Abstract
Purpose
Biochar addition to soils potentially affects various soil properties, and these effects are dependent on biochars derived from different feedstock materials and pyrolysis processes. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of amendment of different biochars on soil physical and hydraulic properties.
Materials and methods
Biochars were produced with dairy manure and woodchip at temperatures of 300, 500, and 700 °C, respectively. Each biochar was mixed at 5 % (w/w) with a forest soil, and the mixture was incubated for 180 days, during which soil physical and hydraulic properties were measured.
Results and discussion
Results showed that the biochar addition significantly enhanced the formation of soil macroaggregates at the early incubation time. The biochar application significantly reduced soil bulk density, increased the amount of soil organic matter, and stimulated microbial activity at the early incubation stage. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of the soil with biochars, especially produced at high pyrolysis temperature, were higher than those without biochars on the sampling days. The treatments with woodchip biochars resulted in higher saturated hydraulic conductivities than the dairy manure biochar treatments. Biochar applications improved water retention capacity, with stronger effects by biochars produced at higher pyrolysis temperatures. At the same suction, the soil with woodchip biochars possessed higher water content than that with the dairy manure biochars.
Conclusions
Biochar addition significantly affected the soil physical and hydraulic properties. The effects were different with biochars derived from different feedstock materials and pyrolysis temperatures.
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Acknowledgments
This study was partly supported by grants from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (nos. 51179212 and 51039007).
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Lei, O., Zhang, R. Effects of biochars derived from different feedstocks and pyrolysis temperatures on soil physical and hydraulic properties. J Soils Sediments 13, 1561–1572 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-013-0738-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-013-0738-7