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. Biochar is purported to provide agricultural benefits when addedto the soil, through changes in saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)and increased nutrient retention through chemical or physical means. Despiteincreased interest and investigation, there remains uncertainty regardingthe ability of biochar to deliver these agronomic benefits due todifferences in biochar feedstock, production method, production temperature,and soil texture. In this project, a suite of experiments was carried outusing biochars of diverse feedstocks and production temperatures, in orderto determine the biochar parameters which may optimize agriculturalbenefits. Sorption experiments were performed with seven distinct biocharsto determine sorption efficiencies for ammonium and nitrate. Only onebiochar effectively retained nitrate, while all biochars bound ammonium. Thethree biochars with the highest binding capacities (produced from almondshell at 500 and 800 ∘C (AS500 and AS800) and softwood at 500 ∘C (SW500)) were chosen for column experiments. Biochars wereamended to a sandy loam and a silt loam at 0 % and 2 % (w/w), and Ksatwas measured. Biochars reduced Ksat in both soils by 64 %–80 %, withthe exception of AS800, which increased Ksat by 98 % in the siltloam. Breakthrough curves for nitrate and ammonium, as well as leachatenutrient concentration, were also measured in the sandy loam columns. Allbiochars significantly decreased the quantity of ammonium in the leachate,by 22 % to 78 %, and slowed its movement through the soil profile. Ammoniumretention was linked to high cation exchange capacity and a high oxygen-to-carbon ratio, indicating that the primary control of ammonium retention inbiochar-amended soils is the chemical affinity between biochar surfaces andammonium. Biochars had little to no effect on the timing of nitrate release,and only SW500 decreased total quantity, by 27 % to 36 %. The ability ofbiochar to retain nitrate may be linked to high micropore specific surfacearea, suggesting a physical entrapment rather than a chemical binding.Together, this work sheds new light on the combined chemical and physicalmeans by which biochar may alter soils to impact nutrient leaching andhydraulic conductivity for agricultural production.

Biochar alters hydraulic conductivity and impacts nutrient leaching in two agricultural soils