of Environmental Quality ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF BIOCHAR

Understanding and improving environmental quality by reducing soil nutrient leaching losses, reducing bioavailability of environmental contaminants, sequestering C, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing crop productivity in highly weathered or degraded soils, has been the goal of agroecosystem researchers and producers for years. Biochar, produced by pyrolysis of biomass, may help attain these goals. Th e desire to advance understanding of the environmental and agronomic implication of biochar utilization led to the organization of the 2010 American Society of Agronomy–Soil Science Society of America Environmental Quality Division session titled “Biochar Eff ects on the Environment and Agricultural Productivity.” Th is specialized session and sessions from other biochar conferences, such as the 2010 U.S. Biochar Initiative and the Biochar Symposium 2010 are the sources for this special manuscript collection. Individual contributions address improvement of the biochar knowledge base, current information gaps, and future biochar research needs. Th e prospect of biochar utilization is promising, as biochars may be customized for specifi c environmental applications. Environmental Benefi ts of Biochar