Abstract
Purpose
Biochar amendment is considered as a soil management practice worldwide for the sustainable agricultural production by improving soil physical property, fertility, and microbial activity. However, the change of soil structure and hydraulic conductivity over time after applying biochar to expansive clayey soil under field conditions are unclear.
Materials and methods
In this study, biochar was applied to soil at the rates of 0% (CK), 1% (BC1), and 3% (BC3) (w/w) to assess the variation in soil physical properties after day 10, day 193, and day 375, respectively.
Results and discussion
The results showed that the total soil porosity estimated based on bulk density and the average particle density of 2.65 g cm−3 was significantly higher than the total porosity as measured by water retention curve (P < 0.05). Compared with day 10, the measured total porosity at days 193 and 375 significantly decreased by 5.09% and 7.38%, respectively, under CK; however, that significantly increased by 2.14%/2.60% and 1.85%/3.60%, respectively, under BC1/BC3 (P < 0.05). The average bulk density in 1 year was significantly lower 3.30%/6.99% under BC1/BC3 than CK (P < 0.05). Compared with CK, soil pores (5–30 μm) significantly increased by 12.71% under BC3 and soil pores (> 300 μm) significantly increased by 114.25%/164.58% under BC1/BC3 after 375 days (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the saturated hydraulic conductivity among all treatments after 1 year (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
Our findings indicate that the estimated total porosity is not suitable for evaluating the change of soil porosity over time after biochar application. Biochar in size less than 2 mm can improve soil structure in expansive clayey soil under field conditions. However, these positive changes may be insufficient to facilitate the improvement of saturated hydraulic conductivity after 1 year at the biochar application rates of 1% and 3%. Our findings provide insights into the application of biochar as a soil amendment for management practices in expansive clayey soil.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajayi AE, Holthusen D, Horn R (2016) Changes in microstructural behaviour and hydraulic functions of biochar amended soils. Soil Till Res 155:166–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2015.08.007
Alghamdi AG (2018) Biochar as a potential soil additive for improving soil physical properties—a review. Arab J Geosci 11:766. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-4056-7
Amoakwah E, Frimpong KA, Okae-Anti D, Arthur E (2017) Soil water retention, air flow and pore structure characteristics after corn cob biochar application to a tropical sandy loam. Geoderma 307:189–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.08.025
Basso AS, Miguez FE, Laird DA, Horton R, Westgate M (2013) Assessing potential of biochar for increasing water-holding capacity of sandy soils. GCB Bioenergy 5:132–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12026
Bayabil HK, Stoof CR, Lehmann JC, Yitaferu B, Steenhuis TS (2015) Assessing the potential of biochar and charcoal to improve soil hydraulic properties in the humid Ethiopian highlands: the Anjeni watershed. Geoderma 243–244:115–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.12.015
Blanco-Canqui H (2017) Biochar and soil physical properties. Soil Sci Soc Am J 81:687–711. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2017.01.0017
Blanco-Canqui H, Lal R, Post WM, Izaurralde RC, Shipitalo MJ (2006) Organic carbon influences on soil particle density and rheological properties. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1407–1414. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2005.0355
Castellini M, Giglio L, Niedda M, Palumbo AD, Ventrella D (2015) Impact of biochar addition on the physical and hydraulic properties of a clay soil. Soil Till Res 154:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2015.06.016
de Jesus DS, Glaser B, Cerri CEP (2019) Effect of biochar particle size on physical, hydrological and chemical properties of loamy and sandy tropical soils. Agronomy 9:165. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9040165
Diacono M, Montemurro F (2010) Long-term effects of organic amendments on soil fertility. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 30:401–422. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro/2009040
Guo L, Liu Y, Wu GL, Huang Z, Cui Z, Cheng Z, Zhang RQ, Tian FP, He HH (2019) Preferential water flow: influence of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) decayed root channels on soil water infiltration. J Hydrol 578:124019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124019
Herath HMSK, Camps-Arbestain M, Hedley M (2013) Effect of biochar on soil physical properties in two contrasting soils: an Alfisol and an Andisol. Geoderma 209:188–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.06.016
Huang Z, Tian FP, Wu GL, Liu Y, Dang ZQ (2017) Legume grasslands promote precipitation infiltration better than gramineous grasslands in arid regions. Land Degrad Dev 28:309–316. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2635
Jačka L, Trakal L, Ouředníček P, Pohořelý M, Šípek V (2018) Biochar presence in soil significantly decreased saturated hydraulic conductivity due to swelling. Soil Till Res 184:181–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2018.07.018
Lesk C, Rowhani P, Ramankutty N (2016) Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production. Nature 529:84–87. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16467
Li YY, Zhang FB, Yang MY, Zhang JQ (2019) Effects of adding biochar of different particle sizes on hydro-erosional processes in small scale laboratory rainfall experiments on cultivated loessial soil. Catena 173:226–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2018.10.021
Liang B, Yang XY, He XH, Murphy DV, Zhou JB (2012) Long-term combined application of manure and NPK fertilizers influenced nitrogen retention and stabilization of organic C in loess soil. Plant Soil 353:249–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1028-z
Lim TJ, Spokas KA, Feyereisen G, Novak JM (2016) Predicting the impact of biochar additions on soil hydraulic properties. Chemosphere 142:136–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.06.069
Liu C, Wang HL, Tang XY, Guan Z, Reid BJ, Rajapaksha AU, Ok YS, Sun H (2016) Biochar increased water holding capacity but accelerated organic carbon leaching from a sloping farmland soil in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:995–1006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4885-9
Lu SG, Sun FF, Zong YT (2014) Effect of rice husk biochar and coal fly ash on some physical properties of expansive clayey soil (vertisol). Catena 114:37–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2013.10.014
Ma YY, Lei TW, Zhuang XH (2014) Volume replacement methods for measuring soil particle density. Trans Chin Soc Agr Eng 30:130–139. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1002-6819.2014.15.018
Moragues-Saitua L, Arias-González A, Gartzia-Bengoetxea N (2017) Effects of biochar and wood ash on soil hydraulic properties: a field experiment involving contrasting temperate soils. Geoderma 305:144–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.05.041
Obalum SE, Obi ME (2014) Measured versus estimated total porosity along structure-stability gradients of coarse-textured tropical soils with low-activity clay. Environ Earth Sci 72:1953–1963. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3102-3
Obia A, Børresen T, Martinsen V, Cornelissen G, Mulder J (2017) Effect of biochar on crust formation, penetration resistance and hydraulic properties of two coarse-textured tropical soils. Soil Till Res 170:114–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2017.03.009
Pires LF, Borges JAR, Rosa JA, Cooper M, Heck RJ, Passoni S, Roque WL (2017) Soil structure changes induced by tillage systems. Soil Till Res 165:66–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.07.010
Rabot E, Wiesmeier M, Schlüter S, Vogel HJ (2018) Soil structure as an indicator of soil functions: a review. Geoderma 314:122–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.11.009
Rasa K, Eickhorst T, Tippkötter R, Yli-Halla M (2012) Structure and pore system in differently managed clayey surface soil as described by micromorphology and image analysis. Geoderma 173-174:10–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.12.017
Regelink IC, Stoof CR, Rousseva S, Weng LP, Lair GJ, Kram P, Nikolaidis NP, Kercheva M, Banwart S, Comans RNJ (2015) Linkages between aggregate formation, porosity and soil chemical properties. Geoderma 247–248:24–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.01.022
Ruehlmann J (2020) Soil particle density as affected by soil texture and soil organic matter: 1. Partitioning of SOM in conceptional fractions and derivation of a variable SOC to SOM conversion factor. Geoderma 375:114542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114542
Sandin M, Koestel J, Jarvis N, Larsbo M (2017) Post-tillage evolution of structural pore space and saturated and near-saturated hydraulic conductivity in a clay loam soil. Soil Till Res 165:161–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.08.004
Schwen A, Bodner G, Scholl P, Buchan GD, Loiskandl W (2011) Temporal dynamics of soil hydraulic properties and the water-conducting porosity under different tillage. Soil Till Res 113:89–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2011.02.005
Tan ZX, Lin CSK, Ji XY, Rainey TJ (2017) Returning biochar to fields: a review. Appl Soil Ecol 116:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.03.017
Verheijen FGA, Jeffery S, Bastos AC, van der Velde M, Diafas I (2010) Biochar application to soils: a critical scientific review on effects on soil properties, processes and functions. In: Joint Research Centre (JRC) Scientific and Technical Report. Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxemburg
Villagra-Mendoza K, Horn R (2018) Effect of biochar addition on hydraulic functions of two textural soils. Geoderma 326:88–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.03.021
Wang DY, Li CY, Parikh SJ, Scow KM (2019) Impact of biochar on water retention of two agricultural soils—a multi-scale analysis. Geoderma 340:185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.01.012
Williams H, Colombi T, Keller T (2020) The influence of soil management on soil health: an on-farm study in southern Sweden. Geoderma 360:114010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.114010
Xie JY, Hou MM, Zhou YT, Wang RJ, Zhang SL, Yang XY, Sun BH (2017) Carbon sequestration and mineralization of aggregate-associated carbon in an intensively cultivated Anthrosol in north China as affected by long term fertilization. Geoderma 296:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.02.023
Yazdanpanah N, Mahmoodabadi M, Cerdà A (2016) The impact of organic amendments on soil hydrology, structure and microbial respiration in semiarid lands. Geoderma 266:58–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.11.032
Zhou H, Fang H, Zhang Q, Wang Q, Chen C, Mooney SJ, Peng X, Du Z (2019) Biochar enhances soil hydraulic function but not soil aggregation in a sandy loam. Eur J Soil Sci 70:291–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12732
Zong YT, Chen DP, Lu SG (2014) Impact of biochars on swell–shrinkage behavior, mechanical strength, and surface cracking of clayey soil. J Plant Nutr Soil Sc 177:920–926. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201300596
Funding
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571225), the National Key Research and Development Plan of China (2016YFC0501702), the Key Research and Development Plan of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (2020BCF01001), and the fund of State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau (A314021402-1914).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Responsible editor: Shahla Hosseini Bai
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 291 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, K., Zhang, X., Sun, C. et al. Biochar application alters soil structure but not soil hydraulic conductivity of an expansive clayey soil under field conditions. J Soils Sediments 21, 73–82 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02786-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02786-x