Reconfiguration of macropore networks in a silty loam soil following biochar addition identified by X‐ray microtomography and network analyses

Yu, Xiuling; Lu, Shenggao

doi:10.1111/ejss.12773

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…As a result, BC, PAM, and SOF substantially improved pore connectivity. In contrast, in previous studies, a reduction in the connected porosity of BC-incorporated soil was observed with these materials (Brockhoff et al, 2010;Yu & Lu, 2019), but the soil differed from the BC and soil types studied in this experiment.…”

Section: Effects Of Organic Materials On the Basic Physical Propertie...contrasting

confidence: 99%

Effects of different organic amendments on soil pore structure acquired by three‐dimensional investigation

Xuan

et al. 2022

European J Soil Science

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The application of organic amendments is an important way to improve soil structure. However, the differences in soil pore properties after adding various organic materials are not fully available, which is important for selecting the most suitable material for soil improvement. In this study, soil pore structures in a field experiment amended with different organic materials (maize straw [MS], cattle manure, mixture of MS and cattle manure, biochar, woody peat, and polyacrylamide [PAM]) were determined by digital image analysis and three‐dimensional (3D) investigation, and their changes were quantitatively evaluated. The results showed that all organic material applications reduced the soil bulk density and increased the field capacity and water‐stable macroaggregate content. The 3D information about the soil pore structure showed that MS return was closely related to pore shape parameters. Soil treated with PAM had a low channel and throat number, long channel length and large throat area, all of which affect soil solute migration and crop root growth. A straw and organic fertiliser mixture changed the medium and large porosity (>500 μm) percentage from 1.1% to 9.7%, and the connected/isolated porosity ratio (C/I ratio) increased by 4.7 times. Taken together, our results indicate that the application of organic amendments can effectively improve the soil microstructure in fluvo‐aquic soils of the Huanghuaihai Plain in China, which is consistent with macroscopic physical properties such as bulk density and field capacity. PAM addition can promote the redistribution of air, water and nutrients in the soil. Straw returning can significantly affect the soil pore shape. Among all organic amendments, a straw and organic fertiliser mixture had the most obvious effects on the soil structure, especially on improving soil connectivity. Highlights Computed tomography and digital image processing used to visualise and quantify pore structure of soil treated with organic materials. Applications of various organic amendments reduced bulk density of fluvo‐aquic soil. Field capacity and water‐stable macroaggregates were increased. Straw and organic fertiliser improved soil porosity and connectivity and increased numbers of macropores.

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Section: Effects Of Organic Materials On the Basic Physical Propertie...contrasting

confidence: 99%

Effects of different organic amendments on soil pore structure acquired by three‐dimensional investigation

Xuan

et al. 2022

European J Soil Science

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“…It must be noted that our simulation of water flow is limited by the original resolution of 3D images. However, it could still be considered to be suitable to simulate water movement within soils because soil macropores which were generally defined as pores with >30 μm diameters (Yu & Lu, 2019) mainly conducted the process of water through saturated soils. Especially in saturated and near‐saturated conditions, a few large pores could contribute over 90% of the infiltration (Pires et al, 2019; Zhang, Lin, Wang, & Peng, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roles of soil amendments in the water and salt transport of coastal saline soils through regulation of microstructure

Fei,

She,

et al. 2024

Land Degrad Dev

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Increasing scientific knowledge on the improvement of coastal saline soils is critical for spatially expanding coastal development. Biochar and polyacrylamide (PAM) are popular soil amendments, however, it remains unclear how they affect water and salt transport by regulating soil microstructure characteristics. In this study, we conducted a five‐year rice barrel trial and investigated the changes in the aggregates and microstructure of saline soils after adding biochar with three different application rates (B1 = 0%, B2 = 2%, and B3 = 5%, mass ratio) and PAM with three different application rates (P1 = 0%, P2 = 0.4‰, and P3 = 1.0‰, mass ratio), and simulated the water and salt transport. Results showed that at B1 and B2 treatments, soil μ‐CT porosity in 2020 increased by 89.8% and 208.0%, respectively, with respect to that in 2016. The development of soil mesopore structure was promoted at B2 treatments, whereas the P2 and P3 treatments promoted the development of the soil macrostructure. Compared with those of the blank control, soil internal mean water flow rate increased by 22.2% at B2 treatments and 69.2% at P2 treatments, respectively. However, their increases were less pronounced at B3 treatments and the water flow rate decreased by 50.5% at P3 treatments. It might be reasonably attributed to the reason that porous biochar helped the formation of soil pore structure while an excessive amount of biochar blocked soil pores. Furthermore, PAM amendment helped to form soil aggregates while an excessive amount of viscous PAM might block soil pores or form a viscous layer. The time corresponding to the maximum salt concentration was negatively correlated with soil μ‐CT porosity (R2 = 0.27) and pore connectivity density (R2 = 0.29). Our findings indicate that appropriate amounts of biochar and PAM can help improve saline soil structure in coastal areas, improve their hydraulic properties, and alleviate salt stress.

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“…Soil structure was analyzed by mCT scanning as described by Yu and Lu [26]. Brie y, the soil matrix was scanned with an industrial Phoenix v|tome|x m X-ray CT (General Electric, GmbH, Wunstorf, Germany).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering Centimeter-Scale Microbial Biogeographic Patterns and Community Assembly Processes From A 3D Perspective

Xue¹,

Zhao²,

Yu³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Revealing the effects of multi-dimensional spatial distribution on microorganisms is crucial for the further understanding of microbial diversity, turnover and ecological processes. However, microbial community assembly and the factors that shape it are still unknown from a three dimensional (3D) perspective. Here, a 3D model was created by performing an exhaustive sampling strategy to a 4x4x4 soil matrix. We examined the dynamics of microbial diversity, biogeographic patterns and microbial assembly processes when transfroming sampling scheme from 2D to 3D.Results: Our results indicated that dispersion of microbial community and significance of distance decay relationship was higher in the 3D compared with 2D sampling scheme, suggesting increased microbial turnover when transforming the model from 2D to 3D. Only a small fraction of community variation can be explained by environmental, spatial factors and spatial canonical axes, possibly due to unmeasured environmental variables. The assembly of microbial community was dominated by deterministic processes that shifted from homogeneous selection to variable selection as we transformed the model from 2D to 3D. The importance of stochasticity increased when homogeneous and variable selection processes were well balanced. However, heterogeneity of existing environmental and spatial variables failed to explain the dynamics of community assembly.Conclusions: Our study revealed significant dynamics of microbial diversity and assembly processes when assessed from 2D and 3D perspectives. As microorganisms are spatially distributed in soil, this spatial dependent diversity and assembly suggests that microbial ecological questions need to be considered in more dimensions than they usually are. Further, new models that integrate all data sets are still needed to disengle the microbial processes in multiple dimensions.

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Reconfiguration of macropore networks in a silty loam soil following biochar addition identified by X‐ray microtomography and network analyses

Cited by 17 publications

References 41 publications

Effects of different organic amendments on soil pore structure acquired by three‐dimensional investigation

Effects of different organic amendments on soil pore structure acquired by three‐dimensional investigation

Roles of soil amendments in the water and salt transport of coastal saline soils through regulation of microstructure

Deciphering Centimeter-Scale Microbial Biogeographic Patterns and Community Assembly Processes From A 3D Perspective

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