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Evaluating soil productivity and climate change benefits of woody biochar soil amendments for the US Interior West

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dc.contributor.authorRamlow, Matthew Alan, author
dc.contributor.authorCotrufo, M. Francesca, advisor
dc.contributor.authorOgle, Stephen, committee member
dc.contributor.authorRhoades, Charles C., committee member
dc.contributor.authorvon Fischer, Joseph, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2018-09-10T20:04:57Z
dc.date.available2018-09-10T20:04:57Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractManaging our lands to provide for today and the future requires sustainable land management practices that enhance productivity while reducing climate impacts. Proponents claim biochar soil amendments offer a comprehensive solution to enhance soil capacity to deliver water and nutrients to plants while decreasing climate impacts through reduced nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilizer use and carbon (C) sequestration. This dissertation evaluates such claims for woody biochar applications within the US Interior West; to enhance crop production and reduce N2O emissions in deficit irrigation agricultural systems, and to support forest road restoration efforts. It also employs laboratory incubations and soil biogeochemical modeling to predict and to better understand the controls on biochar's greenhouse gas mitigation potential. The field studies demonstrate that this woody biochar improved soil moisture content but its enhanced capacity to retain water did not alleviate plant water stress when water inputs were low. Similarly, in forest soils, this woody biochar amendment improved plant available N but at levels that did not impact productivity. In lab incubations this woody biochar reduced N2O emissions. While this reduction could not be explained by bulk soil mineral N transformations, the soil moisture regime did affect biochar's ability to reduce N2O emissions. Despite the observed biochar N2O emission reductions in incubated soils, under field conditions biochar effects on N2O emissions were inconclusive. When evaluating biochar's C sequestration potential, soil biogeochemical modeling revealed that 59 percent of the biochar C applied will be sequestered in soils after 100 years. Losses from biochar fragmentation and leaching may constitute a considerable proportion of the C losses. Of the applications considered, C sequestration remains the most promising use for biochar soil amendments within the US Interior West.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierRamlow_colostate_0053A_14978.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/191388
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectC sequestration
dc.subjectgreenhouse gas mitigation
dc.subjectroad decommissioning
dc.subjectdeficit irrigation
dc.subjectbiochar
dc.subjectnitrous oxide
dc.titleEvaluating soil productivity and climate change benefits of woody biochar soil amendments for the US Interior West
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEcology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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