Does Biochar Induce Similar Successions of Microbial Community Structures Among Different Soils?

ABSTRACT

In this study, the responses of soil bacterial communities to biochar amendment in different soils were investigated. Biochar amendment had not significantly changed the bacterial richness and diversity in black soil, fluvo-aquic soil and red soil, but shifted all the soil bacterial community structures. Biochar amendment mainly increased the growth of low-abundance bacteria in fluvo-aquic soil and that of high-abundance bacteria in red soil. The most abundant bacterial phylum in black soil and fluvo-aquic soil, Proteobacteria, increased after biochar addition, while Chloroflexi, the most abundant phylum in red soil, decreased after biochar addition. Some bacterial phyla responded consistently to biochar amendment. However, many more bacterial phyla responded differently to biochar amendment in different soils, especially those phyla present at low abundances. Therefore, our study confirmed that the responses of soil bacterial communities to the same biochar were specific to both soil type and bacterial phylum.