Effects of biochar amendment on the net greenhouse gas emission and greenhouse gas intensity in a Chinese double rice cropping system

• Biochar amendment in paddy fields reduced CH4 emissions.
• N2O emissions increased by biochar amendment.
• Soil Rh increased in a short period by biochar amendment.
• Net GHG emission and GHG intensity reduced by biochar amendment.

The impacts of biochar amendment on the net greenhouse gas emission (NGHGE) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) of double rice cropping systems are not well examined. In this study, a field experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of biochar amendment on NGHGE and GHGI emissions in a subtropical double rice cropping system managed with intermittent flooding during two rice-growing seasons and drainage during a fallow season from April 2012 to April 2013. Three biochar treatments were studied, with application rates of 0, 24 and 48 t ha−1 (named CK, LC and HC, respectively). In each treatment, the fluxes of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh) were measured using a static chamber/gas chromatography method. Key soil properties related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were also determined throughout an entire double rice cycle. The results showed that biochar amendment significantly reduced annual CH4 emissions by up to 40% compared with the CK treatment, possibly due to the soil pH increase after biochar amendment other than increased soil aeration. In contrast, annual N2O emissions significantly increased by 150% and 190% in the two biochar treatments, compared with the CK treatment, which may be related to the increase of soil dissolvable organic C or NH4+ in the biochar treatments. The cumulative Rh significantly increased by 19% in the HC treatment possibly due to the additional carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from decomposition of the labile C within biochar, but showed no increase and even a decrease in the LC treatment throughout the study period. Annually, the global warming potential for CH4 and N2O emissions, NGHGEs, and GHGIs in the biochar amendment treatments were reduced by 31–36%, 1551–2936% and 1452–2894%, respectively (p < 0.05). Our collective data may suggest that as the rice grain yield was improved by the biochar amendment found in this study, the biochar application in paddy fields may be an effective measure for GHG emission mitigation in the subtropics.