Pedosphere 35(4): 690--705, 2025
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2025 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Biochar addition affects soil carbon stock by altering keystone fungal species and necromass abundance and oxidase activities in forest and paddy soils |
Leiyi ZHANG1, Yingxin WU1, Jie ZHANG1, Kumuduni Niroshika PALANSOORIYA3, Chao LIU4 , Rahat SHABIR5, Yao HUANG2, Qianying SUN1,2, Wencheng WU1, Scott X. CHANG6 |
1 Guangdong Engineering & Technology Research Center for System Control of Livestock and Poultry Breeding Pollution, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Guangzhou 510535 (China)
2 National-Regional Joint Engineering Research Center for Soil Pollution Control and Remediation in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Integrated Agro-environmental Pollution Control and Management, Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650 (China)
3 State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300 (China)
4 Key Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228 (China)
5 Australian Rivers Institute and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane 4111 (Australia)
6 Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB T6G 2E3 (Canada) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Fungi play a crucial role in the utilization and storage of soil organic carbon (SOC). Biochars can potentially influence soil carbon (C) turnover by mediating extracellular electron transfer, which can be facilitated by fungi. However, the effects of biochar and soil type on the community, abundance, enzyme secretion, and necromass of fungi mediating SOC storage remain unclear. A mesocosm incubation experiment was conducted using forest and paddy soils from southern China to study the impact of biochars pyrolyzed at low (300°C, BL) and high (700°C, BH) temperatures on fungal abundance, community composition, necromass abundance, and C-degrading enzyme activities. The SOC retention ratio was higher under BL (84.0%) than under BH (76.3%). Addition of BL increased fungal abundance in the forest soil by 230%. In contrast, addition of BH decreased fungal abundance in the paddy soil by 20.8%. Biochar addition affected fungal necromass accumulation and oxidase activity and regulated SOC turnover. The high available C content and moderate liming effect of BL significantly increased fungal abundance and necromass abundance in the forest soil compared to the paddy soil. Moreover, after 16 weeks of incubation, BL addition decreased peroxidase activity by 32.1% in the forest soil due to the higher C use efficiency of fungi (i.e., the enrichment of Talaromyces, Umbelopsis, and Trichoderma), decreasing C-degrading enzyme secretion and reducing SOC degradation compared to the paddy soil. However, BH addition increased the Fusarium abundance, which regulated the polyphenol oxidase activity and promoted SOC degradation in the paddy soil. We concluded that biochars could alter the soil environment and extracellular electron transfer to mediate fungal necromass content and C-degrading enzyme activities, thus affecting SOC storage in the forest and paddy soils. |
| Key Words: C-degrading enzyme,extracellular electron transfer,fungal necromass,pyrolysis temperature,soil fungi,soil organic C |
| Citation: Zhang L Y, Wu Y X, Zhang J, Palansooriya K N, Liu C, Shabir R, Huang Y, Sun Q Y, Wu W C, Chang S X. 2025. Biochar addition affects soil carbon stock by altering keystone fungal species and necromass abundance and oxidase activities in forest and paddy soils. Pedosphere. 35(4): 690-705. |
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