{{menu_nowledge_desc}}.

CIFOR–ICRAF publishes over 750 publications every year on agroforestry, forests and climate change, landscape restoration, rights, forest policy and much more – in multiple languages.

CIFOR–ICRAF addresses local challenges and opportunities while providing solutions to global problems for forests, landscapes, people and the planet.

We deliver actionable evidence and solutions to transform how land is used and how food is produced: conserving and restoring ecosystems, responding to the global climate, malnutrition, biodiversity and desertification crises. In short, improving people’s lives.

Aggregate size distribution in a biochar-amended tropical Ultisol under conventional hand-hoe tillage

Export citation

Biochar (or pyrogenic organic matter) is increasingly proposed as a soil amendment for improving fertility, carbon sequestration and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, little is known about its effects on aggregation, an important indicator of soil quality and functioning. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Eucalyptus wood biochar (B, pyrolyzed at 550 C, at 0 or 2.5 t ha1), green manure (T, from Tithonia diversifolia at 0, 2.5 or 5.0 t ha1) and mineral nitrogen (U, urea, at 0, or 120 kg N ha1) on soil respiration, aggregate size distribution and SOC in these aggregate size fractions in a 2-year field experiment on a low-fertility Ultisol in western Kenya under conventional hand-hoe tillage. Air-dry 2-mm sieved soils were divided into four fractions by wet sieving: Large Macro-aggregates (LM; >1000 m); Small Macro-aggregates (SM, 250–1000 m); Micro-aggregates (M, 250–53 m) and Silt + Clay (S + C,

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.08.012
Altmetric score:
Dimensions Citation Count:

Related publications