[Terrapreta] Assaying carbon levels in soil

[Richard Haard]

Tom thanks much for the interesting papers. Your reading list is very  
nice There is some interesting insight in these papers.

It seems that infrared spectroscopy may be  the first place to look  
for calculating background carbon.  Also from his paper 'The  
nature,distribution and impact of charcoal in soils'  that charcoal  
can be found in riverine plains, deltas and marine sediments. And  
later in the abstract he stated that ' soils high in charcoal appear  
to resist organic carbon decline'

  This makes me wonder how one goes about evaluating the results of an  
experimental test without knowing background charcoal levels. Perhaps  
experimental tests in synthetic medium. Our soils where I am testing  
are sandy loams that were deposited in the post glacial period by an  
ancient channel of the Frasier river that now drains the interior of BC.

Also the composition of the soil microflora can vary from place to  
place. Last winter I read T. Deluca's and et al paper on wildfire  
produced charcoal and nitrogen cycling in Ponderosa pine forests.  
There an lab experiment with collected charcoal and soils from forest  
and grassland showed that nitrification in the forest soil was  
increased by charcoal additions but failed to influence nitrification  
in grassland soils where that process already had high activity.

  In this  latest paper posted on your bibliography by Deluca  he was  
able to show that charcoal required a nitrogen source in this  
experiment glycine to reduce phenolic compounds ( growth inhibitors)  
and that wild collected charcoal had properties not found in  
laboratory charcoal produced at 350 deg C. Soil amended with wild  
collected charcoal in concentrations from 0.5% to 10 % stimulated the  
growth of a grass found in the forest understory, Koeleria macrantha,  
that has  enhanced growth after wildfires.

  So the presence or absence of background charcoal, the evolution of  
the soil microbial community and the nature of the charcoal itself in  
combination with nitrogenous substrate all have role in soil dynamics.

Pretty  nifty winter afternoon reading.

On Dec 1, 2007, at 10:16 AM, Tom Miles wrote:

> Sean,
>
> If you look on the TP site under Authors->Skjemstad you’ll find  
> seven articles by Jan Skjemstad on soil carbon which will change  
> your first impression.
>
> See: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/taxonomy/term/147/9
>
>
> Tom
>
>
> From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org [mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org 
> ] On Behalf Of Richard Haard
> Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 9:38 AM
> To: Sean K. Barry
> Cc: Terrapreta
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Assaying carbon levels in soil
>
> Hi Sean
>
> This conversation got my interest because I am interested to learn  
> what is the background  carbon as (C) in soils. I have yet to raise  
> this question with my soil science lab , UMass but my soil analysis  
> of the charcoal enriched replications of my experiment is showing  
> higher numbers for soil OM. It will be nice to answer this question  
> of where this is coming from.
>
> I have run across a number of papers where they have done analysis  
> of background soil carbon levels and even if it costs a few bucks  
> this analysis would tell you where the soils you are treating are  
> coming from. I visited a forest fire site in eastern Washington  
> specifically to collect charcoal and to observe the conditions for  
> my own interest. What happened though was this fire, in the very dry  
> eastern Washington climate burned down to mineral soil, and the only  
> charcoal was a thin crust on standing dead trees -essentially none.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/811783245/in/set-72157594444994347/ 
>   {back to primary succession}
>
> The same is true in prairie fires as when I was living in eastern  
> Kansas where they did regular burns to stimulate growth for  
> livestock forage , what I saw was ash and very little charcoal.
>
> If you visit the hot, dry desert areas say the Sonoran desert of  
> Arizona you will see the fate of dead plant material on the soil  
> surface is different from cooler, temperate areas. It oxidizes on  
> the surface and there is no zone of decomposition and enrichment of  
> the upper soil horizons. This is likely the situation in hot, dry  
> areas of Australia.
>
> Rich
>
> On Dec 1, 2007, at 7:36 AM, Sean K. Barry wrote:
>
>
> Hi Michael,
>
> Poor Mr. Skjemstad.  He must not be a soil scientists or a plant  
> physiologist (or a good one of either?).  Plants don't ever use  
> carbon from soil.  Plants only respire carbon in the form of Carbon  
> Dioxide-CO2 from the air.  Little does he realize that carbon in  
> soil in the form of charcoal in the soil is likely the best form it  
> could be in.  Charcoal in soil aids the fertility of the soil by  
> helping the microorganisms to hold more nutrients.  Charcoal in soil  
> is highly resilient.  By Mr. Skjemstad's account, charcoal is still  
> in the Australian soil from bushfires which occurred tens of  
> thousands of years ago!
>
> Perhaps Mr. Skjemstad would enjoy a subscription to the 'terrapreta'  
> list?  Maybe he could help us learn how to convert mere "charcoal in  
> soil" into Terra Preta soil, which is "ALIVE" and promotes the  
> growth of plants above.
>
> Regards,
>
> SKB
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Michael Bailes
> To: Sean K. Barry ; Terrapreta
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 9:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Assaying carbon levels in soil
>
> I posted this last June on the original Hypography TP thread
> "
> Famous last words??
> Quote:
> CSIRO MEDIA RELEASE 97/58
> 3 April 1997
>
> LEGACY OF A THOUSAND BUSHFIRES
>
> Australia's soil is even poorer than was thought, says CSIRO Land  
> and Water researcher Jan Skjemstad. Much of our small supply of  
> carbon - an essential element in fertile soil - is in the form of  
> useless charcoal, resulting from tens of thousands of years of  
> bushfires.
>
> "The charcoal is mostly carbon, but it is in a form which can't be  
> used by plants or soil organisms," said Mr Skjemstad. "
>
> So they must have away of measuring soil carbon?
>
> How do they distinguish from char and decaying vegetable matter?
>
> Perhaps you could Ask Adiana when she comes back.
>
> On 01/12/2007, Sean K. Barry <sean.barry at juno.com> wrote:
> Hi Rick,
>
> I think you just weigh the biochar/agrichar/charcoal one would make,  
> estimate the carbon content at 90%.  Maybe the payer would then  
> certify that the charcoal was then put into soil before they pay the  
> amount of that weight?  Let's assume you could not get paid if you  
> put the charcoal in the soil first.  Paid only for the fixed carbon  
> weight in the raw charcoal (if it can be weighed first), and then  
> only when its verifiably buried.
>
> Regards,
>
> SKB
>
> Michael the Archangel
>
> "You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
> Most people don't know that"
> FROM
> http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
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