Wetter farming: raising water table and biochar for reduced GHG emissions while maintaining crop productivity in agricultural peatlands.

Abstract

Despite their high agricultural productivity, drained and cultivated peats are highly susceptible to degradation and significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study investigates the potential of water table manipulation and biochar application to mitigate GHG losses from agricultural peats. However, balancing the need for agricultural production with securing the ecosystem function of the peat under high water table (WT) conditions poses a significant challenge. Therefore, we grew lettuce in a controlled mesocosm experiment with either a high (HW) or low (LW) water table and monitored emissions of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O over 4 months using a mesocosm method. Concurrent measurements of soil solution, plant measurements and microbial sequencing allowed identification of the key controls on GHG emissions. Raising the WT significantly reduced CO₂ emissions (18%), and N₂O emission (40%), but eventually increased CH₄ emission (2.5-fold) compared to the Control + LW. Biochar amendment with raised WT provided the strongest reduction in CO₂ equivalent GHG emission (4.64 t CO₂eq ha^-1 yr^-1), compared to Control + LW. We found that biochar amendment modified the microbial community composition and diversity (Shannon index 8.9-9.3), lowering the relative abundance of peat decomposers (such as Ascomycota). Moreover, biochar amendments produced 38-56% greater lettuce biomass compared to the unamended controls, irrespective of water table level, suggesting that biochar application could generate economic benefits in addition to reduced GHG emissions. Mechanisms responsible for these effects appeared to be both abiotic (e.g. via effects of the biochar physicochemical composition) and biotic via changing the soil microbiome. Overall, the combination of high-water table and biochar amendment enhanced total soil C, reduced peat decomposition, suppressed CH₄ and N₂O emissions, and enhanced crop yields.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42773-025-00487-7.