Natural fire-derived charcoal resembles high-temperature biochar in regulating soil CO2 emissions from a subtropical plantation soil
Abstract
Char is a carbon (C)-rich pyrogenic material generated either during natural fire events (natural charcoal) or through the thermochemical conversion of plant biomass (engineered biochar). However, whether these two types of char have comparable effects on soil CO2 emissions remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a 30-day incubation experiment to compare the effects of charcoal produced from Pinus massoniana bark during broadcast burning and engineered biochars produced from the same feedstock at 300, 500, and 900 °C (B300, B500, and B900) on soil CO2 emissions, physicochemical properties, and bacterial diversity and composition. The addition of B300 significantly increased soil CO2 emissions (p < 0.05), whereas B500, B900, and charcoal had no significant effects. B300 addition markedly increased the relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria while decreasing those of Acidobacteriota, Chloroflexi, and Verrucomicrobiota (p < 0.001). Mixed-effects models accounting for treatment variation showed that soil pH was negatively associated with cumulative CO2 emissions, whereas Proteobacteria exhibited a positive association. Random forest analysis identified Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota as potential predictors of cumulative CO2 emissions, although these relationships require further validation. In contrast, natural fire-derived charcoal caused minimal changes in bacterial community composition. Overall, our findings demonstrate that high-temperature biochars (>500 °C) exhibit similar effects on soil CO2 emissions and bacterial community to natural charcoal in subtropical plantation soils, highlighting their potential as functional analogues of fire-derived charcoal.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026natural,
title = {{Natural fire-derived charcoal resembles high-temperature biochar in regulating soil CO2 emissions from a subtropical plantation soil}},
author = {Huiping Liu and Ziyue Gao and Mengyan Huang and Jiarui Man and Yao Huang and Xian Liu and Yuzhe Wang and Yalin Hu},
journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2026.1986273},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1986273},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Natural fire-derived charcoal resembles high-temperature biochar in regulating soil CO2 emissions from a subtropical plantation soil
AU - Huiping Liu
AU - Ziyue Gao
AU - Mengyan Huang
AU - Jiarui Man
AU - Yao Huang
AU - Xian Liu
AU - Yuzhe Wang
AU - Yalin Hu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1986273
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1986273
AB - Char is a carbon (C)-rich pyrogenic material generated either during natural fire events (natural charcoal) or through the thermochemical conversion of plant biomass (engineered biochar). However, whether these two types of char have comparable effects on soil CO2 emissions remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a 30-day incubation experiment to compare the effects of charcoal produced from Pinus massoniana bark during broadcast burning and engineered biochars produced from the same feedstock at 300, 500, and 900 °C (B300, B500, and B900) on soil CO2 emissions, physicochemical properties, and bacterial diversity and composition. The addition of B300 significantly increased soil CO2 emissions (p < 0.05), whereas B500, B900, and charcoal had no significant effects. B300 addition markedly increased the relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria while decreasing those of Acidobacteriota, Chloroflexi, and Verrucomicrobiota (p < 0.001). Mixed-effects models accounting for treatment variation showed that soil pH was negatively associated with cumulative CO2 emissions, whereas Proteobacteria exhibited a positive association. Random forest analysis identified Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota as potential predictors of cumulative CO2 emissions, although these relationships require further validation. In contrast, natural fire-derived charcoal caused minimal changes in bacterial community composition. Overall, our findings demonstrate that high-temperature biochars (>500 °C) exhibit similar effects on soil CO2 emissions and bacterial community to natural charcoal in subtropical plantation soils, highlighting their potential as functional analogues of fire-derived charcoal.
SN - 1664-302X
ER -