Abstract
Compost prepared using pruning material (PM) contains a higher amount of mineralizable carbon (C) than conventional compost, readily causing nitrogen (N) immobilization in soil due to the multiplication of microorganisms and subsequently likely causing N starvation for plant growth inhibition. However, organic matter mineralization in soil is affected by soil microbial activity, which correlates with the total C and N contents. Therefore, we hypothesized that application of PM compost to different fertility soils have different effects on plant growth depending on soil microbial activity. Using an incubation experiment, we found that the application of PM compost had a priming effect in forest soil and subsoil, causing N immobilization in both soils. However, the period of N immobilization depended on soil microbial activity, being shorter when the soil microbial activity was higher. To test the effects of PM compost on plant growth, we grew komatsuna (Brassica rapa L. var. perviridis LH Bailey) in different soils with equal applications of PM compost for 1 month. We found that PM compost application significantly inhibited plant growth in the subsoil (P < 0.05), but significantly accelerated plant growth in the forest soil (P < 0.05), suggesting that different effects are observed on plant growth in soils with different microbial activities. In conclusion, these findings indicate that the application of PM compost to soil can accelerate plant growth in soils with high microbial activities, but can inhibit plant growth in soils with low microbial activities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benito M, Masaguer A, De Antonio R, Moliner A (2005) Use of pruning waste compost as a component in soilless growing media. Bioresour Technol 96:597–603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.06.006
Blagodatskaya E, Khomyakov N, Myachina O, Bogomolova I, Blagodatsky S, Kuzyakov Y (2014) Microbial interactions affect sources of priming induced by cellulose. Soil Biol Biochem 74:39–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.02.017
Boldrin A, Andersen JK, Moller J, Christensen TH, Favoino E (2009) Composting and compost utilization: accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contributions. Waste Manag Res 27:800–812. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242x09345275
Cambardella CA, Richard T, Russell A (2003) Compost mineralization in soil as a function of composting process conditions. Eur J Soil Biol 39:117–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1164-5563(03)00027-x
Chen R, Senbayram M, Blagodatsky S, Myachina O, Dittert K, Lin X, Blagodatskaya E, Kuzyakov Y (2014) Soil C and N availability determine the priming effect: microbial N mining and stoichiometric decomposition theories. Glob Change Biol 20:2356–2367. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12475
Dempster D, Gleeson D, Solaiman ZI, Jones D, Murphy D (2012) Decreased soil microbial biomass and N mineralisation with Eucalyptus biochar addition to a coarse textured soil. Plant Soil 354:311–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1067-5
Deng Q, Cheng X, Hui D, Zhang Q, Li M, Zhang Q (2016) Soil microbial community and its interaction with soil C and nitrogen dynamics following afforestation in central China. Sci Total Environ 541:230–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.09.080
Doane TA, Horwath WR (2003) Spectrophotometric determination of nitrate with a single reagent. Anal Lett 36:2713–2722. https://doi.org/10.1081/al-120024647
He Z, Alva A, Yan P, Li Y, Calvert D, Stoffella P, Banks D (2000) Nitrogen mineralization and transformation from composts and biosolids during field incubation in a sandy soil. Soil Sci 165:161–169. https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-200002000-00007
Henriksen T, Breland T (1999) Nitrogen availability effects on C mineralization, fungal and bacterial growth, and enzyme activities during decomposition of wheat straw in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1121–1134. https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-200002000-00007
Hobbie SE (2015) Plant species effects on nutrient cycling: revisiting litter feedbacks. Trends Ecol Evol 30:357–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.03.015
Ichikawa T, Ichikawa A, Urakwa R (2008) A simple method of measuring of microbial activities in organic matter using a FDA (Fluorescein diacetate) hydrolysis. Jpn Soc For Environ 50:175–177. https://doi.org/10.7211/jjsrt.26.337 (in Japanese)
Japanese Meteorological agency (2019) The Meteorological agency HP. https://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/index.php. Accessed 17 July 2019
Kaye JP, Hart SC (1997) Competition for nitrogen between plants and soil microorganisms. Trends Ecol Evol 12:139–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(97)01001-X
Liu E, Takahashi T (2019) Carbon mineralization characteristics of compost made from pruning material. Landsc Ecol Eng 15:1860–1871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-018-00369-0 ((Print) 1860-188X (Online))
Liu E, Takahashi T, Liu C (2016) The effect of compost made from pruning materials and traditional compost on soil chemical properties. For Environ Sci 32:68–72. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-4427.2016.02.013 (in Chinese)
LóPez-GonzáLez JA, LóPez MJ, Vargas-García MC, Suáez-Estrella F, Jurado M, Moreno J (2013) Tracking organic matter and microbiota dynamics during the stages of lignocellulosic waste composting. Bioresour Technol 146:574–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.07.122
López-González JA, Suárez-Estrella F, Vargas-García MC, LópezM MJ, Jurado M, Moreno J (2015) Dynamics of bacterial microbiota during lignocellulosic waste composting: studies upon its structure, functionality and biodiversity. Bioresour Technol 175:406–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.123
Mulvaney RL (1996) Nitrogen-inorganic forms. In: Methods of soil analysis part 3-chemical methods. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 1123–1184
Riffaldi R, Saviozzi A, Levi-Minzi R (1996) C mineralization kinetics as influenced by soil properties. Biol Fertil Soils 22:293–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003740050114
Sakai M (2019) Nitrogen cycle. In: Inubushi K (ed) Soil biological chemical science. Asakusa Publishing Co. Ltd, Tokyo, pp 66–74 (in Japanese)
Smith J, Papendick R, Bezdicek D, Lynch J (1993) Soil organic matter dynamics and crop residue management. Soil microbial ecology. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 65–95
Takahashi T, Iizumi K, Hirano M, Hirano Y, Matsuda H (2009) Soil improvement by mixing with woody compost in crop land. J Jpn Soc Reveg Technol 35:194–197. https://doi.org/10.7211/jjsrt.35.194 (in Japanese)
Takahashi T, Kanbara D, Ishii M, Ogino J, Harada H, Yairo H, Yamada T, Torigoe A (2014) Estimation of C dynamics in decomposition of pruning material. Landsc Res Jpn Online 7:17–19. https://doi.org/10.5632/jilaonline7.17 (in Japanese)
Teutscherova N, Vazquez E, Santana D, Navas M, Masaguer A, Benito M (2017) Influence of pruning waste compost maturity and biochar on c dynamics in acid soil: incubation study. Eur J Soil Biol 78:66–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2016.12.001
Thiessen S, Gleixner G, Wutzler T, Reichstein M (2013) Both priming and temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition depend on microbial biomass—an incubation study. Soil Biol Biochem 57:739–748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.10.029
Toda H, Haibara K (1999) Effects of C properties on characteristics of nitrogen mineralization in forest soil of Kanto region, Japan. Jpn J For Environ 41:59–66. https://doi.org/10.18922/jjfe.41.2_59
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(90)90148-s
Zhang L, Sun X, Tian Y, Gong X (2013) Effects of brown sugar and calcium superphosphate on the secondary fermentation of green waste. Bioresour Technol 131:68–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.10.059
Zimmerman AR, Gao B, Ahn MY (2011) Positive and negative C mineralization priming effects among a variety of biochar-amended soils. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1169–1179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.02.005
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Agora Landscape Architecture Corporation for providing PM compost. We would like to acknowledge the professional support provided by Prof. Tatsuaki Kobayashi and Akira Kato of Chiba University for their advice. We are also thankful to Mr. Hitomi Takuya for his assistance during the experiment. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, E., Takahashi, T. & Hitomi, T. Effect of pruning material compost on the nitrogen dynamic, soil microbial biomass, and plant biomass in different soil types. Landscape Ecol Eng 15, 413–419 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-019-00392-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-019-00392-9