Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil
Biochar incorporation into agricultural soils has been proposed as a strategy to decrease nutrient leaching. The present study was designed to assess the effect of biochar on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil. Biochar obtained from the pyrogasification of fir wood chips was applied to soil...
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doaj-293d134d65364b7497f6815e0b0361d62020-11-24T21:52:43ZengPAGEPress PublicationsItalian Journal of Agronomy1125-47182039-68052016-08-0111410.4081/ija.2016.780556Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soilAngela Libutti0Massimo Mucci1Matteo Francavilla2Massimo Monteleone3Star AgroEnergy Research Unit, Department of Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, FoggiaStar AgroEnergy Research Unit, Department of Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, FoggiaStar AgroEnergy Research Unit, Department of Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, FoggiaStar AgroEnergy Research Unit, Department of Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, FoggiaBiochar incorporation into agricultural soils has been proposed as a strategy to decrease nutrient leaching. The present study was designed to assess the effect of biochar on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil. Biochar obtained from the pyrogasification of fir wood chips was applied to soil and tested in a range of laboratory sorption experiments. Four soil treatments were considered: soil only (control), soil with 2, 4 and 8% of biochar by mass. The Freundlich sorption isotherm model was used to fit the adsorbed amount of nitrate in the soil-biochar mixtures. The model performed very well in interpreting the experimental data according to a general linear regression (analysis of co-variance) statistical approach. Nitrate retention in the soilbiochar mixtures was always higher than control, regardless the NO3 – concentration in the range of 0-400 mg L–1. Different sorption capacities and intensities were detected depending on the biochar application rate. The highest adsorption capacity was observed in the soils added with 2 and 4% of biochar, respectively. From the results obtained is possible to infer that nitrate retention is higher at lower biochar addition rate to soil (2 and 4%) and at lower nitrate concentration in the soil water solution. These preliminary laboratory results suggest that biochar addition to a typical Mediterranean agricultural soil could be an effective management option to mitigate nitrate leaching.https://www.agronomy.it/index.php/agro/article/view/780BiocharFreundlich sorption modelgroundwater qualitynitrate leachingnutrients retention. |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Angela Libutti Massimo Mucci Matteo Francavilla Massimo Monteleone |
spellingShingle |
Angela Libutti Massimo Mucci Matteo Francavilla Massimo Monteleone Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil Italian Journal of Agronomy Biochar Freundlich sorption model groundwater quality nitrate leaching nutrients retention. |
author_facet |
Angela Libutti Massimo Mucci Matteo Francavilla Massimo Monteleone |
author_sort |
Angela Libutti |
title |
Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil |
title_short |
Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil |
title_full |
Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil |
title_fullStr |
Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil |
title_sort |
effect of biochar amendment on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil |
publisher |
PAGEPress Publications |
series |
Italian Journal of Agronomy |
issn |
1125-4718 2039-6805 |
publishDate |
2016-08-01 |
description |
Biochar incorporation into agricultural soils has been proposed as a strategy to decrease nutrient leaching. The present study was designed to assess the effect of biochar on nitrate retention in a silty clay loam soil. Biochar obtained from the pyrogasification of fir wood chips was applied to soil and tested in a range of laboratory sorption experiments. Four soil treatments were considered: soil only (control), soil with 2, 4 and 8% of biochar by mass. The Freundlich sorption isotherm model was used to fit the adsorbed amount of nitrate in the soil-biochar mixtures. The model performed very well in interpreting the experimental data according to a general linear regression (analysis of co-variance) statistical approach. Nitrate retention in the soilbiochar mixtures was always higher than control, regardless the NO3 – concentration in the range of 0-400 mg L–1. Different sorption capacities and intensities were detected depending on the biochar application rate. The highest adsorption capacity was observed in the soils added with 2 and 4% of biochar, respectively. From the results obtained is possible to infer that nitrate retention is higher at lower biochar addition rate to soil (2 and 4%) and at lower nitrate concentration in the soil water solution. These preliminary laboratory results suggest that biochar addition to a typical Mediterranean agricultural soil could be an effective management option to mitigate nitrate leaching. |
topic |
Biochar Freundlich sorption model groundwater quality nitrate leaching nutrients retention. |
url |
https://www.agronomy.it/index.php/agro/article/view/780 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT angelalibutti effectofbiocharamendmentonnitrateretentioninasiltyclayloamsoil AT massimomucci effectofbiocharamendmentonnitrateretentioninasiltyclayloamsoil AT matteofrancavilla effectofbiocharamendmentonnitrateretentioninasiltyclayloamsoil AT massimomonteleone effectofbiocharamendmentonnitrateretentioninasiltyclayloamsoil |
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