scholarly journals Two types of biochars: one made from sugarcane bagasse, other one produced from paper fiber sludge and grain husks and their effects on water retention of a clay, a loamy soil and a silica sand

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Hana Hlaváčiková ◽  
Viliam Novák ◽  
Koji Kameyama ◽  
Katarína Brezianska ◽  
Marek Rodný ◽  
...  

Biochar (BC) is used as a soil amendment to enhance plant growth by improving mainly soil chemical and hydrophysical properties. In this work the effects of two types of BCs on soil water retention properties were analysed. The first type of BC was made from sugarcane bagasse. It was added to a clay “Shimajiri Maji” soil at an application rate of 3 w%. The second type of BC was made from paper fiber sludge and grain husks. It was added into a loam soil at rates of 3.6, and 7.3 w%. It was assumed that the effect of BC amendment will be more pronounced in coarse-grained soil than in fine-grained one. Therefore, the second type of BC was applied additionally in the silica sand, in a textured contrast material compared with the loam soil. The BC amendment caused statistically significant increase of water content in the transmission pores of the clay soil, in the storage pores of the loam soil, and in the macropores and the storage pores in the silica sand. Despite of the positive effect on soil water retention, statistically significant increase of available water capacity (AWC) was identified only in the loam soil with the larger BC amendment rate. Possible reasons are discussed.

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Castellini ◽  
Anna Maria Stellacci ◽  
Danilo Sisto ◽  
Massimo Iovino

The multi-height (low, L = 3 cm; intermediate, M = 100 cm; high, H = 200 cm) Beerkan run methodology was applied on both a minimum tilled (MT) (i.e., up to a depth of 30 cm) and a no-tilled (NT) bare loam soil, and the soil water retention curve was estimated by the BEST-steady algorithm. Three indicators of soil physical quality (SPQ), i.e., macroporosity (Pmac), air capacity (AC) and relative field capacity (RFC) were calculated to assess the impact of water pouring height under alternative soil management practices. Results showed that, compared to the reference low run, M and H runs affected both the estimated soil water retention curves and derived SPQ indicators. Generally, M–H runs significantly reduced the mean values of Pmac and AC and increased RFC for both MT and NT soil management practices. According to the guidelines for assessment of SPQ, the M and H runs: (i) worsened Pmac classification of both MT and NT soils; (ii) did not worsen AC classification, regardless of soil management parameters; (iii) worsened RFC classification of only NT soil, as a consequence of insufficient soil aeration. For both soil management techniques, a strong negative correlation was found between the Pmac and AC values and the gravitational potential energy, Ep, of the water used for the infiltration runs. A positive correlation was detected between RFC and Ep. The relationships were plausible from a soil physics point of view. NT soil has proven to be more resilient than MT. This study contributes toward testing simple and robust methods capable of quantifying soil degradation effects, due to intense rainfall events, under different soil management practices in the Mediterranean environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 12108
Author(s):  
Giorgio Baiamonte ◽  
Giuseppina Crescimanno ◽  
Francesco Parrino ◽  
Claudio De Pasquale

There are significant regional differences in the perception of the problems posed by global warming, water/food availability and waste treatment recycling procedures. The study illustrates the effect of application of a biochar (BC) from forest biomass waste, at a selected application rate, on water retention, plant available water (PAW), and structural properties of differently standard textured soils, classified as loamy sand, loam and clay. The results showed that soil water retention, PAW, and aggregate stability were significantly improved by BC application in the loamy sand, confirming that application of BC to this soil was certainly beneficial and increased the amount of macropores, storage pores and residual pores. In the loam, BC partially improved water retention, increasing macroporosity, but decreased the amount of micropores and improved aggregate stability and did not significantly increase the amount of PAW. In the clay, the amount of PAW was increased by BC, but water retention and aggregate stability were not improved by BC amendment. Results of the BET analysis indicated that the specific surface area (BET-SSA) increased in the three soils after BC application, showing a tendency of the BET-SSA to increase at increasing PAW. The results obtained indicated that the effects of BC application on the physical and structural properties of the three considered soils were different depending on the different soil textures with a BET-SSA increase of 950%, 489%, 156% for loamy sand, loam and clay soil respectively. The importance of analysing the effects of BC on soil water retention and PAW in terms of volumetric water contents, and not only in terms of gravimetric values, was also evidenced.


Soil Science ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. SHOUSE ◽  
W. B. RUSSELL ◽  
D. S. BURDEN ◽  
H. M. SELIM ◽  
J. B. SISSON ◽  
...  

Soil Science ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 171 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashid Al-Yahyai ◽  
Bruce Schaffer ◽  
Frederick S. Davies ◽  
Rafael Mu??oz-Carpena

2015 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy E. Brantley ◽  
Kristofor R. Brye ◽  
Mary C. Savin ◽  
David E. Longer

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis P Barquin ◽  
Kati W Migliaccio ◽  
Rafael Muñoz-Carpena ◽  
Bruce Schaffer ◽  
Jonathan Crane ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1049-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Ni ◽  
A.K. Leung ◽  
C.W.W. Ng

Plant roots can change the soil water retention curve (SWRC) and saturated permeability (ksat) of vegetated soils. However, there is no model that could capture both the effects of root growth and root decay on these soil hydraulic properties simultaneously. This note proposes a new void ratio function that can model the decrease and increase in soil void ratio due to root occupancy (upon growth) and root shrinkage (upon decay), respectively, in an unsaturated vegetated coarse-grained soil. The function requires two root parameters; namely, root volume ratio and root decay ratio, both of which can be readily measured through root excavation and image-based analysis. The new function is incorporated into a void ratio–dependent SWRC model for predicting the SWRC of vegetated soils. Similarly, the same function can be combined with the Kozeny–Carman equation for predicting ksat. The model prediction is then compared with a set of new field test data and an existing laboratory dataset for a silty sand vegetated with plant species under the family Schefflera. Good agreements are obtained between the measurements and predictions.


1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. S. STEVENSON

Soil water contents of a sandy loam and a silt loam soil were measured at −1500, −100, and either −20 or −30 kPa (the finer texture at −30 kPa) on pressure plate equipment, after samples of each soil had been treated with one of three soil conditioners or with water as a control treatment. One of the soil conditioners increased the soil water retention of both soils at all matric potentials while the other two increased soil water retention at −1500 kPa in the silt loam. The implications in terms of water availability to plants are discussed briefly. Key words: Matric potentials, soil water retention, soil conditioners, laboratory


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth M. Barajas ◽  
Vanessa Wong ◽  
Karen Little ◽  
Antonio F. Patti ◽  
Gil Garnier

Abstract Carboxylated nanocellulose superabsorbent polymers (SAP) can be used to increase soil water retention in agriculture. The benefits investigated are influenced by the superabsorbent structure, composition and application rate. In this study, TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl)-oxidised nanocellulose superabsorbents were prepared using three different drying techniques: freeze-dried, and oven-dried at low and high temperatures. The swelling capacity in soil water extracts was measured and compared to deionised water. Soil was amended with different application rates of these superabsorbents to evaluate the effects on water retention, microbial community and their biodegradation. The absorption performance of nanocellulose superabsorbents is affected by the concentration and type of salts in the soil water extracts. Oven-dried at 50°C SAP presents the highest ionic sensitivity attributed to its large number of accessible carboxylate groups. The water retention of the soil treatments increases with increasing application rate. Soil treated with the freeze-dried superabsorbent shows the highest water retention, whereas those amended with the 50°C oven-dried SAP remain moist the longest. The biodegradation rate of these materials depends on the application rate and nutrient availability. Carboxylated nanocellulose superabsorbents emerge as high-performance biodegradable materials for agricultural use, able to replace the current non-biodegradable petrochemical-based superabsorbents.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document