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Applying biochar amendment and manure in tea plantation ecosystems can diminish soil acidification and degradation. However, the impact of these practices on soil respiration and associated mechanisms remains unclear. In this study, we combined a two-year field experiment and laboratory analyses based on soil properties, functional genes, and microbial co-occurrence networks to explore the determinants of soil respiration intensity in a subtropical tea plantation with biochar amendment and manure application. The results showed that the effect of biochar amendment on soil respiration was unconspicuous. Although biochar amendment increased bacterial richness and Shannon index, biochar amendment did not alter the abundance of species associated with C-cycling functional genes. Besides directly adding recalcitrant C to the soil, biochar also indirectly enhanced C sequestration by weakly increasing soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, replacing mineral fertilizer with manure significantly stimulated soil respiration in the tea plantation, resulting in a 36% increase in CO2 emissions over two years. The increase in CO2 emissions under the manure treatment was mainly attributed to the increased soil labile C pool, the activity of hydrolytic enzymes (e.g., cellobiohydrolase and acetylglucosaminidase), and the relative abundance of functional genes associated with the C-cycle. This may also be related to the application of manure that increased the abundance of Gemmatimonadetes and altered ecological clusters in bacterial co-occurrence networks. Our correlation network analysis suggested that Gemmatimonadetes might be the potential hosts for C-cycling genes due to their strong positive correlation with the abundance of C-cycling genes. Overall, these findings provide new insights into soil respiration under biochar amendment and manure application in tea plantations and broaden the options for carbon sequestration in soils. Highlights: Manure application rather than biochar amendment increased acidic soil respiration. Biochar application promoted soil C sequestration in the tea plantation. Manure application stimulated CO2 emissions by altering ecological clusters' abundance. Gemmatimonadetes might be the dominant hosts for C-cycling genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies suggest that biochar application can reduce soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, mainly based on short‐term results. However, it remains unclear what the effects (i.e., legacy effects) and underlying mechanisms are on N2O emissions after many years of a single application of biochar. Here, we collected intact soil columns from plots without and with biochar application in a subtropical tea plantation 7 years ago for an incubation experiment. We used the N2O isotopocule analysis combined with ammonia oxidizer‐specific inhibitors and molecular biology approaches to investigate how the legacy effect of biochar affected soil N2O emissions. Results showed that the soil in the presence of biochar had lower N2O emissions than the control albeit statistically insignificant. The legacy effect of biochar in decreasing N2O emissions may be attributed to the reduced effectiveness of the soil substrate, nitrification and denitrification activities, and the promotion of the further reduction of N2O. The legacy effect of biochar reduced the relative contribution of nitrifier denitrification/bacterial denitrification, nitrification‐related N2O production, and the relative abundance of several microorganisms involved in the nitrogen cycle. Our global meta‐analysis also showed that the reduction of N2O by biochar increased with increasing application rate but diminished and possibly even reversed with increasing experimental time. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the abatement capacity of biochar on soil N2O emissions may weaken over time after biochar application, but this remains under further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs accelerate soil acidification and degradation in tea plantations, thus posing a threat to soil microbial diversity, species composition, and ecosystem service functions. The effects of organic fertilizer and biochar applications on improving soil fertility have been extensively studied on cropland; however, little is known about their effectiveness in promoting soil multifunctionality on rapidly expanding acidic soils in tea plantations. In this study, we conducted a two‐year field experiment in a subtropical tea plantation to investigate the effects of organic fertilizer substitution and biochar amendment on soil microbial communities and multifunctionality. The results showed that soil multifunctionality was enhanced in plots amended with organic fertilizer and biochar. Soil multifunctionality was significantly and positively correlated with alpha‐diversity of bacteria but not fungi. We also found that organic fertilizer substitution and biochar amendment improved soil multifunctionality by altering the abundance of keystone species. The abundance of keystone species classified as module hubs in the bacterial co‐occurrence network contributed significantly and positively to soil multifunctionality. In contrast, the keystone species categorized as module hubs in the fungal co‐occurrence network negatively affected soil multifunctionality. Soil pH was a key driver of soil microbial community composition, indicating that the increase in soil pH under organic fertilizer and biochar amendment had a crucial role in biological processes. These results suggest that organic substitution and biochar amendment are beneficial in preventing soil degradation and maintaining soil multifunctionality in subtropical tea plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical and subtropical acidic soils have been well documented as hotspots of global soil nitrogen (N) oxide (i.e., nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) emissions). While the effectiveness of possible mitigation options has been extensively examined in croplands, little is known about their effectiveness in reducing N‐oxide emissions from acidic soils of rapidly expanding tea plantations in China. Here, we conducted a 2‐year field experiment to investigate how organic substitution for synthetic fertilizer and biochar amendment affect soil N‐oxide emissions from a subtropical tea plantation. Across the 2‐year measurement period, full organic substitution for synthetic fertilizer significantly increased N2O emissions by an average of 17% while had a lower NO emission compared to synthetic fertilizer alone. Our global meta‐analysis further revealed that full or partial organic fertilizer substitution resulted in a 29% (95% confidence interval: 5%–60%) increase of N2O emissions from acidic soils. In contrast, irrespective of fertilizer type, biochar amendment significantly reduced N2O emissions by 14% in the first but not second experimental year, suggesting a transient effect. The trade‐off effect of full organic substitution on N2O and NO emissions may be attributed to the favorable conditions for N2O production due to the stimulated activity of nitrifiers and denitrifiers. The suppression of N2O emission following biochar amendment was probably due to promoted further reduction of N2O to dinitrogen. The fertilizer‐induced emission factor (EF) of N2O (2.1%) in the tea plantation was greater than the current IPCC default value, but the EF of NO (0.8%) was comparable to the global estimate. Taken together, while biochar amendment could have mitigation potential, cautions are needed when applying organic substitution for synthetic fertilizer as mitigation options for acidic soils as hotspots of N‐oxide emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tailoring agricultural practices to enhance the soil carbon (C) stock is seen as a promising mitigation tactic to offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in croplands. Tea plantations are not only the important part of economic industry but also one of the crucial agricultural sources of non-carbon dioxide emissions. Although many studies have measured GHG emissions from tea plantations, it remains unknown about the effect of knowledge-based mitigation options on the entire C budget from Chinese rapidly expanding tea plantations. Thus, we carried out a 2-year field trial to provide an insight into the influence of organic fertilizer substitution for synthetic fertilizer and biochar amendment on net ecosystem carbon budget (NECB), net greenhouse gas budget (NGB), and yield-scaled greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) from a subtropical tea plantation. Results showed that when averaged a 2-year experimental period, both full organic substitution and biochar amendment contributed significantly to the increment in NECB, mainly due to the enhanced soil organic C content in the tea field. Compared with the conventional farm practice, the application of full organic substitution can induce a 52% decrease in both NGB and GHGI. Regardless of fertilizer type, both NGB and GHGI were negative and 2.4 times lower in the treatments with biochar amendment relative to the control. In addition to their roles in maintaining soil health and alleviating soil acidification, our results suggest that organic fertilizer substitution and biochar addition may achieve low carbon development for tea plantations. Our findings will inform efforts to implement and evaluate these tailored mitigation options in tea plantations at a national scale. • The net greenhouse gas budget was assessed in a tea plantation over two years. • Organic substitution and biochar amendment decreased net greenhouse gas budget. • Organic substitution and biochar contributed to lowering yield-scaled emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]