Nitrogen and carbon mineralization rates of 19 manure and compost samples were determined in 1996, with an additional 12 samples evaluated in 1997. These organic amendments were mixed with a soil: sand blend at 2% by dry weight and the amended blends were incubated at constant moisture for 12 (1996) or 24 weeks (1997) at 25 °C. Net N mineralization was measured at 4- (1996) or 8-week (1997) intervals, C mineralization at 4-week intervals in 1997. Pots of the amended blends were also seeded with fescue (Festuca arundinacea Shreb.) and watered, but not fertilized, for 17 (1996) or 18 weeks (1997); N phytoavailability was estimated from fescue biomass N and mineral N in pot leachate. An average of 16%, 7%, and 1% of organic N was mineralized in 12 weeks of incubation in 1996, and an average of 15%, 6%, and 2% in 24 weeks of incubation in 1997, in manure, manure compost, and plant residue compost, respectively. Overall, N recovery in the fescue assay averaged 11%, 6%, and 2% of total amendment N for manure, manure compost, and plant residue compost, respectively. Mineralization of manure C averaged 35% of initial C content in 24 weeks, while compost C mineralization averaged only 14%. Within 4 (compost) or 16 weeks (manure), the rate of mineralization of amendment C had declined to a level similar to that of the soil organic C.

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The rate of N mineralization from 35 samples of manure or compost was estimated by both aerobic laboratory incubation and lath house pot studies at Davis, Calif., in 1996–97. Each manure and compost sample was mixed at 2% by dry weight with a 1 loam soil: 1 coarse sand blend. The amended soil blends were moisture equilibrated under 0.025-MPa pressure then incubated aerobically at constant moisture at 25 °C for 3 (1996) or 6 months (1997); subsamples were collected monthly (1996) or bimonthly (1997) for mineral N determination. Four-liter pots were also filled with the amended soil blends and seeded with fescue (Festuca arundinacea). The pots were watered but not fertilized for 16 (1996) or 18 (1997) weeks in a lath house at ambient summer conditions. N mineralization from the pot study was calculated from total fescue biomass N plus mineral N from pot leachate, minus those quantities in pots of the unamended soil blend. N mineralization rate estimates from the two techniques were highly correlated (r2 = 0.79). Green waste composts typically mineralized <5% of total N, manure composts 5% to10%, and manures (poultry, dairy, and feedlot) 7% to 20%. After 4 months of incubation, N mineralization rate (expressed as percent of total N per month) from the composts and manures was similar to that of the unamended soil blend.