Abstract
The combination of biochar (BC) with compost has been suggested to be a promising strategy to promote plant growth and performance, but although “synergistic” effects have been stated to occur, full-factorial experiments are few, and explicit tests for synergism are lacking. We tested the hypothesis that a combination of BC and spent mushroom substrate (SMS) has a positive synergistic effect on plant growth and physiological performance in a nutrient-limited growing media. A greenhouse experiment with a full factorial design was conducted using mixed-wood BC (3.0 kg·m−2) and SMS (1.5 kg·m−2) (the combination was not co-composted) as organic soil amendments for the annual Abutilon theophrasti and the perennial Salix purpurea. Several measurements related to plant growth and physiological performance were taken throughout the experiment. Contrary to the hypothesis, we found that the combination of BC + SMS had neutral or antagonistic interactive effects on many plant growth traits. Antagonistic effects were found on maximum leaf area, above- and belowground biomass, reproductive allocation, maximum plant height, chlorophyll fluorescence, and stomatal conductance of A. theophrasti. The effect on S. purpurea was mostly neutral. We conclude that the generalization that BC and compost have synergistic effects on plant performance is not supported.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
BC plus SMS had neutral or antagonistic interactions for many plant growth traits.
- Taxon
- Abutilon theophrasti
Abutilon theophrastie1 - Treatment
- BC + SMSe0
- Outcome
- plant growth traitse0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the combination of BC + SMS had neutral or antagonistic interactive effects on many plant growth traits”
e1“Abutilon theophrasti and the perennial Salix purpurea”
Claim · model-written summary
BC and SMS interacted antagonistically on maximum leaf area, biomass and plant height in A. theophrasti.
- Taxon
- A. theophrastiAbutilon theophrastie0
- Treatment
- BC + SMSe1
- Outcome
- maximum leaf area, above- and belowground biomasse0
- Direction
- Antagonistice0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Antagonistic effects were found on maximum leaf area, above- and belowground biomass, reproductive allocation, maximum plant height, chlorophyll fluorescence, and stomatal conductance of A. theophrasti”
e1“combination of BC + SMS”
Claim · model-written summary
BC and SMS interacted antagonistically on reproductive allocation in A. theophrasti.
- Taxon
- A. theophrastiAbutilon theophrastie0
- Treatment
- BC + SMSe1
- Outcome
- reproductive allocatione0
- Direction
- Antagonistice0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Antagonistic effects were found on maximum leaf area, above- and belowground biomass, reproductive allocation, maximum plant height, chlorophyll fluorescence, and stomatal conductance of A. theophrasti”
e1“combination of BC + SMS”
Claim · model-written summary
BC and SMS interacted antagonistically on chlorophyll fluorescence and stomatal conductance in A. theophrasti.
- Taxon
- A. theophrastiAbutilon theophrastie0
- Treatment
- BC + SMSe1
- Outcome
- chlorophyll fluorescence, and stomatal conductancee0
- Direction
- Antagonistice0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Antagonistic effects were found on maximum leaf area, above- and belowground biomass, reproductive allocation, maximum plant height, chlorophyll fluorescence, and stomatal conductance of A. theophrasti”
e1“combination of BC + SMS”
Claim · model-written summary
The interaction of BC and SMS on S. purpurea was mostly neutral.
- Taxon
- S. purpurea
Salix purpureae0 - Treatment
- BC + SMSe1
- Outcome
- effect on S. purpureae0
- Direction
- mostly neutrale0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The effect on S. purpurea was mostly neutral”
e1“combination of BC + SMS”
The same questions in other papers
growing medium · growth · Abutilon theophrasti (velvetleaf)Positive and negative results
3 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.