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Biosolids amendments improve an anthropogenically disturbed urban turfgrass system
Author(s) -
Badzmierowski Mike J.,
Evanylo Gregory K.,
Ervin Erik H.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.1002/csc2.20151
Subject(s) - biosolids , agronomy , festuca arundinacea , environmental science , fertilizer , irrigation , soil water , biomass (ecology) , soil conditioner , soil quality , poaceae , biology , environmental engineering , soil science
Rehabilitating anthropogenically disturbed soils is vital to restore soil functionality and improve plant growth. Biosolids can be used to improve such soils and increase soil organic C (OC) stocks, but repeated applications of such organic byproducts may result in excess soil P. Here, we present further data that complete the observations for a 5‐yr study (September 2013–October 2018) conducted on an anthropogenic soil tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) system. This study compared the effects of irrigation strategies (with or without irrigation during summer heat stress) and soil amendments (annual applications of biosolids products and a conventional synthetic fertilizer) for improving soil properties and tall fescue health. Biosolids amendments applied at the agronomic N rate (ANR) reduced soil bulk density at the 0‐ to 5‐cm depth by 33–53% and at the 5‐ to 10‐cm depth by 4–9% relative to synthetic fertilizer. Soil OC in the top 10 cm increased from 1.74 to 13.6 g OC kg −1 (i.e., +682%) over the 5‐yr period for the conventionally fertilized tall fescue, and larger gains were observed in the biosolids treatments. Repeated applications of biosolids amendments at the ANR increased total P concentrations; however, biosolids containing high Fe concentrations did not increase water‐soluble P compared with biosolids applied at the agronomic P rate (APR) and synthetic fertilizer after 5 yr. Biosolids amendments applied at the ANR improved tall fescue visual quality (maintained acceptable quality 86–92% of the time), clipping biomass, and leaf tissue N accumulation ( P < .05).