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On the Potential of Biochar Soil Amendments as a Sustainable Water Management Strategy

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  • Steve W. Lyon

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
    Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
    Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Benjamin M. C. Fischer

    (Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
    Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, 75105 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Laura Morillas

    (Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada)

  • Johanna Rojas Conejo

    (Water Resources Center for Central America and the Caribbean (HIDROCEC-UNA), Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Liberia 50101, Guanacaste, Costa Rica)

  • Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo

    (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas, Arlington, TX 78712, USA)

  • Andrea Suárez Serrano

    (Water Resources Center for Central America and the Caribbean (HIDROCEC-UNA), Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Liberia 50101, Guanacaste, Costa Rica)

  • Jay Frentress

    (Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
    Water Resources, Ramboll Sverige AB, 10462 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Chih-Hsin Cheng

    (School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan)

  • Monica Garcia

    (Research Centre for the Management of Agricultural and Environmental Risks (CEIGRAM), E.T.S.I. Agronomica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain)

  • Mark S. Johnson

    (Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
    Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada)

Abstract

Biochar has been put forward as a potential technology that could help achieve sustainable water management in agriculture through its ability to increase water holding capacity in soils. Despite this opportunity, there are still a limited number of studies, especially in vulnerable regions like the tropics, quantifying the impacts of biochar on soil water storage and characterizing the impacts of biochar additions on plant water composition. To address this critical gap, we present a case study using stable water isotopes and hydrometric data from melon production in tropical agriculture to explore the hydrological impacts of biochar as a soil amendment. Results from our 10-week growing season experiment in Costa Rica under drip irrigation demonstrated an average increase in volumetric soil moisture content of about 10% with an average moisture content of 25.4 cm 3 cm −3 versus 23.1 cm 3 cm −3 , respectively, for biochar amended plots compared with control plots. Further, there was a reduction in the variability of soil matric potential for biochar amended plots compared with control plots. Our isotopic investigation demonstrated that for both biochar and control plots, there was a consistent increase (or enrichment) in isotopic composition for plant materials moving from the roots, where the average δ 18 O was −8.1‰ and the average δ 2 H was −58.5‰ across all plots and samples, up through the leaves, where the average δ 18 O was 4.3‰ and the average δ 2 H was 0.1‰ across all plots and samples. However, as there was no discernible difference in isotopic composition for plant water samples when comparing across biochar and control plots, we find that biochar did not alter the composition of water found in the melon plant material, indicating that biochar and plants are not competing for the same water sources. In addition, and through the holistic lens of sustainability, biochar additions allowed locally sourced feedstock carbon to be directly sequestered into the soil while improving soil water availability without jeopardizing production for the melon crop. Given that most of the expansion and intensification of global agricultural production over the next several decades will take place in the tropics and that the variability of tropical water cycling is expected to increase due to climate change, biochar amendments could offer a pathway forward towards sustainable tropical agricultural water management.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve W. Lyon & Benjamin M. C. Fischer & Laura Morillas & Johanna Rojas Conejo & Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo & Andrea Suárez Serrano & Jay Frentress & Chih-Hsin Cheng & Monica Garcia & Mark S. Johnson, 2022. "On the Potential of Biochar Soil Amendments as a Sustainable Water Management Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:12:p:7026-:d:834065
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Detlef Vuuren & Elmar Kriegler & Brian O’Neill & Kristie Ebi & Keywan Riahi & Timothy Carter & Jae Edmonds & Stephane Hallegatte & Tom Kram & Ritu Mathur & Harald Winkler, 2014. "A new scenario framework for Climate Change Research: scenario matrix architecture," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 373-386, February.
    2. Brian O’Neill & Elmar Kriegler & Keywan Riahi & Kristie Ebi & Stephane Hallegatte & Timothy Carter & Ritu Mathur & Detlef Vuuren, 2014. "A new scenario framework for climate change research: the concept of shared socioeconomic pathways," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 387-400, February.
    3. Kristie Ebi & Stephane Hallegatte & Tom Kram & Nigel Arnell & Timothy Carter & Jae Edmonds & Elmar Kriegler & Ritu Mathur & Brian O’Neill & Keywan Riahi & Harald Winkler & Detlef Vuuren & Timm Zwickel, 2014. "A new scenario framework for climate change research: background, process, and future directions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 363-372, February.
    4. Xue Feng & Amilcare Porporato & Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe, 2013. "Changes in rainfall seasonality in the tropics," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 811-815, September.
    5. Elmar Kriegler & Jae Edmonds & Stéphane Hallegatte & Kristie Ebi & Tom Kram & Keywan Riahi & Harald Winkler & Detlef Vuuren, 2014. "A new scenario framework for climate change research: the concept of shared climate policy assumptions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 401-414, February.
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