School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2026
Abstract
Understanding greenhouse gas emission dynamics in lawn soils is important for improving climate change mitigation strategies in urban and suburban landscapes. In this greenhouse mesocosm study, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were measured from 12 turfgrass soil columns arranged in an unreplicated, completely randomized 4 × 3 factorial design. Four amendment treatments (biochar, compost, bio-com [1:1 volume ratio of biochar and compost], and unamended control) were combined with three water-table conditions (full saturation, half saturation, and unsaturated), with a single column representing each treatment combination. Columns were irrigated at 1 cm day−1 for 24 days, followed by 14 days of contrasting water-table conditions and a 25-day drying period without irrigation. When averaged across all water-table conditions, compost-amended columns (compost or bio-com) produced higher CO2 fluxes (∼6 µmol m−2 s−1) than biochar-amended and control columns (4.5–5.0 µmol m−2 s−1). CO2 fluxes were positively correlated with air temperature and negatively correlated with soil moisture. Biochar-amended columns maintained high soil moisture (∼95%) throughout the study, demonstrating its greater moisture retention than compost-amended columns (< 23%). During saturation and subsequent drainage, CH4 fluxes peaked at 324 nmol m−2 s−1, whereas N2O fluxes exhibited a transient pulse, reaching 5–8 nmol m−2 s−1. Overall, amendment type and temperature primarily regulated CO2 emissions, whereas water-table conditions had a stronger influence on CH4 emissions and the occurrence of N2O emission pulses.
Recommended Citation
Salinas, Angel, Chu‐Lin Cheng, Engil Pereira, Rafael M. Almeida, and James Jihoon Kang. "Greenhouse Gas Flux Response in Biochar‐and Compost‐Amended Lawn Soils Under Simulated Water Saturation Conditions." CLEAN–Soil, Air, Water54, no. 8 (2026): e70254. https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.70254
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water
DOI
10.1002/clen.70254
Comments
© 2026 The Author(s). CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.