Journal Article

Biochar and compost effects on soil microbial communities and nitrogen induced respiration in turfgrass soils

Crowley, David, McGiffen, Milton E., Hale, Lauren, Montgomery, Jonathan, Azeem, Muhammad

2020

Overview

We examined the effect of a labile soil amendment, compost, and recalcitrant biochar on soil microbial community structure, diversity, and activity during turfgrass establishment. Two application rates of biochar (B1 at 12.5 t ha -1 and B2 at 25 t ha -1 ), a 5 centimeter (cm) green waste compost treatment (CM) in top soil, a treatment with 12.5 t ha -1 biochar and 5 cm compost (B1+CM), and an unamended control (CK) treatment were prepared and seeded with tall fescue. Overall, results of phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) profiling and Illumina high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes amplified from soil DNA revealed significant shifts in microbial community structures in the compost amended soils whereas in biochar amended soils communities were more similar to the control, unamended soil. Similarly, increases in enzymatic rates (6–56%) and nitrogen-induced respiration (94%) were all largest in compost amended soils, with biochar amended soils exhibiting similar patterns to the control soils. Both biochar and compost amendments impacted microbial community structures and functions, but compost amendment, whether applied alone or co-applied with biochar, exhibited the strongest shifts in the microbial community metrics examined. Our results suggest application of compost to soils in need of microbiome change (reclamation projects) or biochar when the microbiome is functioning and long-term goals such as carbon sequestration are more desirable.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Bacteria / Bacteria - genetics / Bacteria - isolation & purification / Biology and Life Sciences / Biomass / Carbon / Carbon sequestration / Charcoal / Charcoal - chemistry / Community structure / Composition / Compost / Composting / Composting - methods / Composts / Deoxyribonucleic acid / DNA / DNA sequencing / Earth Sciences / Ecology and Environmental Sciences / Environmental aspects / Environmental science / Experiments / Fatty acids / Fungi / Fungi - genetics / Fungi - isolation & purification / Hydrogen-Ion Concentration / Loam soils / Microbial activity / Microbial colonies / Microbiological research / Microbiomes / Microbiota / Microorganisms / Next-generation sequencing / Nitrogen / Nitrogen - chemistry / Phospholipids / Physical Sciences / Physiological aspects / Plant sciences / Poaceae - growth & development / Poaceae - metabolism / Reclamation / Respiration / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - chemistry / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - metabolism / rRNA 16S / Soil - chemistry / Soil amendment / Soil fertility / Soil Microbiology / Soil microorganisms / Soil structure / Soil treatment / Soils / Turfgrasses / Waste treatment