ABSTRACT

Calcareous and sandy soils generally have soil fertility problems, and these problems have been revealed to be improved by applying compost and biochar produced from the distinct biomass. However, comparing the effects of compost and biochar originating from the same biomass on soil fertility are still not clearly explained. The comparing impacts of compost and biochar both made from the same biomass on soil fertility status in a wind erosion afflicted calcareous and alkaline sandy clay loam (SCL) soil, were explored using a pot experiment. Compost and biochar were produced from a pioneering Oleaster (Oleaster Angustifolia L.) tree through the windrow composting method and pyrolysis process at 450 °C, respectively. The SCL soil used was treated with compost and biochar at rates of 0%, 1%, 2%, and 4% by weight and thereafter incubated for 2 months. The trial layout was in line with a completely randomized plot design with four replicates. Pursuant to the experimental results, the addition of compost and biochar considerably enriched soil fertility by enhancing soil biochemical properties of SCL soil. SCL soil treated with compost yielded the highest available phosphorous (AP), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), NH₄ ⁺-N, NO₃-N, active carbon (AC), potential mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), soil microbial respiration (SMR), electrical conductivity (EC), CaCO_3, extractable cations (Mg, K, Ca, and Na), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and available micronutrients (Mn, Fe, and Zn), which were significantly higher (P < .001) than the SCL soil amended with biochar, suggesting the recalcitrance of biochar on microbial activities. Furthermore, available micronutrients (Mn, Fe, and Zn) were significantly decreased in SCL soil amended with biochar compared with compost amended SCL soil, indicating the sorption potential of biochar. It was concluded that applying Oleaster tree compost is more effective than biochar in improving soil fertility. However, the effects of biochar on carbon sequestration and the findings of this study need to be proven under field demonstration for more conclusive results prior to recommending farmers to apply either compost or biochar in soil management practices.

摘要

钙质和砂质土壤通常存在土壤肥力问题，并且已发现通过应用堆肥和由独特生物质产生的生物炭可以改善这些问题。但是，比较堆肥和来自相同生物质的生物炭对土壤肥力的影响仍不清楚。通过盆栽试验，探讨了由相同生物量制成的堆肥和生物炭对风蚀侵蚀的钙质和碱性砂质壤土（SCL）土壤中土壤肥力状况的比较影响。堆肥和生物炭是由开创性的夹竹桃（Oleaster Angustifolia L。）树分别通过堆肥堆肥法和450°C的热解过程。使用堆肥和生物炭分别以0％，1％，2％和4％重量的比率处理所用的SCL土壤，然后温育2个月。试验布局与四个重复的完全随机样区设计相符。根据实验结果，堆肥和生物炭的添加通过增强SCL土壤的土壤生化特性大大丰富了土壤肥力。用堆肥处理的SCL土壤产生的有效磷（AP），有机碳（OC），总氮（TN），NH ₄ ⁺ -N，NO ₃ -N，活性炭（AC），潜在的可矿化氮（PMN）最高，土壤微生物呼吸（SMR），电导率（EC），CaCO _3，可萃取阳离子（Mg，K，Ca和Na），阳离子交换容量（CEC）和有效微量营养素（Mn，Fe和Zn）显着更高（P<.001），而不是用生物炭修正了SCL土壤，这表明生物炭对微生物活性具有顽固性。此外，与堆肥改良的SCL土壤相比，用生物炭改良的SCL土壤中的有效微量营养素（Mn，Fe和Zn）显着降低，表明生物炭的吸附潜力。得出的结论是，使用苦竹树堆肥在改善土壤肥力方面比生物炭更有效。然而，在建议农民在土壤管理实践中使用堆肥或生物炭之前，需要在田间示范中证明生物炭对固碳的影响和这项研究的结果，以取得更确定的结果。