نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

• شکیبا صادقی عسکری ¹
• سید علی اکبر موسوی ²
• مهدی زارعی* ³

¹ بخش علوم و مهندسی خاک،دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه شیراز،شیراز،ایران

² بخش علوم و مهندسی خاک، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه شیراز، ایران

³ بخش علوم و مهندسی خاک، دانشکده کشاورزی، دانشگاه شیراز، شیراز، ایران

چکیده

کلیدواژه‌ها

• بافت لوم‌رسی
• بافت لوم‌شنی
• پراکنش رس
• زغال زیستی
• فرسایش

موضوعات

• فیزیک خاک

عنوان مقاله [English]

Effect of Cow Manure Biochar Levels on the Amount of Spontaneously and Mechanically Dispersible Clays in Two Calcareous Soils with Different Textures at Different Times After Application

نویسندگان [English]

• Shakiba Sadeghi Askari ¹
• Ali Akbar Moosavi ²
• Mehdi Zarei ³

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

• Biochar
• Clay dispersion
• Clay loam texture
• Erosion
• Sandy loam texture

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Introduction

Nowadays, droughts, lack of organic matter, and air pollution have become the most important environmental challenges and have involved many countries, especially Iran, due to its arid and semi-arid climate. There are different ways to deal with these problems, one of which is using different soil conditioners such as organic and chemical fertilizers. Among the available fertilizers, organic fertilizers have attracted the attention of many researchers due to their compatibility with the environment. One of the available organic fertilizers is biochar, which, in addition to positive effects on some soil properties, can be effective on soil erosion and stabilization and consequently on the amount of fine dust and air pollution. Therefore, due to the use of this soil conditioner in different sectors, it is necessary to investigate its effects on different soil characteristics, including clay dispersion, which is decisive in different soil and environmental issues.

Methods

To investigate the effect of cow manure biochar on spontaneously and mechanically dispersible clay, a factorial experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design in three replications in the research laboratory of the Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University. After the preparation of biochar, its 0, 1.5 and 3% (wt) levels were well mixed with 400 (g) of the studied soils in plastic bags and transferred to polyethylene tubes with a height of 30 cm and a diameter of 2.5 cm. They were kept at 20-25°C and field capacity (FC) conditions in the laboratory for 40, 80, and 120 days after biochar application. In addition, the samples were weighed and irrigated to FC conditions once every ten days. After the mentioned times, the amount of spontaneously and mechanically dispersible clays and MWD were measured.

Results and Discussion

The results showed that the application of 3% biochar increased the spontaneously dispersible clay by 4.2%, as well as the levels of 1.5% and 3% of biochar increased mechanically dispersible clay compared to that of the control by 4.3% and 30.8%, respectively. The amount of mechanically and spontaneously dispersible clay increased over time. While the effect of soil texture on spontaneously dispersible clay was insignificant, the amount of mechanically dispersible clay in the clay loam soil was 61.2% more than that of the sandy loam soil. Results also indicated that the application of 1.5% and 3% of biochar decreased the MWD of aggregates by 24.2 and 20.6% in the sandy loam and 16.5 and 13.6% in the clay loam soils, respectively. The mentioned decrease in MWD caused an increase in dispersible clay. 

Conclusions

Since today, air pollution by fine dust is a global problem. It is known as one of the environmental hazards, which is very important in most regions, especially arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the factors affecting it and take necessary approaches to improve it. Due to the small size and low weight of clay particles, clay includes an important part of these pollutions. Owing to its unique characteristics, biochar has received much attention in agriculture today and has been evaluated by many researchers and proposed as a soil conditioner. According to the present research, this soil conditioner may increase the dispersion of clay particles and due to its low weight, it may also cause pollution and increase the amount of wind erosion in arid and semi-arid regions. As a result, more studies are needed in this field and on a larger scale at the field conditions.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.A.M. and M.Z.; methodology, Sh.S.A. and A.A.M.; software, Sh.S.A.; validation, A.A.M., Sh.S.A. and M.Z.; formal analysis, Sh.S.A.; investigation, A.A.M., Sh.S.A. and M.Z.; resources, A.A.M.; data curation, Sh.S.A.; writing—original draft preparation, Sh.S.A.; writing—review and editing, A.A.M., Sh.S.A. and M.Z.; visualization, A.A.M., Sh.S.A. and M.Z.; supervisionA.A.M.; project administration, A.A.M.; funding acquisition, A.A.M.

All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

Data is available on reasonable request from the authors.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Shiraz University for providing all the needed facilities.

Ethical considerations

The authors avoided data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and misconduct.