Survival and growth of native Tachigali vulgaris and exotic Eucalyptus urophylla×Eucalyptus grandis trees in degraded soils with biochar amendment in southern Amazonia

Farias, Josenilton de; Marimon, Beatriz Schwantes; Silva, Lucas C. R.; Petter, Fabiano André; Andrade, Fabrício Ribeiro; Morandi, Paulo S.; Marimon-Júnior, Ben Hur

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.03.022

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results showed that survivorship was highest in the biochar addition at the BC1 rate (1.1 t/ha), though these results are not significantly different from the control treatment ( Figure 1). A similar observation was made by Farias et al [40]. More strikingly, survival varied by a factor of two among the different treatments, with BC5 (5 t/ha), BC5 + F, and fertilizer alone, significantly reducing seedling survival as compared to the control and BC1 treatments.…”

Section: Survivorshipsupporting

confidence: 84%

Biochar Effects on Two Tropical Tree Species and Its Potential as a Tool for Reforestation

Lefebvre¹,

Román-Dañobeytia

Soete

et al. 2019

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research Highlights: We find that biochar plus fertilizer has synergistic and positive effects on seedling growth and robustness, but slightly lowers early seedling survival. Biochar plus fertilizer has the potential to greatly decrease costs associated with afforestation as compared to traditional fertilization and gives better results. Background and Objectives: Biochar can improve soil fertility and plant yield in crops. However, there is little information regarding the effects of biochar on trees, even though reforestation/afforestation projects are increasing and are often unsuccessful due to soil fertility limitations. This study aims to increase knowledge of biochar use as a reforestation tool. Materials and Methods: We measured survival and growth in an early ((Guazuma crinita Mart. [n = 240])) and a late (Terminalia amazonia (J.F. Gmel.) Exell. [n = 240]) successional species under 6 different biochar treatments in a 6-month nursery experiment. Results: (i) Survival was highest in the 1 t/ha biochar treatment, while treatments containing fertilizers or biochar at 5 t/ha lowered the survival rate of both species compared to the control; (ii) simultaneous addition of biochar and fertilizer lead to significant increases in height, diameter, total number of leaves, and aboveground and belowground biomass of both species as compared to other treatments; (iii) biochar treatment containing 1 t/ha with and without fertilizer showed significantly better results than applications of 5 t/ha; and (iv) Guazuma crinita responded more strongly to treatments containing biochar and fertilizers compared to Terminalia amazonia, which is suggestive of greater synergetic effects of biochar and fertilizer addition on early successional tree species. Conclusions: Applying biochar and fertilizer is synergistic and outperforms any single treatment, as well as the control, in terms of plant performance. This case study suggests that biochar can greatly improve reforestation/afforestation projects by increasing plant performance while substantially reducing fertilizer and labor maintenance costs. Field experiments and testing of additional species is needed to generalize the findings.

show abstract

Section: Survivorshipsupporting

confidence: 84%

Biochar Effects on Two Tropical Tree Species and Its Potential as a Tool for Reforestation

Lefebvre¹,

Román-Dañobeytia

Soete

et al. 2019

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous field‐based studies in tropical or subtropical forests found soils amended with biochar increased (Lin et al, ; Sovu, Savadago, & Oden, ) or had no effect (de Farias et al, ; Lin et al, ) on tree growth. Mixed wood ash applied to a Pinus radiata planation caused an increase in tree growth three years after application in a Mediterranean climate (Omil, Pineiro, & Merino, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Another possible reason for a lack of a biochar effect on tree growth observed in this study could be due to the particular tree species investigated. Angiosperm seedlings respond better to biochar than gymnosperm seedlings (Pluchon, Gundale, Nilsson, Kardol, & Wardle, 2014) possibly due to angiosperm seedlings responding more to soil fertility than gymnosperm seedlings (Bond, 1989;Coomes et al, 2005) or poor adaptation to increased pH by gymnosperms (Sarauer & Coleman, 2018a). Thomas and Gale (2015) also suggest that the reduced response from conifers could be due to lower nutrient uptake rates and adaptation to surviving in acid soils causing conifers to be resource-conservative compared to angiosperms.…”

Section: Tree Diameter Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil greenhouse gas, carbon content, and tree growth response to biochar amendment in western United States forests

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Restoring overstocked forests by thinning and pyrolyzing residual biomass produces biochar and other value‐added products. Forest soils amended with biochar have potential to sequester carbon (C), improve soil quality, and alter greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without depleting nutrient stocks. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of biochar on GHG emissions and tree growth in temperate forest soils. We measured GHG emissions, soil C content, and tree growth at managed forest sites in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. We applied biochar amendments of 0, 2.5, or 25 Mg/ha to the forest soil surface. Flux of carbon dioxide and methane varied by season; however, neither were affected by biochar amendment. Flux of nitrous oxide was not detected at these nitrogen‐limited and unfertilized forest sites. Biochar amendment increased soil C content by 41% but did not affect tree growth. Overall, biochar had no detrimental effects on forest trees or soils. We conclude that biochar can be used harmlessly for climate change mitigation in forests by sequestering C in the soil.

show abstract

“…Varying doses of macadamia BC combined with two fertilizer rates had contrasting results on soil nutrients and ambiguous trends in the growth of young E. nitens [34]. BC did not enhance survival or growth of a Eucalyptus hybrid on degraded soils in southern Amazonia [35]. Compost and BC-compost mixes did not improve the performance of poplar, willow, and alder SRWCs [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Short Rotation Eucalypts: Opportunities for Biochar

Rockwood

Ellis

Liu

et al. 2019

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Eucalypts can be very productive when intensively grown as short rotation woody crops (SRWC) for bioproducts. In Florida, USA, a fertilized, herbicided, and irrigated cultivar planted at 2471 trees/ha could produce over 58 green mt/ha/year in 3.7 years, and at 2071 trees/ha, its net present value (NPV) exceeded $750/ha at a 6% discount rate and stumpage price of $11.02/green mt. The same cultivar grown less intensively at three planting densities had the highest stand basal area at the highest density through 41 months, although individual tree diameter at breast height (DBH) was the smallest. In combination with an organic fertilizer, biochar improved soil properties, tree leaf nutrients, and tree growth within 11 months of application. Biochar produced from Eucalyptus and other species is a useful soil amendment that, especially in combination with an organic fertilizer, could improve soil physical and chemical properties and increase nutrient availability to enhance Eucalyptus tree nutrition and growth on sandy soils. Eucalypts produce numerous naturally occurring bioproducts and are suitable feedstocks for many other biochemically or thermochemically derived bioproducts that could enhance the value of SRWCs.

show abstract

Survival and growth of native Tachigali vulgaris and exotic Eucalyptus urophylla×Eucalyptus grandis trees in degraded soils with biochar amendment in southern Amazonia

Cited by 37 publications

References 46 publications

Biochar Effects on Two Tropical Tree Species and Its Potential as a Tool for Reforestation

Biochar Effects on Two Tropical Tree Species and Its Potential as a Tool for Reforestation

Soil greenhouse gas, carbon content, and tree growth response to biochar amendment in western United States forests

Short Rotation Eucalypts: Opportunities for Biochar

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About