Impact of biochar addition on water use efficiency, biological nitrogen fixation and growth of understory Acacia leiocalyx and Acacia Disparimma in a suburban native forest of subtropical Australia
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Bai, SH
Kichamu-Wachira, E
Xu, Z
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
Purpose: This study evaluated the responses of water use efficiency (WUE), biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and growth of understory Acacia leiocalyx and A. disparimma to the biochar addition and prescribed burning for 9–22 months in a suburban native forest of subtropical Australia. Materials and methods: Foliar and surface soil (0–10 cm) samples were collected from two understory species of acacia (A. leiocalyx and A. disparimma) and reference plants (Eucalyptus psammitica) shortly before biochar application at 0, 5 and 10 t ha−1 and at 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 months after biochar application or 22 months after prescribed burning. Soil and plant samples were analysed to determine total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N) and C and N isotope compositions (δ13C and δ15N). Plant growth was measured in the first 9 months after biochar application. Results and discussion: Foliar total N was significantly higher (P < 0.05) for A. leiocalyx than A. disparimma 9 months after biochar application, while foliar total N was significantly lower at 6 months after biochar application for A. disparimma. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in BNF between A. leiocalyx and A. disparimma at all the sampling times. The BNF of A. disparimma was significantly higher at 2 months after biochar application than those of A. leiocalyx, while the lower BNF was found in A. leiocalyx at 3 months after biochar application. The BNF ranged from 52.4 to 78.7% for A. leiocalyx and from 65.0 to 84.2% for A. disparimma at 2 months after biochar application. The WUE, as reflected in foliar δ13C, was higher for A. disparimma than that of A. leiocalyx at 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 months after biochar application. There was a significantly higher plant growth for A. leiocalyx than that of A. disparimma when biochar was applied at 10 t ha−1, while the lowest height was found in the control without biochar application. Conclusions: Biochar application improved foliar total N, BNF and growth of understory acacia species in the first 9 months of biochar application in the suburban native forest of subtropical Australia. Both acacia species showed an improved foliar total N, BNF, δ13C and δ15N after biochar application at the 3 and 9 months after biochar addition compared with those of the control.
Journal Title
Journal of Soils and Sediments
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Item Access Status
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Soil sciences
Terrestrial ecology
Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences
Earth sciences
Environmental sciences
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Taresh, S; Bai, SH; Kichamu-Wachira, E; Xu, Z, Impact of biochar addition on water use efficiency, biological nitrogen fixation and growth of understory Acacia leiocalyx and Acacia Disparimma in a suburban native forest of subtropical Australia, Journal of Soils and Sediments, 2025