Biochar with near-neutral pH reduces ammonia volatilization and improves plant growth in a soil-plant system: A closed chamber experiment
Abstract
Ammonia (NH 3) volatilization is considered as one of the major mechanisms responsible for the loss of nitrogen (N) from soil-plant systems worldwide. This study investigated the effect of biochar amendment to a calcareous soil (pH 7.8) on NH 3 volatilization and plant N uptake. In particular, the effect of biochar's feedstock and application rate on both NH 3 volatilization and plant growth were quantified using a specially designed closed chamber system. Two well-characterized biochars prepared from poultry manure (PM-BC) and green waste compost (GW-BC) were applied to the soil (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% w/w equivalent to 0, 7.5, 15, 22 and 30 t ha-1) and wheat (Triticum aestivum, variety: Calingiri) was grown for 30 days. Both PM-BC and GW-BC decreased NH 3 volatilization to a similar degree (by 47 and 38%, respectively), in the soil-plant system compared to the unamended control. Higher plant biomass production of up to 70% was obtained in the closed chamber systems with the addition of biochar. The increase in plant biomass was due to the reduction in N loss as NH 3 gas, thereby increasing the N supply to the plants. Plant N uptake was improved by as much as 58% with biochar addition when additional NPK nutrients were supplied to the soil. This study demonstrates that the application of biochars can mitigate NH 3 emission from calcareous agricultural cropping soil and that the retained N is plant-available and can improve wheat biomass yield.
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Loss of nitrogen through ammonia emission depends mainly on the pH of the biochar; biochar with a slightly acidic or near-neutral pH reduces ammonia volatilization from soil.
“However, the loss of N through ammonia emission depends mainly on the pH of the biochar; biochar with a slightly acidic or near-neutral pH reduce ammonia volatilization from soil (Mandal et al. 2019;Mandal et al. 2018).”
From Biochar and its importance on nutrient dynamics in soil and plant (2020) · cites this paper as Mandal et al. 2019
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Biochar and its importance on nutrient dynamics in soil and plant
Hossain, M. Z., Bahar, M. M., Sarkar, B., Donne, S. W., Ok, Y. S., Palansooriya, K. N., Kirkham, M. B., Chowdhury, S., & Bolan, N. (2020) · Biochar · doi:10.1007/s42773-020-00065-z · Cited by 904 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Mandal, S., Donner, E., Smith, E., Sarkar, B., & Lombi, E.
- Affiliations
- University of South Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Mandal, Sanchita
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-12
- Volume
- 697
- Pages
- 134114
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2970092598
- Cited by
- 65
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 7
- FWCI
- 6.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Department of Education and Training (APA)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Agricultural Science and Fertilization
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Keywords
- biochar, ammonia volatilization, nitrogen loss, calcareous soils, wheat, plant nitrogen uptake, green waste compost, biochar feedstock, biochar application rate, soil-plant system, nitrogen retention, plant biomass yield
- MeSH terms
- Ammonia, Charcoal, Fertilizers, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Soil, Plant Development
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