Bamboo charcoal affects soil properties and bacterial community in tea plantations

Bamboo charcoal, a type of manufactured biochar, is produced by pyrolyzing bamboo residue under anoxic conditions. Bamboo charcoal has attracted significant attention owing to its beneficial properties in absorption, catalyst support, and agricultural function. However, relatively few studies have examined its effects on the soil microbiota. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to analyze the effects of bamboo charcoal on soil physicochemical properties, enzymes, and microbial community structure in tea plantations. We found that bamboo charcoal creates a host of benefits including significantly increasing the pH and organic carbon content, total and available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and urease, sucrase, acid phosphatase, and beta-glucosidase activities in the soil. Furthermore, the soil microbiota diversity and richness increased with elevated bamboo charcoal concentration. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes dominated the soil microbiota in the control and bamboo charcoal addition groups; however, the soil microbiota composition was similar in the control groups but differed from that of the bamboo charcoal addition groups. Thus, this study provides basic insights into the bamboo charcoal application for the ecological remediation of diseased soils.