Impact of application of organic waste materials on microbial and enzyme activities of mine soils in the Lusatian coal mining region

Abstract

The objective of the present work was to study the short-term stimulation of microbial and enzyme activity in mine soils by application of organic waste materials in lysimeter and mesocosm studies. The mine soils derived from tertiary and quaternary deposits were ameliorated with brown coal filter ash (tertiary deposits) and lime (quaternary deposits). At the beginning of recultivation the soils were treated with varying amounts of sewage sludge, coal sludge, composted sewage sludge and compost to a depth of 30 cm. In the first 2 years after application of organic waste materials we found a very low level of microbial properties especially in the sandy materials from quaternary deposits but a significant increase in microbial respiration, substrate induced respiration and enzyme activities like invertase and alkaline phosphatase with increasing application rates of sewage sludge, compost and sewage sludge mixed with coal sludge. This can be explained by an increase in organic matter and nutrient content of the soils and an improvement of soil physical properties such as water and nutrient retention capacity. Additionally it can be assumed, that constituents of the coal admixtures of tertiary deposits can be mineralised or converted by the soil microorganisms. In the tertiary materials ameliorated with brown coal ash the highest amounts of microbial and enzyme activities were measured after application of nitrogen-rich sewage sludge or very high amounts of mature compost mainly consisting of green waste. Compared with sewage sludge the stimulating effects of composted sewage sludge were quite lower because of organic matter fragmentation and a reduced energy and nutrient supply to soil microorganisms.