Carbon and nitrogen mineralization and enzyme activities in soil aggregate-size classes: Effects of biochar, oyster shells, and polymers

Abstract

Biochar (BC) and polymers are cost-effective additives for soil quality improvement and long-term sustainability. The additional use of the oyster shells (OS) powder in BC- or polymer-treated soils is recommended as a nutrient source, to enhance aggregation and to increase enzyme activities. The effects of soil treatments (i.e., BC (5 Mg ha^-1) and polymers (biopolymer at 0.4 Mg ha^-1 or polyacrylamide at 0.4 Mg ha^-1) with or without the OS (1%)) on the short-term changes were evaluated based on a 30-day incubation experiment with respect to several variables (e.g., CO₂ release, NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- concentrations, aggregate-size classes, and enzyme activities in an agricultural Luvisol). The BC and BP with the addition of OS increased the portion of microaggregates (<0.25 mm) relative to the control soil without any additions, while PAM alone increased the portion of large macroaggregates (1-2 mm). Concentrations of NO₃^- also increased in soils treated with OS, OS + BC, and OS + BP as result of the increased chitinase and leucine aminopeptidase activities. The BC and BP when treated with the additional OS had significant short-term impacts on N mineralization without affecting C mineralization in soil. Consequently, the combination of BC or BP with OS was seen to accelerate N turnover without affecting C turnover (and related C losses) from soil. As such, the addition of these additives contributed considerably to the improvement of soil fertility and C sequestration.

Keywords: Black carbon; Enzyme activities; Nutrient dynamics; Polymers; Soil aggregation.