title: Carbon mineralization and nutrient availability in calcareous sandy soils amended with woody waste biochar.
abstract: Many studies have reported the positive effect of biochar on soil carbon sequestration and soil fertility improvement in acidic soils. However, biochar may have different impacts on calcareous sandy soils. A 90-day incubation experiment was conducted to quantify the effects of woody waste biochar (10 g kg(-1)) on CO2-C emissions, K2SO4-extractable C and macro-(N, P and K) and micro-(Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) nutrient availability in the presence or absence of poultry manure (5 g kg(-1) soil). The following six treatments were applied: (1) conocarpus (Conocarpus erectus L.) waste (CW), (2) conocarpus biochar (BC), (3) poultry manure (PM), (4) PM+CW, (5) PM+BC and (6) untreated soil (CK). Poultry manure increased CO2-C emissions and K2SO4-extractable C, and the highest increases in CO2-C emission rate and cumulative CO2-C and K2SO4-extractable C were observed for the PM+CW treatment. On the contrary, treatments with BC halted the CO2-C emission rate, indicating that the contribution of BC to CO2-C emissions is negligible compared with the soils amended with CW and PM. Furthermore, the combined addition of PM+BC increased available N, P and K compared with the PM or BC treatments. Overall, the incorporation of biochar into calcareous soils might have benefits in carbon sequestration and soil fertility improvement.
authors.affiliation: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, 68 Hadayek Shobra, P.O. Box 11241, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: El-Naggar
authors.affiliation: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt.
authors.forename: Adel R A
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Usman
authors.affiliation: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdulrasoul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Omran
authors.affiliation: Korea Biochar Research Center, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Sik
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ok
authors.affiliation: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mahtab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: malwabel@ksu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Mohammad I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Al-Wabel
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry*; D008372:Manure; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D011188:Potassium / Q000032:analysis; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000592:standards; D014934:Wood
chemical_list: D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil; C540010:biochar; D002606:Charcoal; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen; D011188:Potassium
keywords: Biochar; CO(2)–C emission rate; Conocarpus waste; Labile carbon; Nutrient availability