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. Several other book publications have since covered aspects of biochar. A completely revised version of the 2009 book on biochar is scheduled to be available by 2014.

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.

Spokas K, et al 2012 'Biochar: A Synthesis of Its Agronomic Imapct beyond Carbon Sequestration.' Journal of Environmental Quality 41:973-989.

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.

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 Technology 44, 1295–1301.

Biochar effects on soil biota

Graber et al 2013 Biochar and Soil Biota (book). CRC Press

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, in 2007 with follow-up conferences in Newcastle, UK in 2008 and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2010. Read more about past and future biochar conferences at http://www.biochar-international.org/.

Biochar and Terra Preta in the popular press:
Numerous articles, radio and TV shows featured Terra preta and biochar since 2002. A combined set of media coverage on biochar and Terra preta related to our work 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.