Abstract
Soil degradation is a crucial problem, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas. Prevention or reduction of soil erosion requires strategies based on thorough rapid vegetation cover (VC) and favorable soil quality in subtropical and tropical areas. This study applied wood biochar (WB) and rice husk biochar (RHB) in a mudstone soil, which is widely distributed in Southern Taiwan, to investigate the effects of biochar application on soil erosion and vegetation restoration. The standard erosion unit plots (22.13 m in length and 9% in slope gradient) were set up to determine the relationship among soil losses, VC, and natural rainfall characteristics with and without biochar application. The results indicated that biochar application increased the growth rate (identified by cover ratio) of Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum Flüggé) by 2–2.6 times within 40 days compared with control (without biochar application) and increased VC by 20% after 120 days of treatment. The biochar application could effectively reduce soil losses by 60% at least in the mudstone soil. A well-predicted regression function of soil loss with VC and rainfall kinetic energy was established (amount of soil lost = −0.435 × ln VC + 0.54 × RKE, r = 0.89, p < 0.01).
Highlights
Academic Editor: Soil erosion is a major environmental problem worldwide, especially that due to water from heavy rainfall in tropical and subtropical areas [1]
This study investigated the effects of wood biochar (WB) and rice husk biochar (RHB) on soil erosion and vegetation growth at a mudstone cultivated slopeland in Taiwan
The results indicate that the biochar considerably decreased soil erosion amounts by improving soil physical properties such as Bd
Summary
Academic Editor: Soil erosion is a major environmental problem worldwide, especially that due to water from heavy rainfall in tropical and subtropical areas [1]. Soil degradation caused by water erosion severely affects the productivity of agricultural lands and threatens the world’s food security with the increasing global population [3,4]. Hard setting, and desertification is a severe problem that affects the productivity of agricultural lands and can threaten the world’s food security [5,6] because of the increasing global population. New land management techniques to effectively use soil resources and achieve land sustainability must be developed, for subtropical and tropical regions
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