Co-application of wood biochar and paper mill biosolids affects yield and short-term nitrogen and phosphorus availability in temperate loamy soils

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Bernard Gagnon ◽  
Noura Ziadi ◽  
Eric Manirakiza

Amending croplands with forest residues may help in restoring soil properties in fields subject to intensive land management. Despite their known benefits when applied separately, co-application of wood biochar with paper mill biosolids (PB) has seen little investigation under field conditions. A study was initiated in Québec, QC, Canada, to determine the effect of a single application of wood biochar with and without PB on the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability of two pH-neutral to alkaline loamy soils. Biochar at 0, 10, and 20 Mg dry weight·ha−1 and PB at 30 Mg wet weight·ha−1 were applied before planting of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in 2018. Residual effect of this co-application was determined under soybean and corn in the subsequent year. In both years, corn received supplemental N and P from mineral fertilizers according to local agronomic recommendations. Co-applying biochar and PB reduced soil NO3-N availability in the year of application and decreased corn yield by 1.0 Mg·ha−1 compared with biochar or PB applied alone, but these amendments did not affect soybean yields. In the following year, the previous biochar addition increased soybean yield by 0.6 Mg·ha−1 but had little effect on corn. For both years, biochar addition induced a large increase in soil Mehlich-3 P. This study revealed that wood biochar positively impacted P status of these soils but was not a source of N to crops even when co-applied with PB.

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 633-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliano Corulli Corrêa ◽  
Agostinho Rebellatto ◽  
Marco André Grohskopf ◽  
Paulo Cezar Cassol ◽  
Paulo Hentz ◽  
...  

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of organomineral and mineral fertilizers, in their solid and fluid forms, on soils with variable charges with high fertility built up from nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents in the soil and plant, as well as on corn (Zea mays) and black oat (Avena strigosa) yield. The treatments consisted of one control and four fertilizers - two organomineral and two mineral - in solid (SO, solid organomineral; and SM, solid mineral) and fluid (FO, fluid organomineral; and FM, fluid mineral) forms applied in Rhodic Kandiudox and Distrochrept soils with no-tillage. The use of organomineral or mineral fertilizers in fluid and solid forms increases total N content in the soil, maintains exchangeable K content in both soils, and may enhance available P content to the depth of 0.6 m in Distrochrept. These factors allowed significantly increasing corn yield, regardless of the fertilizer, and establishing greater residual effect for fluid organomineral fertilizer in the winter black oat yield, even in soils with high fertility.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Xiaopeng Gao ◽  
Xiangyi Li ◽  
Chengdao Li

AbstractPlant C:N:P stoichiometric relations drive powerful constraints on ecological interactions and processes. However, information about plant stoichiometric responses to N and P availability in desert grassland is limited. We conducted two field experiments with 7 levels of N (from 0.5 g to 24 g N ∙ m−2 yr−1) and P (from 0.05 g to 3.2 g P ∙ m−2 yr−1) additions in a desert grassland of Kunlun Mountain in the northwest of China to investigate the effects of these addition rates on the N and P stoichiometry of the dominant grass species Seriphidium korovinii. Nitrogen and P additions both affected plant stoichiometry. N addition suppressed P concentrations, whereas P addition had no effect on plant N concentrations. The N:P ratios of green aboveground biomass (AGB) were positively correlated with N addition ranging from 14.73 to 29.08, whereas those for P additions decreased ranging from 14.73 to 8.29. N concentrations were positively correlated with soil available N:P ratios, whereas, P concentrations were negatively correlated with soil availably N:P. Our results suggest that chemistry and stoichiometry of S. korovinii was directly affected by soil nutrient availability. Soil N availability affects S. korovinii stoichiometry to a greater extent that does soil P availability in this ecosystem. These findings suggest that N-deposition could affect the stoichiometry of this desert grassland ecosystem, and thereby potentially alter litter decomposition, plant community composition, nutrient cycling, and food-web dynamics of these desert ecosystems.


Author(s):  
Lei Su ◽  
Mengzhou Liu ◽  
Chengming You ◽  
Qun Guo ◽  
Zhongmin Hu ◽  
...  

Previous studies have demonstrated changes in plant growth and reproduction in response to nutrient availability, but how investigations of such responses to multiple levels of nutrient enrichment remains unclear. In this study, we manipulated nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability to examine seed production responses to three levels each of N and P addition in a factorial experiment: no N addition (0 g N m-2 yr-1), low N addition (10 g N m-2 yr-1), high N addition (40 g N m-2 yr-1), and no P addition (0 g P m-2 yr-1), low P addition (5 g P m-2 yr-1), high P addition (10 g P m-2 yr-1). Low N addition enhanced seed production by 814%, 1371%, and 1321% under ambient, low, and high P addition levels, respectively. High N addition increased seed production by 2136%, 3560%, and 3550% under ambient, low, and high P addition levels, respectively. However, P addition did not affect seed production in the absence of N addition, but it did enhance it under N addition. Furthermore, N addition enhanced seed production mainly by increasing the tiller number and inflorescence abundance per plant, whereas P addition stimulated it by decreasing the plant density yet stimulating height of plants and their seed number per inflorescence. Our results indicate seed production is limited not by P but rather by N in the temperate steppe, whereas seed production will be increased by P addition when N availability is improved. These findings enable a better understanding of plant reproduction dynamics of steppe ecosystems under intensified nutrient enrichment and can inform their improved management in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2226
Author(s):  
Joisman Fachini ◽  
Thais Rodrigues Coser ◽  
Alyson Silva de Araujo ◽  
Ailton Teixeira do Vale ◽  
Keiji Jindo ◽  
...  

The thermochemical transformation of sewage sludge (SS) to biochar (SSB) allows exploring the advantages of SS and reduces possible environmental risks associated with its use. Recent studies have shown that SSB is nutrient-rich and may replace mineral fertilizers. However, there are still some questions to be answered about the residual effect of SSB on soil nutrient availability. In addition, most of the previous studies were conducted in pots or soil incubations. Therefore, the residual effect of SSB on soil properties in field conditions remains unclear. This study shows the results of nutrient availability and uptake as well as maize yield the third cropping of a three-year consecutive corn cropping system. The following treatments were compared: (1) control: without mineral fertilizer and biochar; (2) NPK: with mineral fertilizer; (3) SSB300: with biochar produced at 300 °C; (4) SSB300+NPK; (5) SSB500: with biochar produced at 500 °C; and (6) SSB500+NPK. The results show that SSB has one-year residual effects on soil nutrient availability and nutrient uptake by maize, especially phosphorus. Available soil P contents in plots that received SSB were around five times higher than the control and the NPK treatments. Pyrolysis temperature influenced the SSB residual effect on corn yield. One year after suspending the SSB application, SSB300 increased corn yield at the same level as the application of NPK. SSB300 stood out and promoted higher grain yield in the residual period (8524 kg ha−1) than SSB500 (6886 kg ha−1). Regardless of pyrolysis temperature, biochar boosted the mineral fertilizer effect resulting in higher grain yield than the exclusive application of NPK. Additional long-term studies should be focused on SSB as a slow-release phosphate fertilizer.


Author(s):  
Maria Isidória Silva Gonzaga ◽  
José Carlos de Jesus Santos ◽  
André Quintão de Almeida ◽  
Kássio da Ros ◽  
Wallace Melo Santos

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Adams ◽  
J Iser ◽  
AD Keleher ◽  
DC Cheal

Analyses of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in heathland soils at Wilsons Promontory and on Snake Island show that the effects of fire, including repeated fires, are confined to the surface 2 cm. The uppermost soil in long-unburnt heathlands is rich in these elements and usually has a smaller C:N ratio compared with the soil below. Indices of N and P availability (C:N ratios, concentrations of potentially mineralisable N and extractable inorganic P, phosphatase activity) are similar to those in highly productive eucalypt forests-a finding in conflict with past assessments of nutrient availability in heathlands. Phosphatase activity and concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and potentially mineralisable N were less in soils from repeatedly burnt heathlands than in soils from long unburnt heathlands whereas there was a greater concentration of extractable inorganic P in soils from repeatedly burnt heathlands. The balance between nitrogen input and loss is dependent on fire frequency and present-day management of heathland (and other native plant communities with low nutrient capitals) should recognise that over- or under-use of fire will significantly alter soil nutrient pools and availability and that these changes may alter community species composition and productivity.


2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kuo ◽  
B. Huang ◽  
R. Bembenek

Biculture of nonlegumes and legumes could serve as cover crops for increasing main crop yield, while reducing NO3leaching. This study, conducted from 1994 to 1999, determined the effect of monocultured cereal rye (Secale cereale L.), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), and bicultured rye/vetch and ryegrass/vetch on N availability in soil, corn (Zea mays L.) yield, and NO3-N leaching in a silt loam soil. The field had been in corn and cover crop rotation since 1987. In addition to the cover crop treatments, there were four N fertilizer rates (0, 67, 134, and 201 kg N ha-1, referred to as N0, N1, N2, and N3, respectively) applied to corn. The experiment was a randomized split-block design with three replications for each treatment. Lysimeters were installed in 1987 at 0.75 m below the soil surface for leachate collection for the N0, N2, and N3treatments. The result showed that vetch monoculture had the most influence on soil N availability and corn yield, followed by the bicultures. Rye or ryegrass monoculture had either no effect or an adverse effect on corn yield and soil N availability. Leachate NO3-N concentration was highest where vetch cover crop was planted regardless of N rates, which suggests that N mineralization of vetch N continued well into the fall and winter. Leachate NO3-N concentration increased with increasing N fertilizer rates and exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water standard of 10 mg N l�1 even at recommended N rate for corn in this region (coastal Pacific Northwest). In comparisons of the average NO3-N concentration during the period of high N leaching, monocultured rye and ryegrass or bicultured rye/vetch and ryegrass/vetch very effectively decreased N leaching in 1998 with dry fall weather. The amount of N available for leaching (determined based on the presidedress nitrate test, the amount of N fertilizer applied, and N uptake) correlated well with average NO3-N during the high N leaching period for vetch cover crop treatment and for the control without the cover crops. The correlation, however, failed for other cover crops largely because of variable effectiveness of the cover crops in reducing NO3leaching during the 5 years of this study. Further research is needed to determine if relay cover crops planted into standing summer crops is a more appropriate approach than fall seeding in this region to gain sufficient growth of the cover crop by fall. Testing with other main crops that have earlier harvest dates than corn is also needed to further validate the effectiveness of the bicultures to increase soil N availability while protecting the water quality.


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