Effect of Biochar on Soil and Water Loss on Sloping Farmland in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China during the Spring Thawing Period

Abstract

Biochar, as a kind of soil amendment, has attracted wide attention from scholars in various countries, and the effects of biochar on soil and water loss have been well reported. However, soil erosion is significantly affected by geographical conditions, climate, and other factors, and research on the characteristics of soil erosion and the effects of biochar application in seasonally frozen soil areas is currently unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of corn straw biochar application on soil and water conservation during the spring thawing period. Specifically, through field experiments, the addition of 0, 6, and 12 kg m−2 biochar on slopes of 1.8, 3.6, 5.4, and 7.2° and the effects on runoff and the soil erosion rate of farmland were analyzed. The results showed that in the 6 and 12 kg m−2 biochar addition treatments, the saturated water content of the soil increased by 24.17 and 42.91%, and the field capacity increased by 32.44 and 51.30%, respectively. Compared with the untreated slope, with an increase in biochar application rate, runoff decreased slightly, and soil erosion decreased significantly. This study reveals that biochar can be used as a potential measure to prevent soil and water loss on sloping farmland in cold regions.

Experiment Study of Porous Fiber Material on Infiltration and Runoff of Winter Wheat Farmland in Huaibei Plain, China

“…PFM increased the farmland infiltration rate, which was similar to the research results that some porous materials (such as biochar, straw, and PAM) applied in the farmland (Abrol et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2017). Porous fiber materials changed some soil physical and hydrological characteristics such as soil porosity, water conductivity, aggregate stability, and that the materials including huge pores could provide sufficient space for water storage during rainfall, which benefits the soil infiltration rate increased and reached stable infiltration faster (Gholami et al, 2019;Yu et al, 2021). In the early stage of a rainfall event, the PFM water content was often lower than the soil water content in the same depth, which would make soil water suction in the PFM groups higher than the control groups during rain.…”

“…However, biochar was easy to be washed off by runoff or block the soil pores in some extreme rainfall events, which led to the intensification of farmland floods (Peng et al, 2016). But PFM does not have the above shortcomings in practical application due to the difference in its layout mode (Yu et al, 2021). In nature, the formation and growth of surface runoff depend more on the relationship between rainfall intensity and soil infiltration rate (Zhao X. et al, 2014;Werdin et al, 2021).…”

“…At the same time, soil porosity drives the migration of energy and materials and changes the infiltration and runoff mechanism (Helalia, 1993;Huang et al, 2021;Du et al, 2021;Wasko and Nathan, 2019). But the infiltration and runoff of farmland were complex hydrological phenomena; it was the interactive result of rainfall and soil management measures (Yu et al, 2021). Based on the above cognition, porous materials could improve the soil porosity and increase the water-absorbing capacity, water-holding capacity, and water-storage capacity .…”

Alfalfa modified the effects of degraded black soil cultivated land on the soil microbial community

“…Previous studies have shown that planting high-quality forage is an important measure to improve the quality and fertility of degraded arable soils (Yu et al, 2021). Meanwhile, a previous study observed improvements in field, pest management, and soil fertility with crop rotations.…”