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Degradation of soil quality, especially soil acidification, restricts the sustainable management of moso bamboo forest. A 10-year pH monitoring study was carried out in Zhejiang Province, China. The soil acidification rate of moso bamboo forests was quantified by experiments. The results showed that the natural acidification rate of soil was 0.011 pH year−1. The average acidification rate of long-term application of nitrogen fertilizers reached 0.082 pH year−1, which was 7.5 times of that of non-fertilization control. Sequential chemical extraction for metals (Cu, Pb) revealed that the content of each fraction in fertilized soil was higher than that of the non-fertilization control. Potential mobility and bioavailability of metal ions (Cu, Pb) are greatly increased by soil acidification. The result of this research could provide valuable reference for nutrient management and sustainable management of moso bamboo forest. Attention should be paid to heavy metal pollution caused by the change of soil properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed to research the impacts of different biochars(0,1%,2%,4%), including maize biochar and phytolacca root biochar, on rape growth and the soil Cu availability in the Cu-contaminated red soil via a series of pot experiments. The results showed that, compared with the control, the addition of two kinds of biochars could increase the biomass of the rape. In low Cu-contaminated red soil, added 4% maize biochar and phytolacca root biochar increased the biomass by 21.2 times and 67.9 times; however, the biomass were increased by 8.6 times and 109.6 times under high Cu-contaminated soil. The addition of phytolacca root biochar could increase the soil pH significantly, which has been increased by 0.4~1.6 units with the addition of phytolacca root biochar in low Cu-contaminated red soil, and it had 0.25~1.35 units more than that with maize biochar; In high Cu-contaminated red soil, with the addition of phytolacca root biochar, soil pH was increased by 0.33~1.52 units, which was 0.3~1.25 units higher than maize biochar. There was a significant effect on reducing the soil Cu availability with the addition of the two biochars. Among them, 4% addition of maize biochar and phytolacca root biochar could reduce soil available Cu content by 21.9% and 45.2% in low Cu-contaminated soil, however, it was decreased by 41.9% and 53.8% in high Cu-contaminated soil. Both of the two biochars were able to reduce the Cu accumulation in rape, where there was a decrease by 21.2% and 67.8% with he addition of 4% maize biochar and phytolacca root biochar under low Cu-contaminated soil, and it was decreased by 19.9% and 66.8% in high Cu-contaminated soil respectively. Both of the biochars could ameliorate the acidity and Cu availability in the red soil, enhance the biomass of the rape and reduce the Cu accumulation in rape, but phytolacca root biochar had more effective influence than maize biochar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]