Microbial utilisation of biochar-derived carbon.

Whilst largely considered an inert material, biochar has been documented to contain a small yet significant fraction of microbially available labile organic carbon (C). Biochar addition to soil has also been reported to alter soil microbial community structure, and to both stimulate and retard the decomposition of native soil organic matter (SOM). We conducted a short-term incubation experiment using two (13)C-labelled biochars produced from wheat or eucalypt shoots, which were incorporated in an aridic arenosol to examine the fate of the labile fraction of biochar-C through the microbial community.

Assessment of the intrinsic bioremediation capacity of an eutrophic river sediment polluted by discharging chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons: a compound-specific isotope approach.

At a field site in the industrial area of Vilvoorde, Belgium, we investigated the capacity of the indigenous microbial community of a eutrophic river sediment to biodegrade chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) originating from discharging, polluted groundwater using a compound-specific isotope approach. We specifically targeted the site's major pollutants cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). Analysis of Rayleigh correlation plots enabled us to assess the extent to which microbial and abiotic natural attenuation processes contributed to the mitigation of a pollution of the surface water due to discharging CAH-contaminated groundwater.