) The charcoal carbon pool in boreal forest soils. Nature Geoscience, 2, 692-695.
68. Peltola, H.S., Kellomaki, A. & Granader, M. (2000) Mechanical stability of Scots pine, Norway spruce and birch: an analysis of tree-pulling experiments in Finland. Forest Ecology and Management, 135, 143-153.
69. Peltola, S., Kilpeläinen, H. & Asikainen, A. (2011) Recovery rates of logging residue harvesting in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) dominated stands. Biomass and Bioenergy, 35, 1545-1551.
70. Pham, A.T., De Grandpré, L., Gauthier, S. & Bergeron, Y. (2004) gap dynamics and replacement patterns in gaps of the northeastern boreal forest of Quebec. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 34, 353-364.
71. Pietkäinen, J., Kiikkilä, O. & Fritze, H. (2000) Charcoal as a habitat for microbes and its effect on the microbial community of the underlying humus. Oikos, 89, 231-242.
72. Prendergast-Miller, M.T., Duvall, M. & Sohi, S.P. (2011) Localisation of nitrate in the rhizosphere of biochar-amended soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 43, 2243-2246.
73. Preston, C.M. & Schmidt, M.W.I. (2006) Black (pyrogenic) carbon: a synthesis of current knowledge and uncertainties with special consideration of boreal regions. Biogeosciences, 3, 397-420.
74. Qiu, Y., Cheng, H., Xu, C. & Sheng, G.D. (2008) Surface characteristics of crop-residue-derived black carbon and lead(II) adsorption. Water Research, 42, 567-574.
75. Read, P. & Lermit, J. (2005) Bio-energy with carbon storage (BECS): a sequential decision approach to the threat of abrupt climate change. Energy, 30, 2654-2671.
76. Rosengren, M. (2000) Is it possible to detect fire history by dating charcoal in humus? A case study from 3 stands in boreal Sweden. Dissertation, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
77. Rumpel, C., Chaplot, V., Planchon, O., Bernadou, J., Velentin, C. & Mariotti, A. (2006) Preferential erosion of black carbon on steep slopes with slash and burn agriculture. Catena, 65, 30-40.
78. Šamonil, P., Král, K. & Hort, L. (2010) The role of tree uprooting in soil formation: a critical literature review. Geoderma, 157, 65-79.
79. Schaetzl, R.J. (1986) Complete soil profile inversion by tree uprooting. Physical Geography, 7, 181-189.
80. Schmidt, M.W.I. (2002) Carbon isotope geochemistry and nanomorphology of soil black carbon: black chernozemic soils in central Europe originate from ancient biomass burning. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16, 1123.
81. Schmidt, M.W.I. & Noack, A.G. (2000) Black carbon in soils and sediments: analysis, distribution, implications, and current challenges. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 14, 777-793.
82. Schulze, E.-D., Lloyd, J., Kelliher, F.M., Wirth, C., Rebmann, C., Lühker, B. et al. (1999) Productivity of forests in the Euro Siberian boreal region and their potential to act as a carbon sink - a synthesis. Global Change Biology, 5, 703-722.
83. Skjemstad, J.O., Clarke, P., Taylor, J.A., Oades, J.M. & McClure, S.G. (1996) The chemistry and nature of protected carbon in soil. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 34, 251-271.
84. Stocks, B.J., Mason, J.A., Todd, J.B., Bosch, E.M., Wotton, B.M., Amiro, B.D. et al. (2003) Large forest fires in Canada, 1959-1997. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 1-12.
85. Thiffault, E., Hannam, K.D., Quideau, S.A., Paré, D., Bélanger, N., Oh, S.-W. & Munson, A.D. (2008) Chemical composition of forest floor and consequences for nutrient availability after wildfire and harvesting in the boreal forest. Plant and Soil, 308, 37-53.
86. Thiffault, E., Paré, D., Brais, S. & Titus, B.D. (2010) Intensive biomass removals and site productivity in Canada: a review of relevant issues. Forestry Chronicle, 86, 36-42.
87. Tinker, D.B. & Knight, D.H. (2000) Coarse woody debris following fire and logging in Wyoming lodgepole pine forests. Ecosystems, 3, 472-483.
88. Vasilyeva, N.A., Abiven, S., Milanovskiy, E.Y., Hilf, M., Rizhkov, O.V. & Schmidt, M.W.I. (2011) Pyrogenic carbon quantity and quality unchanged after 55 years of organic matter depletion in a chernozem. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43, 1985-1988.
89. Wardle, D.A., Nilsson, M.-C. & Zackrisson, O. (2008) Fire-derived charcoal causes loss of forest humus. Science, 320, 629.
90. Wardle, D.A., Walker, L.R. & Bardett, R.D. (2004) Ecosystem properties and forest decline in contrasting long-term chronosequences. Science, 305, 509-513.
91. Wardle, D.A., Zackrisson, O. & Nilsson, M.-C. (1998) The charcoal effect in boreal forests: mechanisms and ecological consequences. Oecologia, 115, 419-426.
92. Weir, J.M.H., Johnson, E.A. & Miyanshi, K. (2000) Fire frequency and the spatial age mosaic of the mixed-wood boreal forest in western Canada. Ecological Applications, 10, 1162-1177.
93. Yu, X.-Y., Ying, G.-G. & Kookana, R.S. (2006) Sorption and desorption behaviours of diuron in soils amended with charcoal. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 8545-8550.
94. Zackrisson, O. (1977) Influence of forest fires on the north of Sweden boreal forest. Oikos, 29, 22-32.
95. Zackrisson, O., Nilsson, M.-C. & Wardle, D.A. (1996) Key ecological function of charcoal from wildfire in the Boreal forest. Oikos, 77, 10-19.
96. Zimmerman, A.R. (2010) Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar). Environmental Science & Technology, 44, 1295-1301.
97. Zimmerman, A.R., Gao, B. & Ahn, M.-Y. (2011) Positive and negative carbon mineralization priming effects among a variety of biochar-amended soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43, 1169-1179.