Does Biochar Improve Establishment of Tree Seedlings in Saline Sodic Soils?
Autor: | Shaun Cameron Cunningham, Jessica Drake, W. Roy Jackson, Antonio F. Patti, Timothy R. Cavagnaro |
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Rok vydání: | 2015 |
Předmět: |
biology
Soil Science Growing season Sodic soil 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences 010501 environmental sciences Development biology.organism_classification 01 natural sciences Salinity Acacia mearnsii Agronomy Soil water Biochar Shoot 040103 agronomy & agriculture 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Environmental Chemistry Environmental science Revegetation 0105 earth and related environmental sciences General Environmental Science |
Zdroj: | Land Degradation & Development. 27:52-59 |
ISSN: | 1099-145X 1085-3278 |
Popis: | Reforestation of saline sodic soil is increasingly undertaken as a means of reclaiming otherwise unproductive agricultural land. Currently, restoration of degraded land is limited to species with high tolerances of salinity. Biochar application has the potential to improve physical, biological and chemical properties of these soils to allow establishment of a wider range of plants. In a glasshouse trial, we applied biochar made from Acacia pycnantha (5Mgha-1) or no biochar to either a low (EC e 4·75 dS m-1, ESP 6·9), a moderate (EC e 27·6 dS m-1, ESP 29·3) or a high (EC e 49·4 dS m-1, ESP 45·1) saline sodic soil. The regional common reforestation species Eucalyptus viminalis and Acacia mearnsii were planted as tubestock in to the soils. Early establishment indicators, including growth, plant condition and nutrition, were assessed at the end of a simulated growing season, 108days after biochar application. Application of biochar increased height, and decreased root:shoot and the concentration of Mn, N and S in plants of E.viminalis when grown in the highly saline sodic soil. Biochar application increased the concentration of B in leaves of E.viminalis and increased the concentration of P, K and S in leaves of A.mearnsii when grown in the low saline sodic soil. The results confirm that there is potential for biochar to assist in reforestation of saline sodic soils. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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