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Biochar incorporation to the soil is an option to improve soil health; therefore, a number of studies carried out recently. The main expectation from biochar is improvement on soil physical properties due to its highly porous texture. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different doses (0, 1, 2 % w/w) of biochar that obtained from two pyrolysis temperatures (400 and 500 °C). The experiment is carried out for 9 weeks long which soils from each treatment sampled at every week to determine field capacity (FC), wilting point (WP) and available water content (AWC) parameters. Results revealed that biochar incorporation is improved soil water contents of soil at FC and WP, significantly; however, AWC was not as affected. Pyrolysis temperature was not significant; no differences were obtained between 400 and 500 °C. In the case of soil water content is a matter, the higher temperature application is only loss of time and energy that causes contradiction with the philosophy of biochar related research. Water holding capacity of soil at both FC and WP were improved in accordance with incubation time; however, differences in AWC results were not statistically significant. Within the incubation times, the highest values were determined at the ninth week in all three parameters as FC, WP and AWC. Thus, further researches required to predict optimum incubation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Turkey has a large amount of volcanic material, it does not have a sufficient amount of work about Andosol identification. The objectives of this study were to investigate the physical and chemical properties, weathering processes, and pedogenetic products of soils developed from Andesite/Thracyandesite on hill Cunur in Isparta. The physical and chemical properties were determined for four profiles derived from these rocks in Cunur Hill (Isparta, Turkey). The four profiles showed a surface enrichment of organic matter (1.96-5.53%), a neutral pH (5.3-6.9), and a generally low base saturation (11.35-24.91%). The low concentrations of free iron oxides (0.034-0.153% Fe) and clay (14.02-35.29%) indicate a relatively low degree of weathering. The results revealed that the amount of sand and coarse silt fractions were higher than 30% in all profiles. The bulk density is higher than 0.90 g.cm-3 in all profiles. Meanwhile, Al + ½ Fe percentages (by ammonium oxalate) are lower than 2% in all profiles. pH values in NaF are lower than 9.5 in the some profiles. Selective extraction of soil samples in all horizons yielded the following trends: Fed > Feo > Fep in profile K1, K2 and G1 and Fed > Fep > Feo in profiles G2 in addition, according to selective extraction solution of aluminum, it was found in northward profiles Alo > Ald > Alp, While in southern side profiles have Alo > Alp > Ald order. According to selective dissolution analysis, non-crystalline minerals like allophane and imogolite were not found. The only non-crystalline minerals found in great quantities Al-humus complexes and in small quantities ferrihydrite were determine. The semiarid climate and long and dry summer season of volcanic areas, a low rate of weathering, inadequate Si leaching as a result of low precipitation and also very small amount volcanic glass content of parent materials in studied soils prevents andic soil properties. The major factors determining soil genesis on Cunur Hill would appear to be climate, by affected leaching regime. Classification of the studied profiles according to Soil Taxonomy indicates an Entisol (Lithic Xerorthent). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's era artificial intelligence is quite popular, one of the most effective algorithms used is Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). In this study, the determination of soil quality using the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) model in areas where tea cultivation is carried out at the micro-watershed scale and the predictability of soil quality using ANN were evaluated. According to the results, the soil quality indices of tea-growing areas were generally classified as "medium" between 55 and 70 %. Among the evaluated features for determining soil quality, the highest relative importance value was for soil organic carbon content (13 %) and potential mineralizable nitrogen (13 %), whereas the lowest values were for exchangeable potassium (4 %) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) (4 %). In addition, when comparing the actual and predicted values for soil quality prediction using ANN, the Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (LCCC), ratio of performance to deviation (RPD), and R 2 values were found to be 0.93, 2.95, and 0.89, respectively. Significant properties for the determined values within a 90 % predicted interval were found to be organic matter, microbial biomass carbon, bulk density, and aggregate stability of the soils. Moreover, the uncertainty values (standard deviation) in the model predictions were determined to be within the range of 1.01-4.56 %. Consequently, the Soil Quality Index (SQI) obtained from the SMAF model using 12 soil properties in tea-growing areas could be accurately predicted using ANN. As a result of this study, digital maps showing the spatial distribution of SQI and the predicted uncertainties can help monitor SQI levels in this area., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)