WOOD-ASH COMPOSITION AND SOIL PH FOLLOWING INTENSE BURNING

Soil pH is consistently recorded as the single most important variable explaining bacterial richness and community composition locally as globally. Bacterial richness responds to soil pH in a bell-shaped pattern, highest in soils with near-neutral pH, while lower diversity is found in soil with pH >8 and <4.5. Also, community turnover is strongly determined by pH for bacteria. In contrast, pH effects on fungi is apparently less pronounced though also much less studied compared to bacteria. Still, pH appears to be a significant determinant for fungal communities but typically not the most important. Rarely are bacterial and fungal communities co-analyzed from the same field samples taken across pH gradients. Here we analyze the community responses of fungi and bacteria in parallel over an extreme pH gradient ranging from pH 4 to 8 established by applying strongly alkaline wood ash to replicated plots in a Picea abies plantation. Bacterial and fungal community composition were assessed by amplicon-based meta-barcoding. Bacterial richness were not significantly affected by pH, while fungal richness and a-diversity were stimulated with higher pH. We found that both, bacterial and fungal communities increasingly deviated from the untreated plots with increasing amount of wood ash though fungal communities were more resistant to changes than bacterial. Soil NH4, NO3 and pH significantly correlated with the NMDS pattern for both bacterial and fungal communities. In the presentation we will discuss resistance versus sensitivity of different fungal functional guilds towards higher pH as well as the underlying factors explaining the community changes.

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Influence of wood ash recycling on chemical and biological condition of forest Arenosols

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/10164-jfs ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 52 (Special Issue) ◽

pp. S79-S86 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

R. Ozolincius ◽

K. Armolaitis ◽

A. Raguotis ◽

I. Varnagiryte ◽

J. Zenkovaite

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Forest Management ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Wood Ash ◽

Nitrogen Fertilizers ◽

Biological Condition ◽

Set Up ◽

And Control

The investigations were conducted in the frame of EU Research project Wood for Energy – a Contribution to the Development of Sustainable Forest Management (2001–2005). The integrated wood ash experiment was set up in a 38-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand on Arenosols in SW part of Lithuania. Raw (not hardened) wood ash and nitrogen fertilizers were applied in 6 variants: 1.25 t ash/ha; 2.5 t ash/ha; 5.0 t ash/ha; 180 kg N/ha; 2.5 t ash + 180 kg N/ha and control (no treatment). The changes of soil pH, the content of some nutrients, heavy metals in Arenosols and soil solution, the abundance of ammonifiers, nitrifiers and denitrifiers in forest floor and mineral topsoil after the application of wood ash are presented and discussed in this paper.

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Role of living bacteria and other amendment in early development of maize

Acta Agraria Debreceniensis ◽

10.34101/actaagrar/59/2002 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 53-56

Author(s):

Klára Hubert

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Significant Role ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Higher Plants ◽

Wood Ash ◽

Soil Conditions ◽

Uptake Mechanism ◽

Liming Material ◽

Micro Organisms ◽

Intensive Land Use

Different bacteria and wood ash, as a possible micro-nutrient, and liming material, was examined in our experiment on the early growth of corn seedlings. The development of renewing energy resources includes the use of energy grasses and energy forests. The intensive land use in forestry and in agriculture may cause the acidification of soils due to the harvest, or leaching of cations. To maintain the sustainability of soils necessary to maintain it’s the buffer capacity, and pH. Beside the lime the wood ash can is one of the most effective sources to provide the sustainability of intensive land use. The soil born micro organisms play a significant role in the maintenance of soil quality. The bio fertilizer, that contains soil originated bacteria (Azotobacter, and Bacillus sp.), was used in the experiments. The plants release several organic acids by their roots lowering the soil pH, and make more available the sparingly soluble minerals. The amounts of released organic matter depend on stress intensity, as the high pH is. The soil life has a significant role to keep the soil conditions on sustainable level, since there are several similarities in nutrient uptake mechanism between the bacteria and higher plants. Advantageous effects of bio-fertilizer were observed in our experiments. We came to the conclusion that the use of wood ash is recommended instead of lime for the improvement of acidic soils, on the evidence of its pH increasing effect. The wood ash contains several micronutrients in an optimum composition for forestry and agricultural plants. The solubility of heavy metals is very low; therefore there is no risk to use the wood ash in the agriculture and in the horticulture by our experiments. The retardation of growth at higher ash doses can be explained by the modification effect to the soil pH, as far as the original soil pH was pH 6.8, and when ash was given to the soil, the pH increases to 7.8 pH, that is unfavourable for the uptake of most nutrients.

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Evaluation of liming properties and potassium bioavailability of three Atlantic Canada wood ash sources

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.4141/cjps2013-168 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 93 (6) ◽

pp. 1209-1216 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Mehdi Sharifi ◽

Mumtaz Cheema ◽

Kristie McVicar ◽

Lise LeBlanc ◽

Sherry Fillmore

Keyword(s):

Soil Ph ◽

Production Systems ◽

Maximum Level ◽

P Uptake ◽

Wood Ash ◽

Test Plant ◽

Atlantic Canada ◽

Soil P ◽

Stabilized Soil ◽

P Bioavailability

Sharifi, M., Cheema, M., Mahoney, K., LeBlanc, L. and Fillmore, S. 2013. Evaluation of liming properties and potassium bioavailability of three Atlantic Canada wood ash sources. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 1209–1216. Wood ash has the potential to enhance productivity in agricultural systems by influencing soil pH and nutrient availability. The liming properties and fertility values of wood ash from three Atlantic wood ash sources were evaluated in this study. The liming properties were tested using three wood ash sources [JD Irving (IR), New Page (NP), and Brooklyn Power (BP)] and two local lime sources in an 8-mo incubation experiment at 25°C. Soil pH was measured 14 times during the incubation. Availability of potassium (K) in wood ash was evaluated in a greenhouse setting with a K-deficient soil using annual ryegrass as the test plant. Total plant K and P uptake and Mehlich-3 extractable K and P were used as predictors of nutrient bioavailability. Wood ash application increased soil pH to the maximum level within the first 50 d after application and stabilized soil pH for 8 mo. The measured effective calcium carbonate equivalent of ashes relative to Mosher lime average among two soils were in order of BP (32)>IR (25)>NP (16). About 96, 38, and 71% of total K in IR, NP and BP ash sources, respectively, were bioavailable for ryegrass in 115 d. Although soil was not P deficient, soil P bioavailability (Mehlich III extractable P) was enhanced by 14 and 48% in NP and BP wood ash treatments, respectively, whereas P bioavailability decreased by 24% in the IR ash treatment. The results clearly demonstrate that these sources of wood ash can be considered as an effective liming agent and source of K in agricultural production systems.

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Wood ash as corrective of soil pH and as fertilizer in ornamental sunflower cultivation

African Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.5897/ajar2015.10031 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (33) ◽

pp. 3253-3264

Author(s):

Maria Bonfim Silva Edna ◽

Chaves Freitas Danityelle ◽

Rodrigues Batista Eder ◽

Apolonio de Lima Mauricio

Keyword(s):

Soil Ph ◽

Wood Ash

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Responses of Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) abundance 1 year after application of wood ash in a northern hardwood forest

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2015-0230 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 402-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Adam Gorgolewski ◽

John Caspersen ◽

Paul Hazlett ◽

Trevor Jones ◽

Honghi Tran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fly Ash ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Bottom Ash ◽

Wood Ash ◽

Plethodon Cinereus ◽

Hardwood Forest ◽

Northern Hardwood Forest ◽

Northern Hardwood ◽

One Year

Wood ash may be an effective soil amendment in North America to restore acidified and low-nutrient forest soils, but little research exists beyond its effects on soil and plants. Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818)) abundance was assessed in a northern hardwood forest 1 year following an ash-addition field trial. Plots were established with fly ash and bottom ash treatments of 0, 1, 4, and 8 Mg·ha−1 (n = 4), and cover boards were positioned both with and without ash beneath. One year following ash additions, salamander abundance had increased under boards with fly ash beneath, and bottom ash had no effect. Soil pH and electrical conductivity increased under cover boards with ash beneath them and for uncovered soil, and the effects were strongest under cover boards with ash beneath. The effects of ash were generally stronger at higher dosages, and fly ash was stronger than bottom ash. The moisture holding capacity of fly ash was 60% higher than the soil and was 63% lower than the soil for bottom ash, but they had little effect on moisture of the forest floor. These results suggest that ash altered salamander abundance via soil pH and moisture and would not inhibit salamander movement over the forest floor.

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Wood ash composition as a function of furnace temperature

Biomass and Bioenergy ◽

10.1016/0961-9534(93)90032-y ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 103-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 298

Author(s):

Mahendra K. Misra ◽

Kenneth W. Ragland ◽

Andrew J. Baker

Keyword(s):

Wood Ash ◽

Furnace Temperature ◽

Ash Composition

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Evaluating the effects of liming and wood-ash treatment on forest ecosystems through systematic meta-analysis

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2013-0488 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 44 (8) ◽

pp. 867-885 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Carolyn Reid ◽

Shaun A. Watmough

Keyword(s):

Soil Ph ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Forest Soils ◽

Effect Size ◽

Soil Type ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Wood Ash ◽

Trial Duration ◽

Soil C

Liming and wood-ash addition have long been used to attenuate the effects of acidic deposition on forest soils with the goal of promoting tree growth. We performed quantitative meta-analyses of treatment studies from managed forest ecosystems to assess general tendencies of effects of treatment on seven selected measures of performance thought to reasonably reflect the effects of Ca-addition treatment. We retrieved over 350 independent trials from 110 peer-reviewed liming and wood-ash addition studies that were integrated to determine soil pH, base saturation (BS), tree foliar Ca concentration, tree growth, ectomychorrhizae root colonization, soil C-to-N ratio, and microbial indices. The results were quantified through three separate meta-analysis effect size metrics: unweighted relative values and two weighted metrics, Hedges’ d and ln R. A surprising number of treatment trials (22%–85%) reported no significant effect, and soil pH and foliar Ca appeared more responsive to liming than to wood-ash addition, whereas BS and tree growth appeared more responsive to wood-ash addition. For six of the seven parameters, estimated mean effect sizes were similar in magnitude and positive in direction for all three meta-analysis metrics. Regression tree optimal models explained 38% of the variation in pH, 47% of the variation in BS, 51% of the variation in foliar Ca concentration, and 26% of the variation in tree growth. The largest predictors of effect size, within our selected group, were as follows: soil type for pH; soil type, trial duration in years, and species (hardwood or softwood) for BS; treatment dose and type for foliar Ca concentration; and trial duration, initial soil pH, and tree species for tree growth. This analysis shows that Ca additions are not universally beneficial and provides insight into when Ca additions to forest soils are likely to be most effective.

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