Restoration of Eroded Lands with Biochar as Soil Amendment in South Dakota

199 Pages·2016·7.75 MB·English

by  Saroop S. Sandhu

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations
2016
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SSoouutthh DDaakkoottaa
Saroop S. Sandhu
South Dakota State University
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Sandhu, Saroop S., "Restoration of Eroded Lands with Biochar as Soil Amendment in South Dakota"
(2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1016.
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RESTORATION OF ERODED LANDS WITH BIOCHAR AS SOIL AMENDMENT
IN SOUTH DAKOTA

BY
SAROOP S. SANDHU

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Science

Major in Plant Science

South Dakota State University

2016

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Dr.
Sandeep Kumar, for his excellent guidance, patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and
providing me with an excellent atmosphere for doing my Master’s research. His guidance
helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. Besides my advisor, I
would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Thomas Schumacher, Dr. Sharon
Papiernik, and Dr. Douglas Malo, for their encouragement, insightful comments, and
guiding my research for past two years.
A very special thank goes out to Dr. Rajesh Chintala, who was always willing to
help and resolved all problems during my experiments. It would have been a difficult task
to set up the experiments without him. My sincere thanks also go to all the faculty and
staff members of the Department of Plant Sciences, South Dakota State University for
sharing their knowledge and providing support when needed.
In my daily work I have been blessed with a friendly and cheerful group of fellow
graduate students in Soil Physics lab group. So, I wish to make a special note on Sagar
Gautam, Brianna Wegner, Eric Mbonimpa, Liming Lai, Abdullah Alhameid, Sushant
Mehan, Shikha Singh, Ekrem Ozlu, Kopila Subedi, Colin Tobin, Mark Kirschenman, and
Mostafa Ibrahim, for the stimulating discussions, for helping me in collecting data,
operating lab equipment, and for all the fun we have had in the last two years. I would
like to thank Dr. David Ussiri for his support, assistance and help to improve discussion.
iv

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents Jasbir Singh and Manjit
Kaur for supporting me, cheering me up and stood by me throughout my life with their
best wishes.
(Saroop S. Sandhu)
Place: Brookings, SD
Date: July 7th, 2016
v

CONTENTS
Page

LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………… vii
LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………. viii
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………... x
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. 1
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………... 7
Biochar production, composition and properties…………………………... 8
Biochar impact on soil properties
Soil organic carbon………………………………………………… 10
Soil physical and hydrological properties………………………….... 11
Research gaps………………………………………………………………. 12
References…………………………………………………………………... 13
CHAPTER 3
ANALYZING THE IMPACTS OF THREE TYPES OF BIOCHAR ON SOIL
CARBON FRACTIONS AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES UNDER A CORN-
SOYBEAN ROTATION
Abstract……………………………………………………………………... 18
Introduction……………………………………………………………….... 19
Materials and Methods
Experimental Site Description and Treatments…………………... 21
Production and Characterization of Biochar……………………. 22
Soil Sampling and Analysis……………………………………… 23
Statistical Analysis………………………………………………... 24
Results and Discussion
pH and Electrical Conductivity …………………………………. 24
Bulk Density and Aggregate Stability………………….………… 27
Carbon and Nitrogen Fractions ……...………………………….. 31
Conclusions………………………………………………………………… 35
References…………………………………………………………………. 36
CHAPTER 4
IMPACT OF THREE TYPES OF BIOCHAR ON HYDROLOGICAL
PROPERTIES OF ERODED AND DEPOSITIONAL LANDSCAPE POSITIONS
Abstract……………………………………………………………………... 50
Introduction………………………………………………………………... 51
Materials and Methods
Experimental Site and Treatments………………………………. 53
vi

Production and Characterization of Biochar and Manure……… 54
Soil Sampling and Analysis……………………………………… 55
Ponded Infiltration and in-situ Soil Moisture Measurements…… 55
Soil Water Retention and Pore-Size Distribution………………... 56
Soil Penetration Resistance……………………………………… 56
Statistical Analysis………………………………………………. 57
Results and Discussion
Soil Penetration Resistance……………………………………… 57
Soil Water Retention and Pore Size Distribution………………... 59
Soil Water Infiltration and Field Capacity……………………… 63
Conclusions………………………………………………………………... 66
References……………………………………………………………….... 67
CHAPTER 5
Conclusions………………………………………………………………… 83
APPENDICES AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Supporting materials………………………………………………………... 87
Appendix 1………………………………………………………………... 98
Appendix 2………………………………………………………………… 145
Appendix 3………………………………………………………………… 178
VITA………………………………………………………………………………. 187
vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Bulk density (Mg m-3) and aggregate stability (%) of
soil after corn planting in 2013, after corn harvest in
2013, and after soybean harvest in 2014 for soil treated
with corn stover biochar (CS), pinewood biochar (PW),
switchgrass biochar (SG), and control (CNT) at
depositional and eroded landscapes for 0-7.5 and 7.5-15
cm depths…………………………………………………………… 49

Figure 4.1 Corn stover biochar used for the present study…………………… 79

Figure 4.2 Pinewood biochar used for the present study……………………... 81

Figure 4.3 Switchgrass biochar used for the present study…………………… 81

Figure 4.4 Soil water characteristic curve after the harvest of soybean
in 2014 (A), after the planting of soybean in 2015 (B), and
after the harvest of soybean in 2015 at depositional
landscape position (A-C) and at eroded landscape position
(D-F) as a function of soil water pressure (0.0 to -30 kPa)
for soil treated with corn stover biochar (CS), pinewood
biochar (PW), switchgrass biochar (SG), manure (MN),
mixture of manure and pinewood biochar (MNP) and
control (CNT) for 0-7.5 cm depth of soil…………………………. 82
viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Properties of biochar used for the present study…………………. 42

Table 3.2 pH of soil treated with three different types of biochar for
0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm depths at two landscape positions………. 43

Table 3.3 Electrical conductivity (EC µm cm-1) of soil treated with
three different types of biochar for 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15
cm depths at two landscape positions……………………………. 44

Table 3.4 Labile carbon (g kg-1) of soil treated with three different
types of biochar for 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm depths at two
landscape positions………………………………………………. 45

Table 3.5 Recalcitrant carbon (g kg-1) of soil treated with three
different types of biochar for 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm
depths at two landscape positions………………………………. 46

Table 3.6 Labile nitrogen (g kg-1) of soil treated with three different
types of biochar for 0- 7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm depths at two
landscape positions………………………………………………. 47

Table 3.7 Recalcitrant nitrogen (g kg-1) of soil treated with three
different types of biochar for 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm
depths at two landscape positions………………………………… 48

Table 4.1 Properties of biochar and manure used for the present study……. 72

Table 4.2a Soil penetration resistance (SPR, MPa) and moisture content
(w, kg kg-1; within parenthesis) monitored from soils treated
with different types of biochar and manure for 0-7.5 and 7.5-15
cm depths at depositional landscape position……………………... 49

Table 4.2b Soil penetration resistance (SPR, MPa) and moisture content
(w, kg kg-1; within parenthesis) monitored from soils treated
with different types of biochar and manure for 0-7.5 and 7.5-15
cm depths at eroded landscape position…………………….......... 49
ix

Table 4.3 Pore size distribution after the harvest of soybean in 2014 for
soil treated with different types of biochar and manure for
0-7.5 cm depth at two landscape positions………………………. 50

Table 4.4 Pore size distribution after the planting of soybean in 2015
for soil treated with different types of biochar and manure for
0-7.5 cm depth at two landscape positions……………………… 51

Table 4.5 Pore size distribution after the harvest of soybean in 2015 for
soil treated with different types of biochar and manure for
0-7.5 cm depth at two landscape positions………………………. 52

Table 4.6 Infiltration rate (q , mm hr-1) and in-situ moisture content
s
(w , kg kg-1) monitored after 24 hours in soils treated
fc
with different types of biochar and manure at two landscape
positions…………………………………………………………… 53