Wheat straw and biochar effect on soil carbon fractions, enzyme activities, and nutrients in a tobacco field

Annual removal of tobacco residues and insufficient input of organic materials have exacerbated total organic carbon (TOC) depletion and soil degradation in a tobacco field in the Huanghuai area. Straw residue and biochar application may be effective ways to increase TOC accumulation and improve soil fertility. In this field experiment, wheat straw (WS) and wheat-straw-derived biochar (BC) with mineral fertilizer were compared with mineral fertilizer alone (CK), and we assessed their effects on soil organic carbon fractions, enzyme activities, and nutrients in Shandong Province, China, during 2016 and 2017. At 0–20 cm depth, the WS treatment had a greater overall effect on the measured soil properties. Compared with the control, the WS treatment significantly increased the concentrations of microbial biomass carbon (MBC), hot-water-extractable carbon (HWC), and permanganate-oxidizable carbon concentrations (POXC; by 252.41%, 107.02%, and 65.53%, respectively); the activities of sucrase, urease, and phosphatase (by 112.52%, 7.81%, and 34.33%, respectively); and the contents of alkaline hydrolysable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium (by 92.22%, 100.78%, and 10.57%, respectively). Compared with the control, the BC treatment significantly increased TOC content, MBC content, light fraction organic carbon (LFOC), and potassium (TK) concentration (by 74.93%, 86.24%, 153.73%, and 21.92%, respectively). Most soil enzyme activity and nutrient parameters were significantly correlated with MBC. Thus, straw application improved soil fertility by increasing the concentrations of high labile organic carbon fractions (HWC, MBC, and POXC), stimulating soil enzyme activities, and releasing more soil available nutrients, and BC addition contributed to the accumulation of TOC, MBC, LFOC, and TK.