Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching

Co-application of biochar and biosolids to soil has potential to mitigate N leaching due to physical and chemical properties of biochar. Changes in N cycling pathways in soil induced by co-application of biological amendments could further mitigate N loss, but this is largely unexplored. The aim of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shanmugam, Sanjutha, Jenkins, Sasha N., Mickan, Bede S., Md Jaafar @ Ahmad Jaafar, Noraini, Mathes, Falko, Solaiman, Zakaria M., Abbott, Lynette K.
Format: Article
Published: Nature Research 2021
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96416/
_version_ 1848862360309071872
author Shanmugam, Sanjutha
Jenkins, Sasha N.
Mickan, Bede S.
Md Jaafar @ Ahmad Jaafar, Noraini
Mathes, Falko
Solaiman, Zakaria M.
Abbott, Lynette K.
author_facet Shanmugam, Sanjutha
Jenkins, Sasha N.
Mickan, Bede S.
Md Jaafar @ Ahmad Jaafar, Noraini
Mathes, Falko
Solaiman, Zakaria M.
Abbott, Lynette K.
author_sort Shanmugam, Sanjutha
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Co-application of biochar and biosolids to soil has potential to mitigate N leaching due to physical and chemical properties of biochar. Changes in N cycling pathways in soil induced by co-application of biological amendments could further mitigate N loss, but this is largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine whether co-application of a biochar and a modified biosolids product to three pasture soils differing in texture could alter the relative abundance of N cycling genes in soil sown with subterranean clover. The biosolids product contained lime and clay and increased subterranean clover shoot biomass in parallel with increases in soil pH and soil nitrate. Its co-application with biochar similarly increased plant growth and soil pH with a marked reduction in nitrate in two coarse textured soils but not in a clayey soil. While application of the biosolids product altered in silico predicted N cycling functional genes, there was no additional change when applied to soil in combination with biochar. This supports the conclusion that co-application of the biochar and biosolids product used here has potential to mitigate loss of N in coarse textured soils due to N adsoption by the biochar and independently of microbial N pathways.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T13:15:47Z
format Article
id upm-96416
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-15T13:15:47Z
publishDate 2021
publisher Nature Research
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-964162023-01-26T02:02:29Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96416/ Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching Shanmugam, Sanjutha Jenkins, Sasha N. Mickan, Bede S. Md Jaafar @ Ahmad Jaafar, Noraini Mathes, Falko Solaiman, Zakaria M. Abbott, Lynette K. Co-application of biochar and biosolids to soil has potential to mitigate N leaching due to physical and chemical properties of biochar. Changes in N cycling pathways in soil induced by co-application of biological amendments could further mitigate N loss, but this is largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine whether co-application of a biochar and a modified biosolids product to three pasture soils differing in texture could alter the relative abundance of N cycling genes in soil sown with subterranean clover. The biosolids product contained lime and clay and increased subterranean clover shoot biomass in parallel with increases in soil pH and soil nitrate. Its co-application with biochar similarly increased plant growth and soil pH with a marked reduction in nitrate in two coarse textured soils but not in a clayey soil. While application of the biosolids product altered in silico predicted N cycling functional genes, there was no additional change when applied to soil in combination with biochar. This supports the conclusion that co-application of the biochar and biosolids product used here has potential to mitigate loss of N in coarse textured soils due to N adsoption by the biochar and independently of microbial N pathways. Nature Research 2021 Article PeerReviewed Shanmugam, Sanjutha and Jenkins, Sasha N. and Mickan, Bede S. and Md Jaafar @ Ahmad Jaafar, Noraini and Mathes, Falko and Solaiman, Zakaria M. and Abbott, Lynette K. (2021) Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching. Scientific Reports, 11. art. no. 955. 2045 - 2322. ISSN 2045-2322 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78843-9 10.1038/s41598-020-78843-9
spellingShingle Shanmugam, Sanjutha
Jenkins, Sasha N.
Mickan, Bede S.
Md Jaafar @ Ahmad Jaafar, Noraini
Mathes, Falko
Solaiman, Zakaria M.
Abbott, Lynette K.
Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
title Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
title_full Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
title_fullStr Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
title_full_unstemmed Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
title_short Co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial N cycling genes and potential for N leaching
title_sort co-application of a biosolids product and biochar to two coarse-textured pasture soils influenced microbial n cycling genes and potential for n leaching
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96416/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96416/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96416/