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Synergistic effects of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer enhance soil carbon emissions and microbial diversity in acidic orchard soils

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Abstract

To explore the synergistic effects of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer on soil carbon emission and microbial diversity in acidic orchards were studied. A 300-day pot experiment was conducted, including control (CK), nitrogen fertilizer (N), 1% biochar (B1), 3% biochar (B3), nitrogen fertilizer with 1% biochar (NB1), and nitrogen fertilizer with 3% biochar application (NB3). After biochar and nitrogen fertilizer treatments, soil pH increased from 4.73 to 6.75 unit, soil organic carbon (SOC), mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) contents increased 17.88%–41.14%, 31.95%–73.44% and 15.50%–48.90%, respectively, Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content decreased by 33.56%–55.35%. The release of CO2–C increased by 0.73%–232.43%, with the synergistic effect of NB3 being the most significant. NB1 and B1 reduced VOCs-C release, while NB3 and B3 increased VOCs-C release. B1 and B3 significantly enhanced the abundance of Bradyrhizobium, while decreasing the abundance of Streptomyces and Streptacidiphilus, NB3 exhibited opposite trends. Compared with CK, B1 and B3 increased the abundance of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (acdA), and NB1 and NB3 reduced the abundance of β-galactosidase (β-gaL) and glucosidase (GA). Correlation analysis showed that the release of CO2-C was significantly positively correlated with MAOC and negatively correlated with DOC, while VOCs-C was significantly negatively correlated with DOC. This synergistic effect of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer has positive implications for improving soil health and represents a viable strategy for sustainable agricultural practices.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by three organizations: Fujian Provincial Natural Science Foundation Project (2025J011231) ,Special Project for Public Welfare Research Institutes (2025R1023004) and Fujian Provincial Key Guiding Project for Agriculture (2024N0057).

Funding

Collaborative Innovation Project, XTCXGC2021009

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Resources, Environment and Soil Fertilizer, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, 350013, China

    Hongmei Chen, Xinyang Bian, Tingting Li, Xiaojie Qian, Lin Zhao, Xiaolin Chen, Qinghua Li & Fei Wang

  2. College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Hongmei Chen, Xinyang Bian, Tingting Li, Xiaojie Qian, Lin Zhao, Xiaolin Chen & Zhigang Yi

  3. Sha County Agriculture and Rural Bureau, Sanming, 365001, China

    Zhu Liu

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  1. Hongmei Chen
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Contributions

Hongmei Chen: Writing—original draft, Writing—review and editing, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Conceptualization. Xinyang Bian: Visualization, Validation, Formal analysis. Tingting Li: Methodology, Formal analysis, Data Curation. Xiaojie Qian: Supervision, Resources, Formal analysis, Data Curation. Lin Zhao: Investigation, Resources, Formal analysis. Xiaoling Chen: Validation, Formal analysis, Visualization. Zhu Liu：Resources, Supervision. Qinghua Li: Visualization, Project administration, Writing—Review & Editing, Funding acquisition. Fei Wang: Resources, Supervision, Funding acquisition. Zhgigang Yi: Conceptualization, Supervision, Methodology, Project administration.

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Qinghua Li.

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Chen, H., Bian, X., Li, T. et al. Synergistic effects of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer enhance soil carbon emissions and microbial diversity in acidic orchard soils.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07374-y

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Keywords

  • Acidic soil
  • Biochar
  • Carbon emissions
  • Mineral-associated organic carbon

  • β-galactosidase

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