The effect on earthworm abundance and selected soil properties after 14 years of solid cattle manure and NPKMg fertilizer application

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Estevez ◽  
Adrien N’Dayegamiye ◽  
Daniel Coderre
Keyword(s):  
Biological Activity ◽  
Structural Stability ◽  
N Mineralization ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Cattle Manure ◽  
Manure Application ◽  
Water Stable Aggregates ◽  
Earthworm Populations

Long-term manure application could increase soil earthworm abundance in cultivated soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of 14 yr (1977–1991) of manure and NPKMg fertilizer on earthworm populations, soil structural stability, N mineralization (NO3) and biological activity (CO2) on a Le Bras clay loam (Humic Gleysol) situated at St-Lambert, Quebec. The field experiment, in a split-plot design, consisted of two manure rates (0 Mg, 20 Mg ha−1) as principal treatments with secondary treatments receiving mineral fertilizer (NPKMg) and a control. These treatments were carried out over a 4-yr crop rotation of silage corn, (Zea mays L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and canola (Brassica campestris L.). Soil and earthworm sampling was done in fall 1991 under corn. Compared to mineral fertilizer treatment, long-term application of manure increased earthworm populations. However the interaction between the treatments of mineral fertilizer and of manure was not significant. Of the earthworms extracted by formalin and hand sorting, Aporrectodea genus was dominant in soil, representing 98–100% of the population. Several Allolobophora chlorotica and Lumbricus juveniles from the genus Lumbricus were found only in manured plots. Soil water stable aggregates and biological activity (CO2) were both increased by manure application. Mineral fertilizer application had no significant effect. A strong correlation was obtained only between earthworm abundance and biological activity (CO2). The results indicate that 14 yr application of solid cattle manure improved soil earthworm populations and diversity, biological activity (CO2) and structural stability compared to fertilizer treatments and the control. Key words: Earthworms, Aporrectodea turgida, manure, mineral fertilizer, organic matter, biological activity (CO2), N mineralization potential (NO3), water-stable aggregates

Protected organic matter in water-stable aggregates as affected by mineral fertilizer and manure applications

1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Aoyama ◽  
D. A. Angers ◽  
A. N'Dayegamiye ◽  
N. Bissonnette
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Aggregate Size ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Labile Organic Matter ◽  
Manure Application ◽  
Total N ◽  
Water Stable Aggregates ◽  
C And N

Effects of long-term (18-yr) applications of cattle manure (20 Mg ha−1 yr−1) and NPK fertilizer on the labile organic matter (OM) and its protection in water-stable aggregates were investigated in a Le Bras silt loam (Humic Gleysol). Soil from the 0- to 10-cm depth was sampled from the untreated control, NPK, manure and NPK + manure treatments and fractionated into four size classes of slaking-resistant aggregates (>1000 µm, 250–1000 µm, 53–250 µm, <53 µm). Intact and crushed macroaggregates (250–1000 and >1000 µm) and intact microaggregates (<250 µm) were incubated for 21 d at 25 °C, and mineralized C and N were determined. The amount of mineralized C in intact aggregates increased with increasing aggregate size irrespective of the agronomic treatments, but there was no consistent trend for total N. Manure application led to an increase in mineralized C in most aggregate fractions. Crushing the macroaggregates enhanced mineralization of C by 14 to 35% and N by 17 to 103%. Additional C and N rendered mineralizable by crushing represents a fraction of the macroaggregate-protected OM. Manure application increased the protected pools of C (up to threefold) and N (up to fourfold) located in the small macroaggregates (250–1000 µm). In contrast, NPK fertilization increased the pool of macroaggregate-protected N by 2.5-fold but had no effect on the protected C. We conclude that manure application contributed to the accumulation of macroaggregate-protected C and N, whereas mineral fertilizers increased the protected-N pool only. Macroaggregates can provide a mechanism for the protection of labile soil OM in an annually tilled cropping system and this mechanism is enhanced with long-term manure application. Key words: Aggregate-protected organic matter, manure application, mineralization, mineral fertilizer, water-stable aggregates

Long-term effects of fertilizers and manure application on the forms and availability of soil phosphorus

1995 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Sen Tran ◽  
Adrien N’dayegamiye
Keyword(s):  
Soil Phosphorus ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
P Uptake ◽  
Cattle Manure ◽  
Organic P ◽  
Manure Application ◽  
Soil P ◽  
P Fertilizer ◽  
Labile P

Long-term application of cattle manure and fertilizer can affect the forms and availability of soil phosphorus. This cumulative effect was evaluated on Le Bras silt loam (Humic Gleysol) cultivated with silage corn (Zea mays L.). In this long-term trial, treatments were arranged in a split-plot design, with dairy cattle manure applied at 0 and 20 Mg ha−1 as the main factor. The subplots consisted of six fertilizer treatments (NK, PK, NP, NPK, NPKMg and the unfertilized check). Fertilizer rates for silage corn were 150, 100, 150 and 40 kg ha−1 N, P205, K20 and Mg, respectively. The N fertilizer rate was reduced to 100 kg N ha−1 in manured plots. Soil inorganic P (Pi) and organic P (Po) fractions were sequentially extracted by resin, NaHCO3, NaOH, HCl and a final H2SO4 wet digestion of the residue. On average, labile P extracted by resin and NaHCO3 represented 17% of the total P (Pt); moderately labile NaOH-Pi and Po more than 40%; and stable P 36%. Application of manure and fertilizers increased significantly resin-, NaHCO3-, NaOH-Pi and Pt. However, NaOH-Po was decreased by P fertilizer application in NPK and NPKMg treatments, while long-term manure application maintained this Po pool in the soil. Stable P fractions were not affected by fertilization or by manuring. In all 6 yr of the study, P uptake by silage corn was significantly increased both by long-term N and P fertilizer application and also by manure incorporation. Phosphorus uptake by corn was highly related to all labile and moderately labile Pi fractions and Pt. Long-term application of dairy manure at a rate of 20 t ha−1 increased soil Pi forms and maintained Po fractions. Key words: Inorganic labile P, organic P, soil-P fractionation, P uptake, silage corn

scholarly journals Influence of long-term mineral fertilization on metal contents and properties of soil samples taken from different locations in Hesse, Germany

SOIL ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Czarnecki ◽  
R.-A. Düring
Keyword(s):  
Cation Exchange ◽  
Cation Exchange Capacity ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
Metal Contents

Abstract. Essential and non-essential metals occur in soils as a result of weathering, industrial processes, fertilization, and atmospheric deposition. Badly adapted cultivation of agricultural soils (declining pH value, application of unsuitable fertilizers) can enhance the mobility of metals and thereby increase their concentrations in agricultural products. As the enrichment of metals in soils occurs over long time periods, monitoring of the long-term impact of fertilization is necessary to assess metal accumulation in agricultural soils. The main objective of this study was to test the effects of different mineral fertilizer variations on soil properties (pH, Corg, and cation exchange capacity (CEC)) and pseudo-total and mobile metal contents of soils after 14 years of fertilizer application and to determine residual effects of the fertilization 8 years after cessation of fertilizer treatment. Soil samples were taken from a field experiment which was carried out at four different locations (210, 260, 360, and 620 m above sea level) in Hesse, Germany. During the study, a significant decrease in soil pH and an evident increase in soil carbon content and cation exchange capacity with fertilization were determined. The CEC of the soils was closely related to their organic C contents. Moreover, pseudo- and mobile metal (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Zn) contents in the soils increased due to application of 14 years of mineral fertilizer treatments (N, P, NP, and NPK) when compared to control plots. Eight years after termination of the fertilization in the soil samples taken from soil profiles of the fertilized plots (NPK) for monitoring the residual effects of the fertilizer application, a decrease of 82.6, 54.2, 48.5, 74.4, and 56.9% in pseudo-total Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn contents, respectively, was determined.

Nitrogen mineralization in soil from perennial grassland measured through long-term laboratory incubations

2002 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. COLLINS ◽  
D. W. ALLINSON
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Mineralization ◽  
N Mineralization ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
Mineralization Potential ◽  
Perennial Grassland ◽  
N Mineralization Potential

Under perennial grasslands, nitrogen contained in organic matter becomes available at varying rates via mineralization throughout the growing season. The amount of N present at any given time indicates only the quantity immediately present, and does not include N which has already been removed either by leaching or uptake into the plant system, nor the N which will become available as organic matter breaks down over time. Long-term aerobic laboratory incubation methods have been used successfully to estimate potential N mineralization under various cropping conditions. They had not been used successfully, however, to estimate potential N availability under perennial grassland.In this research, soil samples from two long-term perennial grassland sites were taken before and after N fertilizer application at rates of 0, 175, 350 and 525 kg/ha. The soils were incubated in the laboratory at 35 °C and were eluted at 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 22 and 30-week intervals, the length of time prescribed for determining N mineralization potential. Because a plateau had not been reached, incubation was allowed to continue for 198 weeks and 148 weeks for the pre- and post-N samples, respectively. Total N was high, as was soil organic matter in both sets of soil samples. Nitrogen mineralization potential was underestimated after 30 weeks of incubation, and overestimated after 148 weeks. The closest agreement between N measured and the estimated N mineralization potential, came after 198 weeks of incubation. This study confirmed the high N-supplying capacity of soil under long-term perennial grasslands. It also indicated that the recommended 30-week period needed to estimate N mineralization potential under other cropping systems was insufficient for a perennial grassland soil. Cumulative differences in N mineralization were found with varying rates of N fertilizer application, but these differences were rarely seen on an individual weekly basis, nor were they significant at the termination of the experiment. The response to N application differed by site.

Effet à long terme d'apports d'engrais minéraux et de fumier sur les teneurs en C et en N des fractions densimétriques et des agrégats du loam limoneux Le Bras

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N'Dayegamiye ◽  
M. Goulet ◽  
M. R. Laverdière
Keyword(s):  
N Mineralization ◽  
Size Fraction ◽  
Aggregate Size ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Microbial Biomass N ◽  
Organic Residues ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Size Fractions ◽  
C And N

Long-term mineral fertilizer applications could reduce organic matter (OM) levels in soil if coupled with crop rotations with low organic residues inputs. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the C and N contents in whole soil, in densimetric OM fractions and in different aggregate size fractions of a Le Bras silt loam (Humic Gleysol). The treatments were arranged in a split-plot design, with dairy cattle manure applied at 0 and 20 Mgha−1 as the main factor. The subplots consisted of six fertilizer treatments (NK, PK, NP, NPK, NPKMg and the unfertilized check). The four year rotation included silage corn, (Zea mays L.) silage corn, wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgaris L.). Contrary to mineral fertilizer, long-term manure applications significantly increased the C content in whole soil and also in the light and heavy fractions of OM (Fl and Fd). Mineral fertilizer significantly increased the C and N contents only in Fl. Moreover, manure application also increased the weight of the 5–8 mm aggregate size fraction and the C and N content in the 5–8 mm, 2–5 mm, 1–2 mm and 0,25–1 mm aggregate size fractions, compared to mineral fertilizer alone. In manured plots, soil C biomass, microbial respiration (CO2) and N mineralization (NO3) levels increased by 30% compared with mineral fertilizer treatments. Results of this study demonstrate the important effect of manure applications on C and N enrichment in soil and also on soil macroaggregation and biological activity. To maintain optimal C and N levels in soil and to favour soil macroaggregation, long-term mineral fertilizer application should be combined with crops in rotations which ensure high organic residues returns to soils. Key words: Macroaggregation, microbial biomass, N mineralization, long-term, light fraction, heavy fraction

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