The Biology of Composting: a Review

Bertoldi, M.; Vallini, Giovanni; Pèra, A.

doi:10.1177/0734242x8300100118

Cited by 470 publications

(233 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Ratio of organic carbon to total nitrogen at zero days of composting, when sheep dung was mixed with leaves of Calotropis gigantea, was 38.10 which decreased by 34.12, 44.38 and 57.35% after 30, 60 and 90 days of composting (Table-4). Reduced C:N ratio after composting was reported previously 19 . Organic carbon is being utilized by microorganisms present in compost as energy source and its reduced amount reveals decomposition of waste by microbial action 20 .…”

Section: Total Organic Carbon Total Nitrogen and C:n Ratiomentioning

confidence: 90%

Composting of Calotropis gigantea Leaves In Presence of Sheep Dung

2015

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Calotropis gigantea is a plant grown almost everywhere and has no economic use. Leaves of Calotropis gigantea plants were composted with sheep dung. Composting conditions were maintained and samples were withdrawn at 30, 60 and 90 days of composting and analysed for pH, electrical conductivity, Ca , total organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium. Results show that contents of these parameters changes with time and at 90 days nutrient rich compost is obtained with decreased concentration of chloride.

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Section: Total Organic Carbon Total Nitrogen and C:n Ratiomentioning

confidence: 90%

Composting of Calotropis gigantea Leaves In Presence of Sheep Dung

2015

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“…Animals occupy different habitats/niches and are distributed in the accumulated organic remains in accordance with their specific needs: large detritivores on larges pieces of litter at the top, smaller animals on finer material in deeper layers (Huhta et al, 1979). Animal and microbial communities are disturbed and less abundant and diversified in artificial than in natural humus systems at the beginning of the process of biodegradation but they evolve towards more complete and near-natural communities in the course of time (Huhta et al, 1979;de Bertoldi et al, 1983;Tiquia , 2005). Being continuously fed, animal and microbial communities may develop without any constraints, humifying and mineralizing large amounts of organic remains in a few months.…”

Section: Manure Humus Systems: Techno Humus Systems With Soil Createdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Humusica 2, article 16: Techno humus systems and recycling of waste

Zanella

Ponge

Guercini

et al. 2018

Applied Soil Ecology

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Techno humus systems correspond to man-made topsoils under prominent man influence. They may be purposely\ud conceived for supporting agricultural activities or dumping of waste products, sometimes abandoned to\ud an unknown evolution. Both categories needed a more scientific frame. This is the reason we classified them as\ud morpho-functional humus systems. Improving agricultural soils with organic waste products is an ancestral\ud practice. We present four examples of techno humus systems purposely created for supporting plant growth.\ud Considering a simple home-made composting pile, we give a few basic notions about the biological functioning\ud of these artificial humus systems. Humipedon functioning and structuration are similar to those observed in\ud natural humus systems. Using even animal manure, we illustrate how to manage larger compost piles of waste\ud for application in farming areas. Composting waste that contains animal proteins needs a more careful measurement\ud of the temperature of the pile and a longer period of elevated temperature in the core of the pile.\ud Mulching of pruning residues is presented in a large urban context. The use of mulch must take into account\ud quality and composition of woody material. The lack of nutrients in some residues has to be compensated by a\ud moderate use of appropriate mineral fertilizers. Municipal solid waste, anaerobic digestion residues (grape remains)\ud and spent mushroom compost, eventually mixed with mineral fertilizers, have been tested in horticulture.\ud Benefits and drawbacks are listed for each experiment, with the evolution of carbon storage along 8\ud years of horticultural practice. Finally, we present an example of “dump” humus system. Mine tailing wastes\ud represent a huge problem in many countries. Pointing on their microbial activity, we show that they must be\ud seen as manageable living humipedons, not as piles of inert rocky material

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“…The mesophilic fungi population peaked again after three weeks of composting. The fungi benefit from the decrease in temperature, pH and moisture content that take place as the process evolves, therefore the count of mesophilic fungi population stayed high until the end of the experiment [17]. A population increase of mesophilic bacteria and fungi after the bio-oxidative cycle through the curing stage was recorded by [1].…”

Section: Microbial Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Microbial Communities and Their Relationship with Enzymatic Activity during Composting

Kazemi¹,

Zhang²,

Lye³

2017

WJET

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Microbial communities and enzyme activities are the main players during municipal solid waste (MSW) composting, but the relationship between microbial communities (i.e., mesophilic and thermophilic ones) and enzyme activities (i.e., dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urea) has not been well studied. Therefore, the objective of this work is to determine the enzymes profiles during municipal solid waste (MSW) composting and study the relationship between the mesophilic and thermophilic microbial profiles and enzyme activities. MSW was composted in a bench-scale composting reactor. Parameters including temperature, oxygen uptake rate, numbers of microbial populations (mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria and fungi) and enzyme activities were measured. Results showed higher dehydrogenase activities are related to higher numbers of mesophilic bacteria, while higher phosphatase and urea activities are associated with higher numbers of thermophilic fungi and mesophilic bacteria at the later stage of composting. In addition, results of the correlation analysis indicated significant correlations among enzyme activities and microbial population.

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The Biology of Composting: a Review

Cited by 470 publications

References 16 publications

Composting of Calotropis gigantea Leaves In Presence of Sheep Dung

Composting of Calotropis gigantea Leaves In Presence of Sheep Dung

Humusica 2, article 16: Techno humus systems and recycling of waste

Assessment of Microbial Communities and Their Relationship with Enzymatic Activity during Composting

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