The formation of the Amazon Dark Earths was a model of sustainable soil management that involved intensive composting and charcoal (biochar) application. Biochar has been the focus of increasing research attention for carbon sequestration, although the role of compost or humic substances (HS) as they interact with biochar has not been much studied. We provide a perspective that biochar and HS may facilitate extracellular electron transfer (EET) reactions in soil, which occurs under similar conditions that generate the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. Facilitating EET may constitute a viable strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas emission. In general, we lack knowledge in the mechanisms that link the surface chemical characteristics of biochar to the physiology of microorganisms that are involved in various soil processes including those that influence soil organic matter dynamics and methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Most studies view biochar as a mostly inert microbial substrate that offers little other than a high sorptive surface area. Synergism between biochar and HS resulting in enhanced EET provides a mechanism to link electrochemical properties of these materials to microbial processes in sustainable soils.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 June 2022.
All research outputs
#13,749,205
of 23,914,787 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Microbiology
#10,317
of 26,601 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#150,093
of 249,385 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Microbiology
#128
of 319 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,914,787 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 26,601 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 60% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 249,385 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 319 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 59% of its contemporaries.
