Biochar is a beneficial soil amendment; however, biochar-based properties are mainly determined by the feedstocks and the pyrolysis temperature. Nevertheless, considering the vast biomass of halophyte, little is known about how the halophyte-derived biochar improves saline soils. In this study, we firstly produced biochars by using three different halophytes, including Tamarix chinensis (recretohalophyte), Suaeda salsa (euhalophyte), and Phragmites australis (pseudo-halophyte) at 300, 500, and 700 °C, and compared their chemical and physical properties. We applied halophyte (Tamarix chinensis and Phragmites australis) biochars (pyrolysis at 500 °C) into 0-20 cm saline soil at 2% and 4% (w/w) rates to investigate the saline soil water, salt, and pH dynamics in a 12-month column experiment. The results showed that as the pyrolytic temperature increase, biochar yield and pore diameter decreased by 37.5-44.0% and 34.6-89.7%, respectively; in contrast, biochar pH, specific surface area, and total volume increased by 24.8-47.8%, 3-37 times and 1-9 times, respectively. The halophyte types significantly controlled biochar carbon and dissolved salt content and electrical conductivity. Halophyte biochar application can increase soil water and salt content, and application of 4% of Tamarix chinensis-derived biochar can increase more soil moisture than the soil salinity, and it can maintain soil pH at a stable level, which would be a potential way to improve saline soil properties. The results are valuable for choosing halophyte types and optimizing pyrolytic temperatures for halophyte biochar production through specific environmental usage.
Keywords: Pyrolysis; Salt tolerant plant; Soil moisture; Soil pH; Soil salinity.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.