This August, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) will host its 100th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The meeting will focus primarily on the ecology of the nearby Chesapeake Bay watershed. IBES postdoctoral fellow Becca Ryals and graduate students Amy Teller and Maya Almaraz will present their research on the effects of nitrogen-rich biochar and fertilizers on local ecosystems. Ryals, Teller, and Almaraz are featured in the ESA press release about the conference, which is excerpted below.

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Nitrogen pollution is a big management concern for Chesapeake Bay and a contentious policy issue. Excess nutrients drain from farm fields, feed lots, sewage treatment, and industry feed problematic and into streams and rivers, feeding blooms of algae in the bay. Sudden population explosions of algae pull oxygen from the water in the bay and change its acidity, which can stress out fish and lead to "dead zones" empty of fish and shellfish. Murky water can block enough sunlight to harm or kill native aquatic plants, destroying critical habitat for Chesapeake Bay fish and other aquatic animals. Some algae are toxic, presenting a direct threat to the health of people and wildlife.

Manure from the many poultry farms in the Chesapeake watershed is a major source of excess nitrogen entering the bay. Cooking manure into charcoal, or biochar, can turn a pollution problem into a potential resource. Biochar is an organic fertilizer that retains nitrogen in soil longer than inorganic nitrogen fertilizers and also captures the carbon in the manure in a stable form, returning it to the soil.

Rebecca Ryals of Brown University has compared plant growth and nutrient retention agricultural fields fertilized with biochar, raw manure, composted manure, and inorganic nitrogen fertilizer (urea). Her presentation is part of an organized session of talks about "Putting agroecology to work: from science to practice and policy," on Wednesday morning, August 12. Farmers are often willing to try new methods that improve ecological outcomes, but need economic and logistical support to make implementation practical. Ryals will also talk about the opportunities and barriers to implementing biochar use in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Ryal's colleague, Amy Teller, will present further data on the biochar project at a poster session on sustainable agriculture and forestry on Wednesday afternoon. Maya Almaraz, also of Brown University, will report on seasonal effects on nitrogen and nitrous oxide gas emissions from the experimental farm fields Ryal treated with different fertilizers during a Monday afternoon session on new paradigms in nutrient cycling in a variety of ecosystems.

Please visit the ESA conference website for more information or read the full press release.