Just published: Tree taxa and pyrolysis temperature interact to control the efficacy of pyrogenic organic matter formation

Happy to announce the publication of:

Hatton, P., Chatterjee, S., Filley, T.R. et al. (2016) Tree taxa and pyrolysis temperature interact to control the efficacy of pyrogenic organic matter formation Biogeochemistry doi:10.1007/s10533-016-0245-1.

In a collaborative project supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-1127253) led by Dr. Jeff Bird at CUNY Queen’s College and Pierre-Joseph Hatton, on “linking the chemical structure of black carbon to its biological degradation and transport dynamics in a northern temperate forest soil”, we report the results of a multi-method approach to characterizing the biochar resulting the pyrolysis of two feedstocks (jack pine and red maple) at four temperatures (200, 300, 450 and 600°C). The Plante lab contributed analytical thermal analyses of the samples, generating differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and evolved gas analysis (CO2 and H2O). The study found that the chemical and physical properties of the biochar were dependent on an interaction between feedstock (ie, tree taxa) and pyrolysis temperature, as a result of differing anatomical features of the feedstock. The results have important implications about the potential degradability and sorptive properties of chars generated from fires in forests dominated by these two tree species.

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