1. Conservation Grassland
Soil Minerals
Terra Preta
Terra Preta de Indio
Carbon
Charcoal
Mystery Soil of the Amazon
“dark earth” (Portuguese)
How did the native Amazon tribes create these remarkably fertile and productive soils?
Amazon Basin, Brazil
reduced carbon
1867: Ballard S. Dunn, Confederate exile
book: Brazil: Home for Southerners
lauds high fertility of Amazon dark soil
Local farmers prize terra preta
dug up and sold as potting soil
yields up to three fold as great as surrounding infertile tropical soils
sustained fertility in intensive use
High Carbon (SOM) content
up to 9%
compared with .5% in other soils
sometimes over 20%
one to two meters deep
Terra Preta
Conservation Grassland
Minnesota
Ferralsol
How have these remarkable soils sustained their fertility and productivity for five centuries?
1879: explorer Herbert Smith
tales of Amazon in Scribner's Monthly:
“extraordinary fecundity of cane fields…
“stalks ten feet high… big as a wrist…
"rich ‘terra preta’… best in Amazon…
“fine, dark loam… often two feet thick"
Small Patches
average: 20 hectares (50 acres)
350 hectares (865 acres) reported
near settlements & on bluffs
embedded pottery sherds
animal & fish bones, cultural debris
Age: years
radio-carbon dating (charcoal)
recent research: 6000 years
What can we learn from these remarkable soils to sustain soil fertility and productivity today?
High nutrient content
Calcium & Phosphorus
Nitrogen
Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
Can this method to create tropical soils provide insights to improve temperate climate soils?
1966: Wim Sombroek (Dutch; )
published his book: Amazon Soils
first scientific study of terra preta
Made from Ferralsol or Acrisol
predominant soils in Amazon
acidic, notoriously infertile
poor nutrient capacity
Can this method to sequester carbon in soil help us reverse global warming and climate change?
1992: Sombroek publishes his first book
on terra preta for carbon sequestration
High Microbial activity
“microbial reef”
nitrogenous bacteria (nitrogen fixing)
Aerial Surveys
up to 10% of total land area
able to feed 5-10 million people
2002: Sombroek forms Terra Preta Nova
to use char on farms as a carbon sink
2007: first international biochar conference
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2. Terra Preta is biochar a nutrient? Increased Fertility
In normal soil, biochar breaks down very slowly
(oxidation,weathering & digestion)
– over centuries, rather than months
higher Phosphorus & Calcium
higher Nitrogen
increased nutrient availability
lower acidity
higher pH buffering
water retention
physical structure
biological habitat (microflora & fauna)
Biochar isn’t consumed by soil life
Biochar freshly made is sterile,
with no biological activity
– no microbes
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Adding only biochar to soil
retards plant growth
for up to two years
Fertilizers must be added
with biochar
terra preta
Biochar is a sponge
to hold water & nutrients,
and a substrate
to provide habitat & housing
for microbes
acrisol
typical Amazon soil
infertile
biochar

3. Terra Preta 2001 Global Research biochar benefits
cation exchange capacity increased (Glaser)
water-holding capacity 18% increase (Glaser)
biomass growth 266% increase (Steiner 2nd year)
324% increase (Kishimoto & Sugiura)
plant nitrogen uptake doubled (Steiner)
farm chemical runoff reduced (Yelverton)
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4. Christoph Steiner1; W. G. Teixeira2; Johannes Lehmann3; W. Zech1
Terra Preta
Research
3-Year Field Trials
Rice & Sorghum
366%
267%
881%
Christoph Steiner1; W. G. Teixeira2; Johannes Lehmann3; W. Zech1
1 Institute of Soil Science, Univ. of Bayreuth, Germany 2 Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental, Manaus, Brazil
3 Dept of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell Univ., USA
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5. Bark Biochar & Fertilizer
Terra Preta
Research
Bark Biochar & Fertilizer
biochar +
NPK
biochar +
NPK
NPK
control
control
NPK
This was presented by Dr. Ogawa
Effect of bark biochar and fertilizer
on plant growth and soil properties
in south Sumatra
Yamato 2004 unpublished
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