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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Producing, Characterizing and Quantifying Biochar in the Woods Using Portable Flame Cap Kilns
Published on: January 5, 2024
Fire-derived charcoal causes loss of forest humus
David A Wardle1, Marie-Charlotte Nilsson, Olle Zackrisson
1Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE901-83 Umeå, Sweden. david.wardle@svek.slu.se
Abstract:
Fire is a global driver of carbon storage and converts a substantial proportion of plant biomass to black carbon (for example, charcoal), which remains in the soil for thousands of years. Black carbon is therefore often proposed as an important long-term sink of soil carbon. We ran a 10-year experiment in each of three boreal forest stands to show that fire-derived charcoal promotes loss of forest humus and that this is associated with enhancement of microbial activity by charcoal. This result shows that charcoal-induced losses of belowground carbon in forests can partially offset the benefits of charcoal as a long-term carbon sink.
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