Evaluation of biochar

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Water Air Soil Pollut (2010) 213:47–55 DOI 10.1007/s11270-010-0366-4

Evaluation of Biochar Effects on Nitrogen Retention and Leaching in Multi-Layered Soil Columns Ying Ding & Yu-Xue Liu & Wei-Xiang Wu & De-Zhi Shi & Min Yang & Zhe-Ke Zhong

Received: 5 July 2009 / Accepted: 17 February 2010 / Published online: 10 March 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Abstract Biochar can play a key role in nutrient cycling, potentially affecting nitrogen retention when applied to soils. In this project, laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption properties of bamboo charcoal (BC) and the influence of BC on nitrogen retention at different soil depths using multilayered soil columns. Results showed that BC could adsorb ammonium ion predominantly by cation exchange. Ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) concentrations in the leachate of the soil columns showed significant differences at different depths after ammonium chloride application to the columns depending on whether BC had been added. Addition of 0.5% BC to the surface soil layer retarded the downward transport of NH4+-N in the 70-day experiment, as indicated by measurements made during the first 7 days at 10 cm, Ying Ding and Yu-Xue Liu contribute equally to this paper. Y. Ding : W.-X. Wu Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Non-point Source Pollution Control, Hangzhou 310029, People’s Republic of China Y. Ding : Y.-X. Liu : W.-X. Wu (*) : D.-Z. Shi : M. Yang Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, College of Environment and Resource Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, People’s Republic of China e-mail: weixiang@zju.edu.cn Z.-K. Zhong China National Research Center of Bamboo, Hangzhou 310012, People’s Republic of China

and later, in the experimental period at 20 cm. In addition, application of BC reduced overall cumulative losses of NH4+-N via leaching at 20 cm by 15.2%. Data appeared to suggest that BC could be used as a potential nutrient-retaining additive in order to increase the utilization efficiency of chemical fertilizers. Nonetheless, the effect of BC addition on controlling soil nitrogen losses through leaching needs to be further assessed before large-scale applications to agricultural fields are implemented. Keywords Bamboo charcoal . Nitrogen leaching . Nitrogen retention . Ammonium nitrogen . Adsorption

1 Introduction Excessive application of nitrogen fertilizers to agricultural land is regarded as a major contributor to various ecological problems, such as nitrogen leaching, which may pose a threat to the quality of surface and groundwater (Thomsen et al. 1993; Fraters et al. 1998; Alva et al. 2003; Camargo and Alonso 2006; Bakhsh et al. 2007; Yu et al. 2007). In addition, nitrogen leaching has become an important limitation to improving the utilization efficiency of nitrogen in agricultural production. In order to alleviate this problem, techniques must be developed to keep applied nitrogen in the topsoil and therefore increase its utilization efficiency. Either applying slow-release fertilizers (Gentile et al. 2009) or increasing adsorption


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Evaluation of biochar by Magdy Mohamed - Issuu