Abstract
Aims: To assess how biochar addition in rainfed conservation agriculture affects short-term transformation, plant uptake, retention of nitrogen (N) in soil, and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes in a tropical Arenosol planted to maize. Methods: A ten-day in situ 15N pool dilution and N cycling experiment, using tracer amounts (0.1 g m-2) of 15N labeled ammonium (15NH4+), nitrate (15NO3-) or 15N-urea, was carried out seven weeks after planting of maize (Zea mays L.) under conservation agriculture in Zambia, using planting basins without (CA) and with pigeon-pea biochar (BC) addition (4 t ha-1). Results: Pigeon-pea biochar increased soil NO3- concentration, gross nitrification rate, 15N recovery in extractable soil NO3-, and soil moisture. However, effects of biochar on soil N retention and plant N uptake were not significant. Likewise, biochar did not affect N2O fluxes. Conclusions: At low dosage, pigeon pea biochar has a positive effect on gross nitrification rate but does not affect short-term N retention in soil, N2O fluxes, nor does it help increasing the uptake of N by maize.
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Acknowledgements
We are thankful to Dr. Victor Shitumbanuma and Edward Bwalya of the Soil Science Department of University of Zambia and to Mwenya Silombe and Phillip Maskbo for their support during the field experiment. We are thankful to Martin Muti Mafomafo, the farmer who made his farm available for the experiment, and to Matthews Chewe from the Conservation Farming Unit (CFU) in Zambia for his assistance in the field.
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The study was funded by NMBU PhD (15/02524-1750092003) internal financing to the first author and by the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Nature Resource Management at NMBU as part of the stipend to Vegard Martinsen granted for young talented scientists. Peter Dörsch received funding from the FACCE-ERA-GAS project MAGGE-pH under the Grant Agreement No. 696356.
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Munera-Echeverri, J.L., Martinsen, V., Dörsch, P. et al. Pigeon pea biochar addition in tropical Arenosol under maize increases gross nitrification rate without an effect on nitrous oxide emission. Plant Soil 474, 195–212 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05325-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05325-4