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Eight‐Year Cattle Manure Amendment Alters Chemical and Biochemical Properties of Eroded Mollisols
Author(s) -
Chen YiMin,
Sui YueYu,
Jiao XiaoGuang,
Liu XiaoBing
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2016.06.0378
Subject(s) - mollisol , manure , soil carbon , agronomy , fertilizer , environmental science , total organic carbon , soil quality , amendment , sucrase , chemistry , environmental chemistry , soil science , soil water , biology , political science , law , biochemistry , enzyme
Core Ideas Chemical and biochemical properties of eroded Mollisols were determined to assess the amending of the effect of organic manure on eroded Mollisols. Organic manure in combination with NPK increased soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, but C/N ratios changed irregularly. Organic manure in combination with NPK increased all biochemical indicators selected in eroded Mollisols. Combination of organic manure and chemical fertilizers is recommended to amend eroded Mollisols.Soil chemical and biochemical properties are important indicators in assessing soil quality. To investigate the effect of manure application on eroded Mollisols, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N ratio, and potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), urease activity, and sucrase activity were determined after 8‐yr application of cattle manure in combination with chemical fertilizers in a soil erosion simulation facility by removing the topsoil by 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 cm in a typical Mollisols region in China. All parameters except C/N ratio showed a declining trend with the increasing of erosion depth. Soil organic C, TN, PMN, MBC, urease activity, and sucrase activity were 11 to 23, 5 to 9, 5 to 16, 11 to 19, 18 to 32 and 13 to 37% higher under the chemical fertilizer + manure treatment than the chemical fertilizer alone plots, respectively. The C/N ratios did not change significantly with the increase of erosion depth, but they were also 5 to 17% higher in the chemical fertilizer + manure treatment than that in the chemical fertilizer alone treatment. Eight‐year application of cattle manure in combination with chemical fertilizers improved soil quality of eroded Mollisols, but was not good enough to restore the fertility of eroded Mollisols to that of non‐eroded soils.