Effects of conocarpus biochar on hydraulic properties of calcareous sandy soil: influence of particle size and application depth

A laboratory column experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of 400°C biochar at application rate of 15 g kg−1 (21.9 t ha−1) with different particle sizes (<0.5 mm (S1), 0.5–1 mm (S2) and 1–2 mm (S3)) and application depths (0–2 cm depth (D0), 4–6 cm depth (D5) and 8–10 cm depth (D10)) on hydro-physical properties of sandy loam soil. The results indicated that applying biochar decreased the waterfront and saturated hydraulic conductivity of sandy loam soil. The cumulative evaporation was the highest and amounted to 40.9 mm in the non-treated soil, but it recorded the lowest amount of 32.2–35.5 mm in the biochar-treated soil. Applying biochar caused significant increases in the amount of conserved and retained water with the highest amount of water conserved in soil treated with S2 biochar at D5. Moreover, the cumulative water infiltration through the soil was significantly reduced by S1 and S2 biochars at D0. The values of saturated hydraulic conductivity for biochar treatments were significantly lower than those for the control, with the lowest values for S1 at D0 and D5. These results suggest positive improvement for the hydro-properties of coarse-textured soils following biochar addition, especially with finer particles of biochar.