Soil microbial biomass, functional diversity and crop yields following application of cattle manure, hog manure and inorganic fertilizers

Abstract

Soil microbial biomass, functional diversity and crop yields following application of cattle manure, hog manure and inorganic fertilizers. . Soil biological properties can be significantly impacted by land management. Cattle manure, hog manure or inorganic fertilizers were applied annually or triennially in field trials conducted at two sites over 3 yr. A control treatment without manure or fertilizer was also included. Canola (Brassica napus) was grown in year 1, hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare) in year 2, and wheat (Triticum aestivum) in year 3. Where effects were significant, cattle manure increased soil microbial biomass C (MBC) by 26% to three-fold, hog manure by 31% to two-fold, and inorganic fertilizers reduced MBC by 20-64%. Similar effects, except the reduction by inorganic fertilizers, were observed for functional diversity of soil bacteria (Shannon index, H′). At one site, where crop yields were recorded for 3 yr, hog manure produced greater grain yields (75% increase over the control) than the rest of the treatments (49% increase by cattle manure) in year 1, but cattle manure out-yielded other treatments thereafter, when it increased yields by 25-50%. Cattle manure out-yielded other treatments even when nutrient uptake from inorganic fertilizers was the highest, implying that other factors also influenced crop yields. At the other site, crop yields were recorded only in year 1, and all soil amendments increased canola yields about three-fold relative to the control. Frequency of application usually had no effects on MBC or H′, but the triennial application rate of inorganic fertilizers or hog manure produced lower crop yields than annual applications in year 1. La gestion du sol a parfois un impact important sur les propriétés biologiques du sol. Chaque année ou une année sur trois, les auteurs ont appliqué du fumier de bovin, du fumier de porcin ou des engrais minéraux à des parcelles expérimentales située à deux endroits, pendant trois ans. L'expérience incluait aussi un traitement témoin sans amendement. La première année, on a cultivé du canola (Brassica napus), la deuxième de l'orge nue (Hordeum vulgare) et la dernière du blé (Triticum aestivum). Quand les effets sont significatifs, le fumier de bovin augmente le C de la biomasse unicellulaire dans le sol (MBC) de 26 % au triple, le fumier de porcin l'accroît de 31 % au double et les engrais minéraux la réduisent de 20 à 64 %. On observe des résultats similaires avec la diversité fonctionnelle des bactéries telluriques (indice de Shannon, H'), sauf la réduction par les engrais minéraux. Au site où le rendement des cultures a été suivi pendant trois ans, le fumier de porcin a donné un meilleur rendement grainier (hausse de 75 % par rapport à la parcelle témoin) que les autres traitements (hausse de 49 % pour le fumier de bovin) la première année, mais les résultats obtenus avec le fumier de bovin étaient meilleurs par la suite, avec une hausse du rendement de 25 à 50 %. Le fumier de bovin agit mieux que les autres traitements, même si les engrais...

Grain 15N of crops applied with organic and chemical fertilizers in a four-year rotation

“…The lower d 15 N of grain (+2.2 to +4.1&) than that of the N source (+7.9& for total N, +9.9& for NH 4 + , and +16.6& for NO 3 ) ) in the cattle manure treatment in combination with the non-significant effect of cattle manure application on grain N concentrations (Figure 1a), clearly shows the low N availability of solid cattle manure where most N was present as organic N (Table 2). Lupwayi et al (2005) also reported that the hog manure treatment resulted in higher nutrient (N, P, and K) contents in crop tissues than the cattle manure treatment in the same experimental plots as in this study. This implies that in the cattle manure treatment, a greater proportion of the crop N requirement was met by native soil N supply through mineralization, as the d 15 N (+4.1&) of total soil-N was lower than that (+7.9&) of the cattle manure applied.…”

“…The size of each plot was 3.7 m  15.2 m. Details of the study site and experimental design have been described in Lupwayi et al (2005). From the 18 treatments, we selected four treatments: (1) control without organic manure or chemical fertilizer applied (Control), (2) annual broadcast-application of hog manure (liquid) at N requirement level (Hog), (3) annual broadcastapplication of cattle manure (solid) at N requirement level (Cattle), and (4) annual application of chemical N-fertilizer (a combination of urea and ammonium phosphate) at N requirement level (Table 1) to meet crop N requirements according to soil test recommendations.…”

Nitrogen and carbon isotope responses of Chinese cabbage and chrysanthemum to the application of liquid pig manure

“…However, the difference in plant d 15 N at harvest between the synthetic and organic fertilizers was <4% in Bateman et al (2005), <2% in Georgi et al (2005), and <2% in Choi et al (2002). This pattern might have reflected differences in the availability of N in the organic input; i.e., when the organic input was in the liquid form, as was in our study and in the fertigation study of Nakano et al (2003), the difference in plant d 15 N between organic and inorganic inputs became greater than when the organic input was in the solid form, which usually have lower N availabilities than the liquid type of organic fertilizers (Lupwayi et al 2005). In a 4-year crop rotation (canola-barleywheat-canola) experiment conducted in northwestern Alberta, Canada, Choi et al (2006) also found that d 15 N in grain was greater after liquid hog manure application (d 15 N in grain ranged from +5.6 to +8.4%) than after solid cattle manure application (d 15 N in grain ranged from +2.2 to +4.1%) in spite of the higher d 15 N of N in cattle (+7.9%) than in hog manure (+5.1%).…”

Soil microbial response to wood ash or lime applied to annual crops and perennial grass in an acid soil of northwestern Alberta

“…(1 in barley rhizosphere of a similar soil (Lupwayi et al 2005). Wood ash and lime have been shown to increase soil microbial biomass and activity in other studies (Weber et al 1985;Bezdicek et al 2003;Fuentes et al 2006).…”