Assessment of nutrient content, leaf photosynthesis pigments, and growth of blue fescue in biochar-amended soil and humic acid in order to use in landscape

Subject Areas : Plant Physiology

Azadeh Mousavi Bazaz ¹ , Yahya Selahvarzi ² , Sana Ansari ³

1 -
2 -
3 -

Received: 2024-01-31 Accepted : 2024-04-24 Published : 2024-08-25

Keywords: Nutrition, Ornamental grass, Festuca glauca, Plant growth, Chlorophyll,

Abstract :

The effects of different levels of biochar and humic acid on the growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, and nutritional content of blue fescue were investigated. The experimental design of this study was a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The results showed that the interaction between humic acid and biochar had a significant effect on shoot length, shoot dry biomass, root-to-shoot (R/S) biomass ratio, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, and leaf concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, and Cu. Root dry biomass was affected by humic acid and increased at 200 mg L⁻¹ and 400 mg L⁻¹ humic acid compared to the control. Increasing the application rates of biochar and humic acid resulted in an increase in leaf nutrient contents in blue fescue. The highest levels of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were recorded at 40 g kg⁻¹ biochar combined with 200 mg L⁻¹ humic acid and 40 g kg⁻¹ biochar combined with 400 mg L⁻¹ humic acid, respectively. The use of biochar and humic acid, especially at application rates of 40 g kg⁻¹ and 400 mg L⁻¹, respectively, significantly improved most of the traits evaluated in this experiment. When biochar and humic acid were applied together, their effects were more pronounced.

References:

Abdipour, M., M. Hosseinifarahi and S. Najafian, 2019. 'Effects of humic acid and cow manure biochar (CMB) in culture medium on growth and mineral concentrations of basil plant'. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology, 6(1): 27-38.
Aboukila, E. F., I. N. Nassar, M. Rashad, M. Hafez and J. B. Norton, 2018. 'Reclamation of calcareous soil and improvement of squash growth using brewers’ spent grain and compost'. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences, 17(4): 390-397.
Agbna, G. H., S. Dongli, L. Zhipeng, N. A. Elshaikh, S. Guangcheng and L. C. Timm, 2017. 'Effects of deficit irrigation and biochar addition on the growth, yield, and quality of tomato'. Scientia Horticulturae, 222: 90-101.
Akhtar, S. S., G. Li, M. N. Andersen and F. Liu, 2014. 'Biochar enhances yield and quality of tomato under reduced irrigation'. Agricultural Water Management, 138: 37-44.
Ali, S., M. Rizwan, M. F. Qayyum, Y. S. Ok, M. Ibrahim, M. Riaz, M. S. Arif, F. Hafeez, M. I. Al-Wabel and A. N. Shahzad, 2017. 'Biochar soil amendment on alleviation of drought and salt stress in plants: a critical review'. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24: 12700-12712.
Belyaeva, O. and R. Haynes, 2012. 'Comparison of the effects of conventional organic amendments and biochar on the chemical, physical and microbial properties of coal fly ash as a plant growth medium'. Environmental Earth Sciences, 66: 1987-1997.
Bremner, J. and R. Hauck, 1982. 'Advances in methodology for research on nitrogen transformations in soils'. Nitrogen in agricultural soils, 22: 467-502.
Chen, G., J. Qiao, G. Zhao, H. Zhang, Y. Shen and W. Cheng, 2018. 'Rice‐Straw Biochar Regulating Effect on Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. cv.'Hangbaiju''. Agronomy Journal, 110(5): 1996-2003.
Dispenza, V., C. De Pasquale, G. Fascella, M. M. Mammano and G. Alonzo, 2016. 'Use of biochar as peat substitute for growing substrates of Euphorbia× lomi potted plants'. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 14(4): e0908-e0908.
Eshghi, S., M. Zare, B. Jamali, A. Gharaghani and M. H. Farahi, 2013. 'Vegetative and reproductive parameters of ‘Selva’strawberry as influenced by Algaren, Drin and green hum foliar application'. Ag Commun, 1: 27-32.
Fascella, G., M. M. Mammano, F. D’Angiolillo, A. Pannico and Y. Rouphael, 2020. 'Coniferous wood biochar as substrate component of two containerized Lavender species: Effects on morpho-physiological traits and nutrients partitioning'. Scientia Horticulturae, 267: 109356.
Fornes, F. and R. M. Belda, 2019. 'Use of raw and acidified biochars as constituents of growth media for forest seedling production'. New Forests, 50(6): 1063-1086.
Gee, G. W. and J. W. Bauder, 1986. 'Particle‐size analysis'. Methods of soil analysis: Part 1 Physical and mineralogical methods, 5: 383-411.
Genesio, L., F. Miglietta, S. Baronti and F. P. Vaccari, 2015. 'Biochar increases vineyard productivity without affecting grape quality: Results from a four years field experiment in Tuscany'. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 201: 20-25.
Gholizadeh, A., M. Saberioon, L. Borůvka, A. Wayayok and M. A. M. Soom, 2017. 'Leaf chlorophyll and nitrogen dynamics and their relationship to lowland rice yield for site-specific paddy management'. Information Processing in Agriculture, 4(4): 259-268.
Głąb, T., K. Gondek, M. Mierzwa-Hersztek and W. Szewczyk, 2020. 'Effects of straw and biochar amendments on grassland productivity and root morphology'. Agronomy, 10(11): 1794.
Gul, S., J. K. Whalen, B. W. Thomas, V. Sachdeva and H. Deng, 2015. 'Physico-chemical properties and microbial responses in biochar-amended soils: mechanisms and future directions'. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 206: 46-59.
Guo, Y., G. Niu, T. Starman, A. Volder and M. Gu, 2018. 'Poinsettia growth and development response to container root substrate with biochar'. Horticulturae, 4(1): 1.
Hashem, A., A. Kumar, A. M. Al-Dbass, A. A. Alqarawi, A.-B. F. Al-Arjani, G. Singh, M. Farooq and E. F. Abd_Allah, 2019. 'Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and biochar improves drought tolerance in chickpea'. Saudi journal of biological sciences, 26(3): 614-624.
Jarecka, K. and J. Sosnowski, 2021. 'The Effect of a Growth Stimulant Based on lodine Nanoparticles on Festuca glauca'. Journal of Ecological Engineering, 22(11).
Karimi, E., M. Shirmardi, M. Dehestani Ardakani, J. Gholamnezhad and M. Zarebanadkouki, 2020. 'The effect of humic acid and biochar on growth and nutrients uptake of calendula (Calendula officinalis L.)'. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 51(12): 1658-1669.
Kaudal, B. B., D. Chen, D. B. Madhavan, A. Downie and A. Weatherley, 2016. 'An examination of physical and chemical properties of urban biochar for use as growing media substrate'. Biomass and Bioenergy, 84: 49-58.
Kazemi, R., A. Ronaghi, J. Yasrebi, R. Ghasemi-Fasaei and M. Zarei, 2019. 'Effect of shrimp waste–derived biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus on yield, antioxidant enzymes, and chemical composition of corn under salinity stress'. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 19: 758-770.
Khorasaninejad, S., A. Alizadeh Ahmadabadi and K. Hemmati, 2018. 'The effect of humic acid on leaf morphophysiological and phytochemical properties of Echinacea purpurea L. under water deficit stress'. Scientia Horticulturae, 239: 314-323.
Kul, R., 2022. 'Integrated application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and biochar improves salt tolerance in eggplant seedlings'. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 46(5): 677-702.
Liang, Y., X. Cao, L. Zhao, X. Xu and W. Harris, 2014. 'Phosphorus release from dairy manure, the manure‐derived biochar, and their amended soil: Effects of phosphorus nature and soil property'. Journal of environmental quality, 43(4): 1504-1509.
Lichtenthaler, H. K. 1987. '[34] Chlorophylls and carotenoids: pigments of photosynthetic biomembranes'. In Methods in enzymology. Elsevier, pp:
Liu, Y., H. Lu, S. Yang and Y. Wang, 2016. 'Impacts of biochar addition on rice yield and soil properties in a cold waterlogged paddy for two crop seasons'. Field crops research, 191: 161-167.
Major, J., M. Rondon, D. Molina, S. J. Riha and J. Lehmann, 2010. 'Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol'. Plant and soil, 333: 117-128.
Manolikaki, I. I., A. Mangolis and E. Diamadopoulos, 2016. 'The impact of biochars prepared from agricultural residues on phosphorus release and availability in two fertile soils'. Journal of environmental management, 181: 536-543.
Masto, R. E., M. A. Ansari, J. George, V. Selvi and L. Ram, 2013. 'Co-application of biochar and lignite fly ash on soil nutrients and biological parameters at different crop growth stages of Zea mays'. Ecological Engineering, 58: 314-322.
Murphy, J. and J. P. Riley, 1962. 'A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters'. Analytica chimica acta, 27: 31-36.
Netto, A. T., E. Campostrini, J. G. de Oliveira and R. E. Bressan-Smith, 2005. 'Photosynthetic pigments, nitrogen, chlorophyll a fluorescence and SPAD-502 readings in coffee leaves'. Scientia Horticulturae, 104(2): 199-209.
Nikbakht, A., M. Kafi, M. Babalar, Y. P. Xia, A. Luo and N.-a. Etemadi, 2008. 'Effect of humic acid on plant growth, nutrient uptake, and postharvest life of gerbera'. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 31(12): 2155-2167.
Nobile, C., J. Denier and D. Houben, 2020. 'Linking biochar properties to biomass of basil, lettuce and pansy cultivated in growing media'. Scientia Horticulturae, 261: 109001.
Qin, X., H. Wang, C. Liu, J. Li, Y. Wan, Q. Gao, F. Fan and Y. Liao, 2016. 'Long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions in a rice paddy cropping system: A four-year case study in south China'. Science of the Total Environment, 569: 1390-1401.
Sparks, D. L., A. L. Page, P. A. Helmke and R. H. Loeppert. 2020. Methods of soil analysis, part 3: Chemical methods: John Wiley & Sons.
Street, T. A., R. B. Doyle and D. C. Close, 2014. 'Biochar media addition impacts apple rootstock growth and nutrition'. Hortscience, 49(9): 1188-1193.
Tahir, M., M. Khurshid, M. Khan, M. Abbasi and M. Kazmi, 2011. 'Lignite-derived humic acid effect on growth of wheat plants in different soils'. Pedosphere, 21(1): 124-131.
Tayyab, M., W. Islam, F. Khalil, P. Ziqin, Z. Caifang, Y. Arafat, L. Hui, M. Rizwan, K. Ahmad and S. Waheed, 2018. 'Biochar: an efficient way to manage low water availability in plants'. Applied Ecology & Environmental Research, 16(3).
Xiao, Q., L.-X. Zhu, H.-P. Zhang, X.-Y. Li, Y.-F. Shen and S.-Q. Li, 2016. 'Soil amendment with biochar increases maize yields in a semi-arid region by improving soil quality and root growth'. Crop and Pasture Science, 67(5): 495-507.
Yang, W. and L. Zhang, 2022. 'Biochar and cow manure organic fertilizer amendments improve the quality of composted green waste as a growth medium for the ornamental plant Centaurea Cyanus L'. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29(30): 45474-45486.
Yildirim, E., 2007. 'Foliar and soil fertilization of humic acid affect productivity and quality of tomato'. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B-Soil and Plant Science, 57(2): 182-186.
Yuan, X., M. Gu, W. Teng, X. Yang and J. Wu, 2011. 'Growth of Calamagrostis brachytricha Steud. and Festuca glauca Lam. and estimated water savings under evapotranspiration-based deficit irrigation'. The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, 86(6): 583-588.
Zhang, L., X.-y. Sun, Y. Tian and X.-q. Gong, 2014. 'Biochar and humic acid amendments improve the quality of composted green waste as a growth medium for the ornamental plant Calathea insignis'. Scientia Horticulturae, 176: 70-78.
Zoghi, Z., S. M. Hosseini, M. T. Kouchaksaraei, Y. Kooch and L. Guidi, 2019. 'The effect of biochar amendment on the growth, morphology and physiology of Quercus castaneifolia seedlings under water-deficit stress'. European Journal of Forest Research, 138: 967-979.