Biochar Soil Amendments for Remediating Industrialized Landscapes

Restoring [urban] landscapes with pyrogenic carbon
Nigel Gale, Md. Abdul Halim, and SC Thomas
E: nigel.gale@mail.utoronto.ca
Summary:
Charcoal used as a soil amendment, or biochar, is a climate change mitigation technology with substantial promise to ameliorate
soil conditions associated with industrialization: acidification, nutrient leaching, loss of organic matter, and contamination. In a series
of glasshouse studies in Toronto, Ontario, we tested the effects of pyrolyzed timber waste materials (biochar) on the growth and
performance of temperate plants. Biochar soil amendments mitigated salt induced stress in a roadside herbaceous plant, facilitated
succession of pioneer herbaceous plants and fire-adapted trees by enhancing growth and physiological performance. Biochar thus
has considerable potential to be used as a fire disturbance mimic to restore industrialized landscapes while combating climate
change.
Biochar is produced by thermally degrading waste materials from a local timber mill
Sawdust, woodchips, and bark waste residues
from the Haliburton Forest mill is converted to
charcoal!
The feed-through pyrolyzer at
Haliburton Forest Ltd., Ontario
(Lehmann 2007)
Pyrolysis converts long-chained
lignocellulosic materials into stable
aromatic carbon
Coal
Cellulose
Graphite
Benzene
Enhanced plant growth and performance to biochar amended soils in a series of glasshouse trials
Biochar mitigates salt stress and enhances physiological
performance in the herbaceous pioneer Abutilon
theophrasti
Biochar facilitates early succession by
increasing growth in herbaceous pioneers
Fire-adapted tree seedlings had 21% greater biomass
when grown in maple sawdust biochars
1.4
2.5
Belowground biomass of Trifolium repens
Belowground biomass of
Trifolium repens (clover)
+21%
1.3
2.0
+C5
+C5+S
+C50
+C50+S
80% greater root
mass
Rate of carbon assimilation ( mmol / m2 s)
1.0
1.0
-13%
0.5
(Gale et al., unpublished ) 0.9
A. theophrasti amended with sugar maple sawdust biochar (378ºC)
applied at 5 t/ha (C +5) and 50 t/ha (C+50) with roadside salt
application of 30g / m2 (+ salt, +C5+S, +C50+S) (Thomas et al. 2013)
1.1
(g)
+Salt
1.2
Control
1.5
13
0.0
0.8
12
Larix laricia grown in brunisolic soil
with (B) and without (C) biochar
0
Non fireadapted
8
7
6
5
0
50
100
150
Biochar dosage (t/ha)
200
20
t/ha
0.7
9
10
Biochar addition rate (t/ha)
11
10
0
1
Fire-adapted
From 20 regional tree, including conifers and deciduous trees
grown over 2 years (faster-growing species harvested at one
year). Range of shade and drought tolerance. Biochar produced at
450ºC and applied at 10/ha. (Thomas et al., unpublished)
(Gale and Thoma,s unpublished) Tanectum vulgare grown in brunisolic soil with no,
10, and 20 t/ha biochar (left to right)
Biochar should be used to ameliorate soil conditions
common in the urban landscape
Acknowledgements
Industrial partner:
Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve Ltd, ON
Thomas Lab members:
Dr. Tara Sackett, Jon Schurman, Mark Horsburg, Janise Herridge,
Robert Godfrey, Leeladarshini Sujeeun, Susan Gordon,
Sunny XiaoTong, and Joanna Lin
Other collaborators:
Carolyn Winsborough, Gowthaman Rajakumar, Chihiro Ikeda,
Emma Horrigan, and James Hall
Mitigate road salt effects
Enhance ‘street tree’ performance
Facilitate restoration of
industrialized land
Literature cited
Thomas, S. C., Frye, S., Gale, N., Garmon, M., Launchbury, R., Machado, N., ... & Winsborough,
C. (2013). Biochar mitigates negative effects of salt additions on two herbaceous plant
species. Journal of environmental management, 129, 62-68.
Lehmann, Johannes. 2007. Bio-energy in the black. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
5.7: 381-387.