In the current study, we conducted a field experiment using the test plant, Brassica chinesis L. (pak choi), to investigate the effect of sugarcane bagasse-derived biochar on the bioavailability of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb), and the health of soil microbiota in a contaminated soil. Biochar application significantly (P < 0.05) increased pak choi yield. Bioavailability of heavy metals to plant shoots and roots decreased with increasing biochar application rates (at 0, 1.5, 2.25 and 3.0 t ha-1). Sequential extraction of the biochar-treated and -untreated soil revealed that exchangeable Cd reduced whereas organically-bound fraction increased with increasing biochar rate. The labile fractions of Cu and Pb decreased, but the residual fraction increased in biochar-treated soils compared to the control. Urease, catalase and invertase activities, and the populations of bacteria and actinomycetes were significantly enhanced, whereas fungi population declined in biochar-treated soils. This study highlights that sugarcane bagasse biochar has the potential to support the remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals, and as such can improve the yield and quality of agricultural crops.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 10. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 March 2018.
All research outputs
#3,884,444
of 28,815,917 outputs
Outputs from Chemosphere
#1,051
of 14,925 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#67,535
of 350,554 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Chemosphere
#19
of 234 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 28,815,917 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 85th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 14,925 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 350,554 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 234 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.
