Abstract
Application of animal manures for soil amendment plays a major role in the improvement of soil properties and enzymatic activities of a degraded Ultisol. This study assessed the effects of poultry manure (PM) and swine manure (SM) on the activities of catalase and urease enzymes and some soil properties. The PM and SM were applied at the rate of 30 t ha–1 each on experimental plots arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Soil samples were collected at day 0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70 and 84 from 0-15 and 15-30 cm depths and analyzed for catalase and urease enzymes and some soil properties using standard procedures. The results showed increase in soil pH (in H2O) from 4.0 to 5.4 following manure application. At 0-15 cm soil depth, PM and SM recorded 28.1 and 28.8% increases in soil pH (in H2O), respectively. Soil organic carbon was highest (2.6 g kg–1) at 0-15 cm depth for soil amended with SM while the lowest value of 1.1 g kg–1was obtained at 15-30 cm depth for soil unamended with SM. In PM-amended soil, catalase activities ranged from 1.32 to 6.77 mg g–1 while its activities in SM-treated soil significantly (p < 0.05) varied between 1.55 and 8.11 mg g–1. Urease showed ranges of 0.72-3.90 mg g–1 and 0.96-4.71 mg g–1 in PM-amended and SM-treated soils, respectively. The results uphold that animal manures improve soil properties and are enzymatically controlled.
Highlights
Soil quality is the ability of the soil to perform functions required for the need of the people and the environment
Poultry manure was higher in pH, organic matter and available phosphorus
Swine manure recorded higher amount of total nitrogen, organic carbon and CN ratio. By this higher CN ratio, the rate of mineralization is expected to be lower in the soil amended with swine manure relative to the soil amended with poultry manure (Azam, 2002; Uzoh et al, 2015)
Summary
Soil quality is the ability of the soil to perform functions required for the need of the people and the environment. These functions are well-defined by the soil physico-chemical and biological properties of soil. Soil is vital in organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and water retention and release. Soil amendments such as animal manures contribute to increases in biological activity as well as to improvements in fertility of the soil. The enzymes involved in decomposition of animal manures are bioindicators and are regarded as a measure of soil quality because of their relation with the cycling of soil minerals and biochemicals in soils (Buturuga et al, 2016)
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