Charosphere Microbial Habitat
Citation: Quilliam RS, Glanville HC, Wade SC, Jones DL (2013). Life in the ‘charosphere’ – Does biochar in agricultural soil provide a significant habitat for microorganisms? Soil Biology and Biochemistry 65: 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.06.004
What it is: A study of field-aged biochar that tested the popular idea that biochar pores are a “microbial hotel”. It’s the vault’s main counterweight to habitat claims for raw biochar.
Key figures
| Figure | Value | Where | Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material and setting | Wood-derived biochar buried in an agricultural soil for 3 years | Abstract (Europe PMC record) | ✓ abstract |
| Colonization | Very sparse, with no obvious difference between internal and external surfaces (scanning electron microscopy) | Abstract | ✓ abstract |
| Biochar’s share of topsoil pore space at 50 t ha⁻¹ | 6.52% ± 0.11% (0–30 cm) | Abstract | ✓ abstract |
| Biochar’s share of topsoil surface area at 50 t ha⁻¹ | 7.35% ± 0.81% | Abstract | ✓ abstract |
| Biochar pores too small for most microbes (<1 µm) | 17.46% | Abstract | ✓ abstract |
| Microbial activity | Initial ¹⁴C-glucose mineralization faster in bulk soil and in soil next to the char than on char surfaces | Abstract | ✓ abstract |
| Conclusion | In the short term (≤3 years) biochar isn’t a significant microbial habitat; effects on the surrounding soil (the “charosphere”) may matter more | Abstract | ✓ abstract |
Use with care
- One wood biochar, one site, up to three years. It doesn’t rule out habitat effects for other chars, or for biochar charged with compost (Biochar Inoculation for Fertilizer).
- Attribution fix: the clover-nodulation finding cited in Biochar Nutrients and Fertilizer Chemistry comes from a different paper: Quilliam, DeLuca & Jones (2013), Plant and Soil 366: 83–92, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1411-4.
Related: Biochar Microbes and Soil Biology · meta-analyzes microbial inocula · Key Sources