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| Effects of Biochar on Soil Properties and Alfalfa Growth and Nutrient Uptake in Desertified Land in Beijing Suburb |
| Received:November 14, 2014 |
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| KeyWord:biochar;alfalfa;desertified land;bulk density;field capacity;organic carbon;nitrogen;phytoavailability |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | ZHENG Rui-lun | Beijing Research & Development Center for Grasses and Environment, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China | | | WANG Ning-ning | Beijing Research & Development Center for Grasses and Environment, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China | | | SUN Guo-xin | Research Center for Eco-Environment Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China | | | XIE Zu-bin | Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China | | | PANG Zhuo | Beijing Research & Development Center for Grasses and Environment, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China | | | WANG Qing-hai | Beijing Research & Development Center for Grasses and Environment, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China | | | WU Ju-ying | Beijing Research & Development Center for Grasses and Environment, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China | wujuying@grass-env.com |
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| Abstract: |
| Biochar has potential to improve soil properties and enhance plant growth. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of biochar additions(14 t·hm-2) on soil properties and alfalfa growth and nutrient uptake in desertified land in Beijing suburb. Four treatments were designed, including bare land(BL), bare land amended with biochar(BLB), alfalfa without(A) and with biochar addition(AB). Results showed that biochar additions significantly decreased soil bulk density by 11.5%~11.6%, but increased soil pH by 0.1~0.2 units, field capacity by 9.1%~10.3%, and soil total porosity by 7.6%~11.3%. Soil water content was 13.9% higher in BLB treatment than in BL treatment(P<0.05). Compared to no biochar treatment, biochar additions also increased contents of total nitrogen(TN), organic carbon(OC), available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and available zinc by 10.3%~25.8%, 52.8%~71.7%, 12.7%~23.5%, 141.7%~233.3%, 47.7%~81.1%, and 94.2%~95.2%, respectively, while decreased available iron by up to 29.1%. Cation exchange capacity(CEC), and available calcium, magnesium, manganese and boron concentrations were not significantly affected by biochar amendment. Alfalfa did not show significant impacts on soil pH, soil bulk density, total porosity, field capacity, CEC and available nitrogen, calcium magnesium, zinc, and boron, but decreased soil water content, TN concentration, available phosphorus and potassium, while increased available iron and manganese. Biochar addition enhanced dry biomass, water content, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, and boron contents of alfalfa shoot by 91.1%, 3.6%, 110.0%, 130.9%, 200.4%, 82.6%, 44.8%, 89.5%, 102.7%, 99.5% and 104.7%, respectively. These results suggest that a combination of biochar amendment and alfalfa planting could improve soil physicochemical properties, enhance phytoavailability of soil nutrients, and restore vegetation for desertified land in Beijing suburb. |
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