Xiaoke Zhang;Li Qi;Wenju Liang;Min Zhang;XH Bao;Zubin Xi

Jiangsu Biochar Engineering Center, State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China;State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110164 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

biochar addition;increased;b1;b5;b20;00

While studies have focused on the use of biochar as soil amendment, little attention has been paid to its effect on soil fauna. The biochar was produced from slow pyrolysis of wheat straw in the present study. Four treatments, no addition (CK) and three rates of biochar addition at 2 400 (B1), 12 000 (B5) and 48 000 kg ha(-1) (B20), were investigated to assess the effect of biochar addition to soil on nematode abundance and diversity in a microcosm trial in China. The B5 and B20 application significantly increased the total organic carbon and the C/N ratio. No significant difference in total nematode abundance was found among the treatments. The biochar addition to the soil significantly increased the abundance of fungivores, and decreased that of plant parasites. The diversity of soil nematodes was significantly increased by B1 compared to CK. Nematode trophic groups were more effectively indicative to biochar addition than total abundance.