Biochar effects on soil nutrient transformations

A key aspect of biochar management is its proposed effect on soil fertility and plant production (Lehmann, 2007). Plant productivity is directly infl uenced by nutrient availability, which is a product of nutrient transformations in the soil environment (Marschner, 2006). For that reason, there is a great deal of interest in how biochar infl uences nutrient transformations and availability of those nutrients for plant uptake. And although increasing evidence suggests that biochar addition to soil may enhance plant production in a variety of natural and agricultural environments (Lehmann and Rondon, 2006; Atkinson et al, 2010; Jeffery et al, 2011), the direct infl uence of biochar additions on soil nutrient cycling are inconsistent and remain somewhat poorly understood. This is partially due to differences in the soils, crops and biochar amendments used in experiments and the predominance of short-term studies in the literature.