Abstract
Biochar (BC) is a material that finds many applications in agriculture and environmental activities. The aim of the study was to define the influence of biochar produced from various organic materials: mellow compost (MC), stabilized municipal sewage sludge (MSS), pine sawdust (PS), sycamore sawdust (SS) and oak leaves (OL) on soil enzyme activity, as well as its relations with carbon and nitrogen content. After a 60-day incubation of soil and BC, the activity of dehydrogenases (DEH), catalase (CAT), alkaline (AlP) and acid (AcP) phosphatases was investigated. The basic parameters of soil were also determined: TOC, TN, DOM, pH in H2O, available phosphorus (AP). The highest AP content was obtained in the S + MSS, S + OL and S + MC variants. Enzyme activity was highest in soil with MSS BC, regardless of incubation time. After 60 days, the activity of soil enzymes was inhibited. The obtained results indicate that the response of enzymatic activity to biochar depends on the feedstock material and the incubation time. When using BC as an exogenous matter, it is necessary to determine the TOC/TN ratio. For the very wide range of this parameter, supplemental nitrogen fertilization or mixtures of different biochars should be applied.
Highlights
Biochar (BC) is a carbon-rich solid product from biomass pyrolysis [1]
The second group of biochars were biochars obtained from compost and sewage sludge, characterized by lower carbon content (164.8 and 371.3 g kg−1, respectively) and higher nitrogen content than biochars obtained from sawdust and leaves
The lowest value of the total organic carbon (TOC)/total nitrogen (TN) ratio—5.9 was characteristic for biochar obtained from municipal sewage sludge (MSS), and the highest value was calculated for pine sawdust (PS) biochar (494.0)
Summary
Biochar (BC) is a carbon-rich solid product from biomass pyrolysis [1]. It is obtained due to thermochemical conversion of biomass, which includes pyrolysis, torrefaction, gasification and hydrothermal processing [2]. The research on 5% addition of biochar from cotton husks, swine manure, eucalyptus sawmill, residue and sugarcane filter cake indicates positive influence of BC obtained in low-temperature pyrolysis (400 ◦C), on volumetric and available water content of soil [5]. The addition of BC acted as a kind of fertilization, increasing the content of nutrients (N, P, K, S, Ca and Mg) in the soil [6]. The amendment of BC positively affects the stability of soil aggregates, especially after a long time (6–12 months) after application [8]. A six-year field experiment [9] confirmed that application of beech and pine wood chips BC (9–70 Mg·ha−1) enhanced soil aggregation, organic carbon content and pH of the soil. It was revealed that BC affected the
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