Abstract
Composting is an environmentally friendly way to turn plant and animal wastes into organic fertilizers. However, it is unclear to what extent the source of animal waste products (such as manure) affects the physicochemical and microbiological properties of compost. Here, we experimentally tested how the type of livestock manure of herbivores (sheep and cattle) and omnivores (pig and chicken) influences the bacterial and fungal communities and physicochemical properties of compost. Higher pH, NO3-N, Total carbon (TC) content and C/N were found in sheep and cattle manure composts, while higher EC, NH4-N, Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) content were measured in pig and chicken manure composts. Paired clustering between herbivore and omnivore manure compost metataxonomy composition was also observed at both initial and final phases of composting. Despite this clear clustering, all communities changed drastically during the composting leading to reduced bacterial and fungal diversity and large shifts in community composition and species dominance. While Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi were the major phyla in sheep and cattle manure composts, Firmicutes dominated in pig and chicken manure composts. Together, our results indicate that feeding habits of livestock can determine the biochemical and biological properties of manures, having predictable effects on microbial community composition and assembly during composting. Manure metataxonomy profiles could thus potentially be used to steer and manage composting processes.
Highlights
Livestock manure has become one of the main causes of non-point source environmental pollution due to continuous expansion of livestock and poultry breeding industry (Sun et al, 2012)
The initial compost metataxonomy composition is important because it affects the proliferation of mesophilic microbiota which are responsible for the rapid rise of composting temperature (De Gannes et al, 2013) and creation of a suitable environment for the secondary microorganisms during composting (Ryckeboer et al, 2003)
Higher pH, NO3-N, Total carbon (TC) contents and C/N were found in sheep and cattle manure composts, while higher EC, NH4-N, Total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents were observed in pig and chicken manure composts both at the initial and final phase of composting (Supplementary Table 1)
Summary
Livestock manure has become one of the main causes of non-point source environmental pollution due to continuous expansion of livestock and poultry breeding industry (Sun et al, 2012). As a biological decomposition process, composting relies on the activity of a diverse set of microbes that are important drivers of the depolymerization of organic matter (Xi et al, 2015). While the succession of microbial communities during different composting stages have been studied extensively (Nakasaki et al, 2005; Jiang et al, 2019), there is less information on how the initial manure metataxonomy composition affects composting. The initial compost metataxonomy composition is important because it affects the proliferation of mesophilic microbiota which are responsible for the rapid rise of composting temperature (De Gannes et al, 2013) and creation of a suitable environment for the secondary microorganisms during composting (Ryckeboer et al, 2003). Information on the initial manure metataxonomy profiles could potentially be used to predict and manage the composting process
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