Soils Embrace Life and Universe The 20th World Congress of Soil Science

J une 8~13, 2014 J eju, Korea

P2-165
[IDS5] Biochar Soil Amendment for Environmental and Agronomic Benefits

Biochar and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: An Alternative to Contributing to Agroecosystem
Sustainability

Gustavo Curaqueo
1*
, Sebastian Meier
1
, Fernando Borie
1
and Rodrigo Navia
2


1
Center of Amelioration and Sustainability of Volcanic Soils. BIOREN-UFRO, Universidad de La Frontera, Chile
2
Center of Waste Management and Bioenergy. BIOREN-UFRO, Universidad de La Frontera, Chile
gustavo.curaqueo@ufrontera.cl

The agriculture activities produced an important amount of residues and in the agroecosystems of South Chile the burning of these
is a widely practiced management causing some problems such as air pollution and nutrients lost mainly soil organic matter. Indeed,
the transformation and reutilization of agricultural wastes by the pyrolysis methods obtaining a product called biochar (BC) could
be a feasible solution to contribute to maintain soil quality, since the BC application on soils improves the physical, chemical and
biological properties as well as increase crops yields. In the same way, the activity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi plays an
important role in the soil fertility, cycling of nutrients and plant health nutrition. In fact, some studies indicate that biochar and
mycorrhizal associations are potentially important in various agroecosystems services provided by soil. The aim of this work was
to evaluate the early effect of the BC application on wheat root colonization by native AM fungi, glomalin content and some soil
properties and production of wheat biomass in an Andisol and Ultisol of Southern Chile. For the above, Two BCs were produced
using oat hulls (OBC) and pine bark (PBC) processed at 300 C and 2 h of pyrolysis. The BCs produced were physico-chemical
characterized and then we evaluated their phytotoxic effect through a germination test. After that, doses of 5, 10 and 20 Mg ha-1 of
BC were incorporated into 0-5 cm depth on Andisol and Ultisol, using a treatment without BC application as a control. In wheat,
AM root colonization, root and shoot biomass were determined, whereas in soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), bulk density,
porosity, water holding capacity (WHC), water stable soil aggregates (WSA) and glomalin (GRSP; glomalin related soil protein)
content were also measured. The results showed that OBC have higher nutrients content and better values in the physical
parameters (BET, pore volume and pore size) compared with PBC. The germination test showed a non-toxic effect of the BCs on
the wheat seeds. The AM fungi colonization of wheat increased with the use of OBC, reaching values by 48.7% and 44.2%, while
the colonization values obtained with the use of PBC ranged between 39.3% to 36.4% in Andisol and Ultisol respectively. GRSP
content responds to of higher BC doses in both soils, increasing its contents mainly with the use of OBC compared with the PBC
and control treatment. An increase in the production of shoot (45% and 23%) and root (70% and 37%) biomass related with the use
of highest doses of BCs in the Andisol and Ultisol studied. Improves in the soil pH, EC, WHC, and WSA were also observed with
the application of both OBC and PBC compared with the control. No differences were observed in bulk density and porosity. Our
results have shown that the use of biochar as amendment in agriculture soil can be an effective alternative of soil management in
order to stimulate root colonization by AM fungi and increase GRSP contents as well as improve soil properties, thus promoting a
higher sustainability of agricultural systems.
Acknowledgements: This study was supported by FONDECYT Project 3120213

Keywords : Biochar, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, Glomalin related soil protein, Chile