Biochar additions can enhance soil structure and the physical stabilization of C in aggregates

Abstract Biochar soil amendments are often considered as a soil carbon (C) sequestration strategy that can have beneficial impacts on a range of soil properties and plant production. We investigated the impact of two distinct types of biochar on soil chemical properties, microbial communities, soil aggregation and aggregate-associated C within two California agricultural soils in a laboratory incubation study (60 weeks). Water stable aggregation and associated C were examined via wet-sieving to obtain four aggregate size classes: large macroaggregates (2000-8000 μm), small macroaggregates (250-2000 μm), microaggregates (53-250 μm) and silt and clay fraction (