Effect of Trichoderma viride biofertilizer on ammonia volatilization from an alkaline soil in Northern China

Abstract

Ammonia (NH3) volatilization is one of the primary pathways of nitrogen (N) loss from soils after chemical fertilizer is applied, especially from the alkaline soils in Northern China, which results in lower efficiency for chemical fertilizers. Therefore, we conducted an incubation experiment using an alkaline soil from Tianjin (pH8.37–8.43) to evaluate the suppression effect of Trichoderma viride (T. viride) biofertilizer on NH3 volatilization, and compared the differences in microbial community structure among all samples. The results showed that viable T. viride biofertilizer (T) decreased NH3 volatilization by 42.21% compared with conventional fertilizer ((CK), urea), while nonviable T. viride biofertilizer (TS) decreased NH3 volatilization by 32.42%. NH3 volatilization was significantly higher in CK and sweet potato starch wastewater (SPSW) treatments during the peak period. T. viride biofertilizer also improved the transfer of ammonium from soil to sweet sorghum. Plant dry weights increased 91.23% and 61.08% for T and TS, respectively, compared to CK. Moreover, T. viride biofertilizer enhanced nitrification by increasing the abundance of ammonium-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). The results of high-throughput sequencing indicated that the microbial community structure and composition were significantly changed by the application of T. viride biofertilizer. This study demonstrated the immense potential of T. viride biofertilizer in reducing NH3 volatilization from alkaline soil and simultaneously improving the utilization of fertilizer N by sweet sorghum.