Abstract
Aim of study: This study evaluated the effect of the application of liquid aerobic treated manure (continuous liquid composting, CLC) on physical, chemical and biological soil properties, with the objective of monitoring changes induced by soil management with CLC as a biofertilizer.Area of study: Colonia, Uruguay (lat. 34,338164 S, long. 57,222630 W).Material and methods: Soil’s chemical properties, including nitrogen mineralization potential (NMP) and 15 microbiological properties (microbial biomass carbon, MBC; mesophylic aerobic bacteria; actinobacteria; filamentus fungi; fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis; dehydrogenase; with NMP; acid and alkaline phosphatase; cellulolose degraders; P-solubilizing bacteria; nitrifying; denitrifying and free-living N-fixing microorganisms; glomalin; and soil-pathogenicity index, SPI) were evaluated in two sites with similar cropping history, with one and three years of respective CLC application.Main results: CLC application had significant effects on soil microbial biomass (p<0.05), soil enzyme (p<0.1) and functional groups activity (p<0.05). SPI decreased in both sites with CLC application. No significant variations were detected for the chemical variables, with the exception of NMP, which was significantly high (p<0.05) in soil treated with CLC at both sites.Research highlights: The improved biological soil properties analyzed (MBC, soil enzyme activities and SPI, together with NMP) emerged as reasonable indicators to assess and monitor the effects of CLC application.
Highlights
In order to achieve a sustainable agriculture, it is necessary to reduce the need for mineral fertilization input
No significant variations were detected for the chemical variables, with the exception of N-mineralization potential (NMP), which was significantly high (p
This research provides insight into how microbial communities function and how composition responds to a short-term (S1y) and long-term (S3y) application of CLC
Summary
In order to achieve a sustainable agriculture, it is necessary to reduce the need for mineral fertilization input. The total or partial replacement of mineral fertilizer with organic amendments is a good practice to solve the problems of the excessive use of mineral fertilizer while improving physical and chemical soil properties, carbon stocks and soil biodiversity (Gattinger et al, 2012; Sradnick et al., 2013). The application of manure and compost on Adriana Montañez, Natalia Rigamonti, Silvana Vico, Carla Silva, Lucía Nuñez and Stella Zerbino agricultural lands has shown a positive increase in water and nutrient retention, nutrient cycling, carbon transformation, soil biodiversity, soil structure and soil aggregation while enhancing soil organic matter content (Treonis et al, 2010; Nair & Ngouajio, 2012) and suppressing soil-borne pathogens (Zaccardelli et al., 2013). Manure is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon
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