The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations

Soil microbial biomass interactions influencing the mineralisation of N in biosolids-amended agricultural soil were investigated under field conditions in two soil types, a silty clay and a sandy silt loam, with contrasting organic matter contents. Soil treatments included: dewatered raw sludge (DRA...

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Main Authors: Rigby, Hannah, Perez-Viana, F., Cass, J., Rogers, M., Smith, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC 2009
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15862
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author Rigby, Hannah
Perez-Viana, F.
Cass, J.
Rogers, M.
Smith, S.
author_facet Rigby, Hannah
Perez-Viana, F.
Cass, J.
Rogers, M.
Smith, S.
author_sort Rigby, Hannah
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Soil microbial biomass interactions influencing the mineralisation of N in biosolids-amended agricultural soil were investigated under field conditions in two soil types, a silty clay and a sandy silt loam, with contrasting organic matter contents. Soil treatments included: dewatered raw sludge (DRAW); dewatered and thermally dried, mesophilic anaerobically digested biosolids (DMAD and TDMAD, respectively); lime-treated unstabilised sludge cake (LC); and NH4Cl as a mineral salt control for measuring nitrification kinetics. Soil mineral N and microbial biomass N (MBN) concentrations were determined over 90 days following soil amendment. Despite its lower total and mineral N contents, TDMAD had a larger mineralisable pool of N than DMAD, and was an effective rapid release N source. Increased rates of mineralisation and nitrification of biosolids-N were observed in the silty clay soil with larger organic matter content, implying increased microbial turnover of N in this soil type compared with the sandy silt loam, but no significant difference in microbial immobilisation of biosolids- N was observed between the two soil types. Thus, despite initial differences observed in the rates of N mineralisation, the overall extent of N release for the different biosolids tested was similar in both soil types. Therefore, the results suggest that fertiliser guidelines probably do not need to consider the effect of soil type on the release of mineral N for crop uptake from different biosolids products applied to temperate agricultural soils.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-158622017-09-13T16:01:26Z The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations Rigby, Hannah Perez-Viana, F. Cass, J. Rogers, M. Smith, S. Soil microbial biomass interactions influencing the mineralisation of N in biosolids-amended agricultural soil were investigated under field conditions in two soil types, a silty clay and a sandy silt loam, with contrasting organic matter contents. Soil treatments included: dewatered raw sludge (DRAW); dewatered and thermally dried, mesophilic anaerobically digested biosolids (DMAD and TDMAD, respectively); lime-treated unstabilised sludge cake (LC); and NH4Cl as a mineral salt control for measuring nitrification kinetics. Soil mineral N and microbial biomass N (MBN) concentrations were determined over 90 days following soil amendment. Despite its lower total and mineral N contents, TDMAD had a larger mineralisable pool of N than DMAD, and was an effective rapid release N source. Increased rates of mineralisation and nitrification of biosolids-N were observed in the silty clay soil with larger organic matter content, implying increased microbial turnover of N in this soil type compared with the sandy silt loam, but no significant difference in microbial immobilisation of biosolids- N was observed between the two soil types. Thus, despite initial differences observed in the rates of N mineralisation, the overall extent of N release for the different biosolids tested was similar in both soil types. Therefore, the results suggest that fertiliser guidelines probably do not need to consider the effect of soil type on the release of mineral N for crop uptake from different biosolids products applied to temperate agricultural soils. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15862 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2009.00240.x WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC restricted
spellingShingle Rigby, Hannah
Perez-Viana, F.
Cass, J.
Rogers, M.
Smith, S.
The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
title The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
title_full The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
title_fullStr The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
title_full_unstemmed The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
title_short The influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
title_sort influence of soil and biosolids type, and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids-amended agricultural soils - implications for fertiliser recommendations
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15862