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Soil and foliar nutrient and nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) at 5 years after poultry litter and green waste biochar amendment in a macadamia orchard

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the improvement in soil fertility and plant nutrient use in a macadamia orchard following biochar application. The main objectives of this study were to assess the effects of poultry litter and green waste biochar applications on nitrogen (N) cycling using N isotope composition (δ15N) and nutrient availability in a soil-plant system at a macadamia orchard, 5 years following application. Biochar was applied at 10 t ha−1 dry weight but concentrated within a 3-m diameter zone when trees were planted in 2007. Soil and leaf samples were collected in 2012, and both soil and foliar N isotope composition (δ15N) and nutrient concentrations were assessed. Both soil and foliar δ15N increased significantly in the poultry litter biochar plots compared to the green waste biochar and control plots. A significant relationship was observed between soil and plant δ15N. There was no influence of either biochars on foliar total N concentrations or soil NH4 +-N and NO3 −-N, which suggested that biochar application did not pose any restriction for plant N uptake. Plant bioavailable phosphorus (P) was significantly higher in the poultry litter biochar treatment compared to the green waste biochar treatment and control. We hypothesised that the bioavailability of N and P content of poultry litter biochar may play an important role in increasing soil and plant δ15N and P concentrations. Biochar application affected soil-plant N cycling and there is potential to use soil and plant δ15N to investigate N cycling in a soil-biochar-tree crop system. The poultry litter biochar significantly increased soil fertility compared to the green waste biochar at 5 years following biochar application which makes the poultry litter a better feedstock to produce biochar compared to green waste for the tree crops.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical support of Joshua Rust and Scott Petty from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and the owner of the farm Ms. Debbie Lewis. The establishment and maintenance of the field site was co-funded as part of an Australian Government Caring for our Country grant in collaboration with Mr Tony Walker from Richmond Landcare. We also acknowledge Mr. Geoffrey Lambert for his laboratory assistance and Mr. Rene Diocares for stable isotope analyses. This study was supported with Seed Funding from the University of the Sunshine Coast and Griffith University. SHB and CYX were research fellows supported by Collaborative Research Network – University of the Sunshine Coast Research Futures project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland, 4111, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai, Cheng-Yuan Xu, Zhihong Xu, Timothy J. Blumfield & Frédérique Reverchon

  2. Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Queensland, 4558, Australia

    Shahla Hosseini Bai, Cheng-Yuan Xu & Helen Wallace

  3. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 225127, China

    Haitao Zhao

  4. Instituto de Ecología A.C., Partado Postal 63, 91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Frédérique Reverchon

  5. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wollongbar, New South Wales, 2477, Australia

    Lukas Van Zwieten

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  1. Shahla Hosseini Bai
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  2. Cheng-Yuan Xu
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  7. Frédérique Reverchon
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Correspondence to Shahla Hosseini Bai.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Hosseini Bai, S., Xu, CY., Xu, Z. et al. Soil and foliar nutrient and nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) at 5 years after poultry litter and green waste biochar amendment in a macadamia orchard. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 3803–3809 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3649-2

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