Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms
Abstract High soil evaporation levels are a major contributor to loss of soil moisture in arid and semiarid regions globally. Therefore, it is important to use effective measures to slow the evaporation from farmland soils. We applied various amounts of straw biochar (BC) in a soil column experiment...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Environmental Sciences Europe |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00776-7 |
| _version_ | 1827635239716913152 |
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| author | Weiying Feng Tengke Wang Fang Yang Rui Cen Haiqing Liao Zhongyi Qu |
| author_facet | Weiying Feng Tengke Wang Fang Yang Rui Cen Haiqing Liao Zhongyi Qu |
| author_sort | Weiying Feng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract High soil evaporation levels are a major contributor to loss of soil moisture in arid and semiarid regions globally. Therefore, it is important to use effective measures to slow the evaporation from farmland soils. We applied various amounts of straw biochar (BC) in a soil column experiment and a field experiment to study the influence of BC on soil evaporation and moisture content, respectively, to improve the water use efficiency of cultivated soil in arid areas. The addition of BC reduced soil evaporation and delayed water loss from the soil by evaporation. In the field experiment, cumulative evaporation in the treatments declined by 9.58% (Bo-10), 10.95% (Bo-30), and 4.2% (Bo-50) compared with that in the control group, demonstrating that 30 t/hm2 BC is the most effective at suppressing soil evaporation. BC also delayed the time required for the soil moisture content to drop to field capacity and increased the upward transport of water from the deeper soil layers at night. Data from continuous monitoring of moisture content for 3 days during each growth period revealed that the increases in moisture replenishment were 18.52–79.62% at the seedling stage, 55.81–202.38% at the jointing stage, 270.83–587.5% at the tassel stage, and 6.66–61.64% at the maturation stage; hence, BC was shown to work best at the tassel stage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:24:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-307e775348c44c94ade1183d57e5da75 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2190-4715 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:24:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Sciences Europe |
| spelling | doaj.art-307e775348c44c94ade1183d57e5da752023-11-26T12:36:26ZengSpringerOpenEnvironmental Sciences Europe2190-47152023-08-0135111210.1186/s12302-023-00776-7Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanismsWeiying Feng0Tengke Wang1Fang Yang2Rui Cen3Haiqing Liao4Zhongyi Qu5School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental SciencesState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental SciencesState Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental SciencesCollege of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityAbstract High soil evaporation levels are a major contributor to loss of soil moisture in arid and semiarid regions globally. Therefore, it is important to use effective measures to slow the evaporation from farmland soils. We applied various amounts of straw biochar (BC) in a soil column experiment and a field experiment to study the influence of BC on soil evaporation and moisture content, respectively, to improve the water use efficiency of cultivated soil in arid areas. The addition of BC reduced soil evaporation and delayed water loss from the soil by evaporation. In the field experiment, cumulative evaporation in the treatments declined by 9.58% (Bo-10), 10.95% (Bo-30), and 4.2% (Bo-50) compared with that in the control group, demonstrating that 30 t/hm2 BC is the most effective at suppressing soil evaporation. BC also delayed the time required for the soil moisture content to drop to field capacity and increased the upward transport of water from the deeper soil layers at night. Data from continuous monitoring of moisture content for 3 days during each growth period revealed that the increases in moisture replenishment were 18.52–79.62% at the seedling stage, 55.81–202.38% at the jointing stage, 270.83–587.5% at the tassel stage, and 6.66–61.64% at the maturation stage; hence, BC was shown to work best at the tassel stage.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00776-7SimulationField experimentCropGrowth period |
| spellingShingle | Weiying Feng Tengke Wang Fang Yang Rui Cen Haiqing Liao Zhongyi Qu Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms Environmental Sciences Europe Simulation Field experiment Crop Growth period |
| title | Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms |
| title_full | Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms |
| title_fullStr | Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms |
| title_short | Effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms |
| title_sort | effects of biochar on soil evaporation and moisture content and the associated mechanisms |
| topic | Simulation Field experiment Crop Growth period |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00776-7 |
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