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Mendonça MDS, Melo WJD, Melo GMPD, Bertipaglia LMA, Araujo ASF, Reis IMS, Rocha SMB, Nogueira TAR, Abreu-Junior CH, Jani AD. Açai seed biochar improves soil quality and black pepper seedling development in the Amazon region. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 367:121752. [PMID: 39067341 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2024] [Revised: 06/21/2024] [Accepted: 07/04/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Sustainable management of the Amazon rainforest is fundamental for supporting life on earth because of its crucial role in sequestering carbon. One of the species grown in the forest is açaí (Euterpe oleracea), which is an important food and income source for its inhabitant. The acai seed, resulting from the processing of the fruit, is a solid organic residue, which has been an agent of undesirable environmental impacts such as natural landscape modifications, clogging sewers and water courses, eutrophication of surface waters. In this research, we evaluated the use of wood chips as a source of energy in a rustic oven to produce acai biochar so that family farmers carry out sustainable management of the residue and use biochar to improve soil quality and produce seedlings of native plants to regenerate degraded forests. The experiment was conducted in Pará, Brazil, Amazon region, using a randomized complete block design. A factorial treatment structure was implemented consisting of four biochar particle sizes (3, 5, 7, and 12 mm), 4 application rates (4, 8, 16, and 32 t ha-1), and a biochar-free control, with 5 replications. The results showed that the methodology for biochar production was easy to apply and low cost, allowing its use by family farmers. The combination of biochar rate and particle size affected soil properties and the development of black pepper seedlings in different ways. The soil properties affected were water retention capacity, moisture, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis and arylsulphatase activity. The growth parameters of the affected black pepper seedlings were height and root system development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wanderley José de Melo
- São Paulo State University, UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil; Brasil University, Descalvado, SP, Brazil.
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Baronti S, Montagnoli A, Beatrice P, Danieli A, Maienza A, Vaccari FP, Casini D, Di Gennaro SF. Above- and below-ground morpho-physiological traits indicate that biochar is a potential peat substitute for grapevine cuttings nursery production. Sci Rep 2024; 14:17185. [PMID: 39060320 PMCID: PMC11282078 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67766-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The growing demand for grapevine planting materials, due to growing global viticulture, is promoting research studies to improve vineyard sustainability. In greenhouse nurseries, peat is the most common growing medium component used although is an expensive and non-renewable material. Indeed, the reduction of peat exploitation is receiving great attention, and currently, several materials are being investigated as peat substitutes for composing the cultivation substrates. Biochar, a carbon-rich, recalcitrant charred organic co-product of the pyrolysis or gasification process, has emerged as a potentially promising replacement for soilless substrates in nursery plant material propagation. Although several studies carried out at greenhouse nurseries have shown that biochar, can improve plant growth, only a few studies have focused on the production of grapevine plant material. To fulfil this knowledge gap and push forward the sustainability of the nursery sector, we evaluated above and below-ground morpho-physiological traits of one-year-old potted grapevine cuttings growing with 30% volume of four different biochar types (i.e., from pyrolysis and gasification) mixed with commercial peat. The present study shows that biochar can be used in growing media mixes without adverse effects on roots, improves soil water retention and leaf water potential, and improves the effects on soil microbiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Baronti
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council (IBE CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy
| | - A Montagnoli
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council (IBE CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, University of Insubria, Via Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy
| | - P Beatrice
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, University of Insubria, Via Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy.
| | - A Danieli
- Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, University of Insubria, Via Dunant, 3, 21100, Varese, Italy
| | - A Maienza
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council (IBE CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy
| | - F P Vaccari
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council (IBE CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy
| | - D Casini
- RE-CORD-Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration, Viale Kennedy, 182, 50038, Scarperia e San Piero, FI, Italy
| | - S F Di Gennaro
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council (IBE CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy
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Dalle Fratte M, Montagnoli A, Anelli S, Armiraglio S, Beatrice P, Ceriani A, Lipreri E, Miali A, Nastasio P, Cerabolini BEL. Mulching in lowland hay meadows drives an adaptive convergence of above- and below-ground traits reducing plasticity and improving biomass: A possible tool for enhancing phytoremediation. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:1062911. [PMID: 36523619 PMCID: PMC9746715 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1062911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
We aimed to understand the effect of mulching (i.e., cutting and leaving the crushed biomass to decompose in situ) on above- and below-ground plant functional traits and whether this practice may be a potential tool for enhancing the phytoremediation of lowland hay meadows. To this aim, we evaluated at the community level seven years of mulching application in a PCBs and HMs soil-polluted Site of National Interest (SIN Brescia-Caffaro) through the analysis of the floristic composition and the above- and below-ground plant traits. We found that the abandonment of agricultural activities led to a marked increase in the soil organic carbon and pH, and the over-imposed mulching additionally induced a slight increase in soil nutrients. Mulching favored the establishment of a productive plant community characterized by a more conservative-resource strategy, a higher biomass development, and lower plasticity through an adaptative convergence between above- and below-ground organs. In particular, the analysis of the root depth distribution highlighted the key role of roots living in the upper soil layer (10 cm). Mulching did not show a significant effect on plant species known to be effective in terms of PCB phytoremediation. However, the mulching application appears to be a promising tool for enhancing the root web that functions as the backbone for the proliferation of microbes devoted to organic contaminants' degradation and selects a two-fold number of plant species known to be metal-tolerant. However, besides these potential positive effects of the mulching application, favoring species with a higher biomass development, in the long term, may lead to a biodiversity reduction and thus to potential consequences also on the diversity of native species important for the phytoremediation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Dalle Fratte
- Department of Biotechnologies and Life Sciences (DBSV), University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Antonio Montagnoli
- Department of Biotechnologies and Life Sciences (DBSV), University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Simone Anelli
- Ente Regionale per i Serivizi all’Agricoltura e alle Foreste della Lombardia (ERSAF), Milan, Italy
| | | | - Peter Beatrice
- Department of Biotechnologies and Life Sciences (DBSV), University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Alex Ceriani
- Department of Biotechnologies and Life Sciences (DBSV), University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Elia Lipreri
- Municipality of Brescia - Museum of Natural Sciences, Brescia, Italy
| | - Alessio Miali
- Department of Biotechnologies and Life Sciences (DBSV), University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Paolo Nastasio
- Ente Regionale per i Serivizi all’Agricoltura e alle Foreste della Lombardia (ERSAF), Milan, Italy
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Adaptation of the Root System to the Environment. FORESTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/f13040595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
The plant fine roots system (i [...]
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