Organic amendments improved soil properties and native plants’ performance in an Australian degraded land

Jonas Larsen; Mehran Rezaei Rashti; Maryam Esfandbod; Chengrong Chen

Just Accepted

This article has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. It is in production and has not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.

Organic amendments improved soil properties and native plants’ performance in an Australian degraded land

Jonas Larsen, Mehran Rezaei Rashti , Maryam Esfandbod, Chengrong Chen

Abstract

Context. Land degradation poses a substantial threat to both the sustainable environment and human health. Efforts towards rehabilitation and remediation of degraded lands often require addition of soil amendments and careful selection of plant species. Aims. This study assessed the effect of recycled organic amendments on improvement of soil physicochemical properties and performance of native plant species in an Australian degraded soil. Methods. A glasshouse pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of compost (CO), biochar (BC), and compost-biochar (COBC) mixture on performance of three native Australian plant species [Eucalyptus tereticornis (EU), Acacia leiocalyx (AC), and Banksia integrifolia (BA)] in a degraded soil. Key results. Application of all (CO, BC, and COBC) organic amendments increased soil dissolved organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon contents compared to the control treatment. The COBC amendment increased nutrient retention and reduced CO2 emissions compared to CO amendment. The BC amendment also resulted in low CO2 emissions similar to the control treatment, where no significant differences were observed. The AC outperformed the EU and BA species in biomass production due to its leguminous nature, with amendment application had an insignificant effect on AC performance. Within the EU treatments, the COBC:EU demonstrated the highest biomass production, followed by CO:EU, BC:EU, and CK:EU, respectively. Conclusion. All amendments exhibited overall improvements in soil and plant parameters, with more significant outcomes observed with COBC application. However, the observed improvements from biochar application were minimal in this short-term experiment, which may not have allowed for the manifestation of long-term benefits. Implications. Further research is warranted to investigate the effects of compost and biochar amendments on diverse soil types and native plant species.

SR22252 Accepted 20 April 2024