Impacts of organic matter amendments on urban soil carbon and soil quality: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Organic matter amendment application is an important avenue of beneficial waste diversion and is used to improve soil quality in agricultural and urban settings. In urban regions, amendments are used to support local food production, maintain vegetation for landscaping and recreational use, and reclaim disturbed soils. Urban regions generate large quantities of wasted organic resources for potential application aiding in creating a circular nutrient economy. There is a growing interest in understanding the effects of amendments such as compost, biosolids, and biochar on soil properties in agricultural settings. Gaps remain, however, in assessing their effects in urban land uses. We conducted a literature review to assess the effects of compost, biochar, and biosolids on soil carbon and soil quality of urban soils managed for gardening, landscaping, recreation, and reclamation. Application of organic matter amendments led to an average increase of 3.6 units of soil organic matter% (SOM%). Compost and biochar improved SOM% the most, by 3.1 and 6.5 units of SOM%, respectively. Biosolids resulted in the smallest increase in SOM% but had greater nutrient benefits than other amendments. Parameters related to chemical and physical soil quality improved with the application of amendments. Gaps in the literature remain, such as assessing urban gardens, soil to depths greater than 30 cm, and the persistence of SOM in amended soils. This meta-analysis proposes that organic matter amendments are a powerful means to improve soil quality in urban regions, provide vital cobenefits to surrounding communities, and increase soil carbon storage.