Greg and list: This is my first day back from the 4-day biochar conference (went well). I have read the abstract and the supplementary material, but not yet the full article (copy would be much appreciated). I am pretty sure the authors are encouraging vermiculture for CDR reasons - but that the authors did not consider biochar in their studies. I am also pretty sure that worms prefer soil with biochar augmentation. So to answer Greg's question, the answer is probably "no" - but I need to read the full article to give a better answer.
There is a fair amount of literature on the coupling of worms and biochar, but I found none addressing "better than" and don't think this particular article will help. Both worms and biochar increase carbon above and below ground. That is where the real CDR will be taking place. Ron On Oct 17, 2013, at 2:59 PM, Greg Rau <[email protected]> wrote: > Better than biochar? > Greg > > > http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131015/ncomms3576/full/ncomms3576.html > Earthworms facilitate carbon sequestration through unequal amplification of > carbon stabilization compared with mineralization > Yuanhu Shao& Shenglei FuAffiliationsContributionsCorresponding author > , > Deborah A. Neher,Jianxiong Li > Roger A. Burke,Jianping Wu, > Paul F. Hendrix,Lauren E. Dame, > Weixin Zhang, > Nature Communications 4, Article number: 2576 doi:10.1038/ncomms3576 > Received 28 April 2013 Accepted 09 September 2013 Published 15 October 2013 > Article tools > Abstract > A recent review concluded that earthworm presence increases CO2 emissions by > 33% but does not affect soil organic carbon stocks. However, the findings are > controversial and raise new questions. Here we hypothesize that neither an > increase in CO2 emission nor in stabilized carbon would entirely reflect the > earthworms’ contribution to net carbon sequestration. We show how two > widespread earthworm invaders affect net carbon sequestration through impacts > on the balance of carbon mineralization and carbon stabilization. Earthworms > accelerate carbon activation and induce unequal amplification of carbon > stabilization compared with carbon mineralization, which generates an > earthworm-mediated ‘carbon trap’. We introduce the new concept of > sequestration quotient to quantify the unequal processes. The patterns of CO2 > emission and net carbon sequestration are predictable by comparing > sequestration quotient values between treatments with and without earthworms. > This study clarifies an ecological mechanism by which earthworms may regulate > the terrestrial carbon sink. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
