Abstract Biochar amendment has been proposed to be as a promising means to improve soil properties and enhance plant productivity in different types of soils. However, biochar application in the improvement of plant productivity in saline-alkali soils has received less attention. In the present study, we carried out a pot experiment in greenhouse to evaluate the effect of biochar amendment on the growth of Miscanthus lutarioriparius, a promising bioenergy crop, in a coastal saline-alkali soil during a 92-day growth period. The biochar was added at 0, 1.0%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, and 10.0% (w/w) levels in a random block design with three replicates. The results showed that biochar applications at 2.0% and 2.5% levels significantly promoted Miscanthus growth by ameliorating the physicochemical and biological properties of the saline-alkali soil. The soil moisture, soil organic matter (SOM), nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N), available phosphorus (Olsen-P), and concentrations of potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) ions were significantly increased, while soil pH, bulk density, ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), sodium (Na+) ion, and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) contents were substantially reduced. In addition, the soil bacterial community structure and diversity were substantially shifted after the biochar amendment, which in turn affected soil N and P cycling and improved soil physicochemical properties. Meanwhile, biochar application considerably mitigated the salinity stress to Miscanthus plants by activating anti-oxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), therefore enhancing the scavenging capability of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Together, our results indicated that biochar amendment effectively promoted Miscanthus growth by ameliorating soil physical, chemical and biological properties, and alleviated salt stress injuries to plants in a coastal saline-alkali soil.

中文翻译：

---

生物炭改良剂改善土壤特性并促进沿海盐碱土壤中芒草的生长

摘要 生物炭改良剂被认为是改善不同土壤类型土壤特性和提高植物生产力的一种有前景的手段。然而，生物炭在提高盐碱土壤植物生产力方面的应用较少受到关注。在本研究中，我们在温室中进行了盆栽试验，以评估生物炭改良剂对沿海盐碱土壤中 92 天生长期内有前途的生物能源作物芒草生长的影响。以 0、1.0%、2.0%、2.5%、5.0% 和 10.0% (w/w) 的水平添加生物炭，采用随机区组设计，重复三次。结果表明，2.0%和2.5%的生物炭施用量通过改善盐碱地的理化和生物学特性，显着促进了芒草的生长。土壤水分、土壤有机质 (SOM)、硝态氮 (NO3−-N)、有效磷 (Olsen-P) 以及钾 (K+)、钙 (Ca2+) 和镁 (Mg2+) 离子浓度显着增加，而土壤 pH 值、容重、铵态氮 (NH4+-N)、钠 (Na+) 离子和可交换钠百分比 (ESP) 含量大幅降低。此外，生物炭添加后土壤细菌群落结构和多样性发生了显着变化，进而影响了土壤氮磷循环，改善了土壤理化性质。同时，生物炭的施用通过激活抗氧化酶超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化物酶（POD）和过氧化氢酶（CAT），大大减轻了芒草植物的盐分胁迫，从而增强了活性氧（ROS）的清除能力。