Journal
SOIL USE AND MANAGEMENT
Volume 32, Issue 3, Pages 279-288Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/sum.12296
Keywords
Biochar; mycorrhizae; soil nutrients; agriculture; temperate region; root morphology
Categories
Funding
- University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
- USDA Poultry Waste Laboratory
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Nutrient-rich biochar produced from animal wastes, such as poultry litter, may increase plant growth and nutrient uptake although the role of direct and indirect mechanisms, such as stimulation of the activity of mycorrhizal fungi and plant infection, remains unclear. The effects of poultry litter biochar in combination with fertilizer on mycorrhizal infection, soil nutrient availability and corn (Zea mays L.) growth were investigated by growing corn in a loam soil in a greenhouse with biochar (0, 5 and 10 Mg/ha) and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer (0, half and full rates). Biochar did not affect microbial biomass C or N, mycorrhizal infection, or alkaline phosphomonoesterase activities, but acid phosphomonoesterase activities, water-soluble P, Mehlich-3 Mg, plant height, aboveground and root biomass, and root diameter were greater with 10 Mg/ha than with no biochar. Root length, volume, root tips and surface area were greatest in the fully fertilized soil receiving 10 Mg/ha biochar compared to all other treatments. The 10 Mg/ha biochar application may have improved plant access to soil nutrients by promoting plant growth and root structural features, rather than by enhancing mycorrhizal infection rates.
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