This is a small selection of references on biochar to get familiar with the main findings, ordered by topic area.
A comprehensive book on "Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology" (J. Lehmann and S. Joseph, eds.) was published in April 2009. This book was intended to cover the widest possible range of science and application of biochar as a soil amendment.

References for our publications can all be found on our Publications webpage.

Biochar effects on soil fertility

Glaser, B., Lehmann, J. and Zech, W.: 2002, ‘Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal - a review', Biology and Fertility of Soils 35 , 219-230.

Liang, B. , Lehmann, J., Solomon, D., Kinyangi, J., Grossman, J., O'Neill, B., Skjemstad, J.O., Thies, J., Luizão, F.J., Petersen, J. and Neves, E.G.: 2006, 'Black carbon increases cation exchange capacity in soils', Soil Science Society of America Journal 70: 1719-1730.

Van Zwieten L, Kimber S, Morris S, Chan KY, Downie A, Rust J, Joseph S, Cowie A (2010a) Effects of biochar from slow pyrolysis of papermill waste on agronomic performance and soil fertility. Plant and Soil 327:235–246

Biochar and climate change

Lehmann, J. 2007 A handful of carbon. Nature 447, 143-144.

Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J. and Rondon, M.: 2006, 'Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems – a review', Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 11, 403-427.

Okimori, Y., Ogawa, M. and Takahashi, F.: 2003, ‘Potential of CO2 emission reductions by carbonizing biomass waste from industrial tree plantation in south Sumatra , Indonesia ', Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 8 , 261-280.

Seifritz, W.: 1993, ‘Should we store carbon in charcoal?', International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 18, 405-407.

Singh, B.P., Hatton, B.J., Singh, B., Cowie, A.L., Kathuria, A. 2010. Influence of biochars on nitrous oxide emission and nitrogen leaching from two contrasting soils. Journal of Environmental Quality 39, 1224–1235.

Woolf D, Amonette JE, Street-Perrott FA, Lehmann J and Joseph S 2010 Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change. Nature Communications 1: 56. (supporting online information)

Zimmerman, A. 2010. Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar). Environmental Science and Technology44, 1295–1301.

Biochar effects on soil biota

Warnock, D.D., Lehmann, J., Kuyper, T.W. and Rillig, M.C.: 2007, 'Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil – concepts and mechanisms', Plant and Soil 300, 9-20.

Black carbon in general

Czimczik, C.I. and Masiello, C.A.: 2007, 'Controls on black carbon in soil', Global Biogeochemical Cycles 21, GB3005.

Masiello, C.A.: 2004, 'New directions in black carbon organic geochemistry', Marine Chemistry 92, 201-213.

Preston, C.M. and Schmidt, M.W.I.: 2006, 'Black (pyrogenic) carbon: a synthesis of current knowledge and uncertainties with special consideration of boreal regions', Biogeosciences 3, 397-420.

Schmidt, M.W.I. and Noack, A.G.: 2000, 'Black carbon in soils and sediments: Analysis, distribution, implications, and current challenge', Global Biogeochemical Cycles 14, 777-793.

Biochar symposia:
Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on "Amazonian Dark Earths - New Discoveries" in February 2006.

Symposium and Workshop at the World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) "Amazonian Dark Earth Soils (Terra Preta and Terra Preta Nova): A Tribute to Wim Sombroek" and Workshop "Bio-char as a Soil Amendment - Research Priorities and Challenges" in July 2006.

On April 29-May 2, 2007, the International Agri-char Initiative (IAI), founded at the WCSS in 2006, held its first international meeting in Terrigal, Australia, and its second conference in newcastle, UK. Read more about it under http://www.biochar-international.org/. Information about the presentations will be posted there and some information can be found here. The next conference will be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2010.

Biochar and Terra Preta in the popular press:
Numerous articles, radio and tv shows featured terra preta and biochar in recent years. A combined set of media coverage on biochar and Terra preta over the past years can be found on our web page In the Media. Especially in the wake of our presentations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in January 2006 and at the World Congress of Soil Science in July 2006, several articles appeared in the press.