Biochar or Straw Substituting Chemical Fertilizer Increase the Risk of Phosphorus Loss in Subsurface Runoff in Sloping Farmland

Abstract

The purple soil slope farmland is an important agricultural land in southwest China but is also one of the main sources of agricultural non-point source pollution in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. Taking reasonable measures to control the loss of soil nutrients is of great significance to the treatment of non-point source pollution in the region. Here, a three-year (2018-2020) field runoff experiment was conducted to monitor and evaluate the phosphorus (P) loss in sloping farmland via surface runoff (i.e., surface flow, 0-20 cm) and subsurface runoff (i.e., subsurface flow, 20-60 cm), with five treatments including no fertilization (CK), conventional fertilization (CF), optimal fertilization (OF), biochar combined with 85% of OF (BF), and straw combined with 85% of OF (SF). The results showed that fertilization application reduced the sediment yields and surface runoff flux but increased the subsurface runoff flux. The total loss flux of phosphate (PO3-4-P), total phosphorus (TP), and particulate phosphorus (PP) in surface flow were the highest in the BF treatment and the lowest in the SF treatment. All fertilization applications increased the P loss fluxes in subsurface flow relative to that in CK. The highest PO3-4-P and TP loss flux in subsurface flow was found in the BF (213.88 g·hm-2 and 694.54 g·hm-2, respectively) treatment, followed by that in the OF and SF treatments. Redundancy analysis (RDA) results showed that surface runoff flux and biochar application were the main factors contributing to increased P loss in surface flow, and subsurface runoff flux was the main factor contributing to increased P loss in subsurface flow. In summary, the SF treatment reduced the amount of sediment yield and surface runoff flux in sloping farmland of purple soil and was the most effective for controlling P loss, whereas the risk of subsurface runoff flux requires further attention.