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Using Ancient Practices To Fix Modern Problems: The Effect Of Biochar On Einkorn Wheat And Soil Quality, Sarah L. Miller
Using Ancient Practices To Fix Modern Problems: The Effect Of Biochar On Einkorn Wheat And Soil Quality, Sarah L. Miller
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
As farmland soils become more and more depleted, the importance of effective soil amendments grows. Biochar is a potential soil and carbon amendment that could improve water and nutrient holding capacity and foster growth of beneficial microbes and fungi. Biochar does not contain nutrients but acts like a sponge, absorbing nutrients around it. It is so effective at holding nutrients that in the first year, if applied alone, it can make the nutrients unavailable to plants and lowers crop yields. To get the best results biochar must be saturated, also referred to as inoculated or charged, with nutrients. Once the …
Compost Land Management And Soil Carbon Sequestration, Kylene A. Hohman
Compost Land Management And Soil Carbon Sequestration, Kylene A. Hohman
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Extensive fossil fuel burning has released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Under proper ecological conditions plants convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into stable soil organic matter, a natural and efficient means of mitigating climate change. In the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizae and plants, mycorrhizae provide plants with essential nutrients in exchange for carbon sugars leaked from the plants. Mycorrhizae convert carbon sugars to an exudate called glomalin, a protein that assists in developing soil aggregates composed of sand, silt, and clay. These aggregates, called humus, store carbon for hundreds of years under healthy ecological conditions. Compost prompts soil microbes to aerobically …