Adsorption and Desorption of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Soil Buffering Capacity Following Application of Chicken Litter Biochar to an Acid Soil
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Manuscript No.: applsci-638753-peer-review-v1
Title: Adsorption and desorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and soil buffering capacity following application of chicken litter biochar to an acid soil
General comments: Present manuscript brings very interesting data on macronutrients sorption kinetics in biochar amended soil which could be crucial to increase the fertility of soils. However the biochar application could pose very serious environment threats because trace elements could be accumulated in a biochar same true the persistent organic pollutants (mainly PAHs) form during the pyrolysis of organic matter. The amended soil by biochar should be analysed for the trace elements such as As, Cd, Ni, Pb etc. and organic pollutants mentioned above. How the obtained results in your study could be used in a soil fertility management should be discussed. The conclusion part is weak and should be more ambitious.
Specific comments:
L21: Explain the abbreviation first.
L44: Check again the citation rules in the guide for authors.
L49: Figure 1 caption: same as above.
L63: Difference between absorption and adsorption should be introduced.
L88: Describe hypotheses and aims of the present study more properly and clearly.
L100: Why the pH was measured using 1:2 ratio in water solution? More common is using 1:5 in CaCl2 solution.
L101: How was the OM determined by LECO system?
L166: Why exactly these portions were designed?
L329: qm (m rewrite as an index)
L346: The conclusion section seems like a paragraph from the discussion.
Table 1: How many replicates were used? Add a standard deviation.
Table 2: These are mean values?
Table 3: All the variables should be explained.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
This manuscript reports an investigation of chicken litter biochar (CLB) on absorption/desorption of nutrition and as an effective soil amendment agent. Lower N desorption but higher N adsorption property of the chicken litter biochar indicated that N can be temporary fixed by this organic amendment. The experimental design and statistical analysis were properly performed with respect to main objectives of the study. Also, conclusions were clearly supported by results. Therefore, I would recommend publication of this manuscript after following minor revision.
1- Extensive English revision required.
2- Abstract must be re-written. The present version can be confusing to some readers, primarily due to its poor English. What does CEC stand for? Also, the authors must use CLB abbreviation consistently throughout the manuscript. The manuscript body is much better written as compared to the abstract.
Author Response
Please see attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
