Biochar Addition to a Southeastern Coastal Sand

ISTRO 18th Triennial Conference Proceedings, June 15-19, 2009 Izmir-TURKEY T4 - 010 - 1 Biochar Addition to a Southeastern USA Coastal Sand to Decrease Soil Strength and Improve Soil Quality Warren BUSSCHER, Jeff NOVAK, Mohamed AHMEDNA Coastal Plains Soil... More

ISTRO 18th Triennial Conference Proceedings, June 15-19, 2009 Izmir-TURKEY T4 - 010 - 1 Biochar Addition to a Southeastern USA Coastal Sand to Decrease Soil Strength and Improve Soil Quality Warren BUSSCHER, Jeff NOVAK, Mohamed AHMEDNA Coastal Plains Soil Water and Plant Research Center, Florence, SC, USA and North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro, NC, USA, Corresponding Author: warren. busscher@ars. usda. gov Abstract:Southeastern USA coastal plain soils are sandy, compacted, and exposed to a subtropical environment; they are low in organic carbon and have little aggregation. In the past, increasing organic carbon to decrease compaction and improve aggregation has been ineffective because organic matter vanishes within a few months in the warm, wet environment. However, organic carbon in the form of charcoal or biochar is recalcitrant having remained in tropical Amazonian soils for centuries. In a lab experiment, we added non-activated biochar to the Ap horizon of a Norfolk loam Less