Pedosphere 35(6): 957--970, 2025
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2025 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Fate of C and N from pretreated organic amendments in soil |
Vania Scarlet CHAVEZ-RICO1,2, Paul L. E. BODELIER3, Miriam H. A. VAN EEKERT2 , Valentina SECHI1, Valeriu CIOCAN1, Eline KEUNING4, Noé MALAGON-MENDOZA1,2, Dominic RINGLER1,2, Cees BUISMAN1,2 |
1 Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, P. O. Box 1113, Leeuwarden 8900 CC (The Netherlands);
2 Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, P. O. Box 17, Wageningen 6700 AA (The Netherlands);
3 Department of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P. O. Box 50, Wageningen 6700 AB (The Netherlands);
4 Bioclear Earth b. v., Groningen 9727 DL (The Netherlands) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Soil organic amendments (OAs) are used to replenish carbon (C) and nutrients in the soil to prevent its degradation and increase its fertility. While soil can be an important C sink, it can also release significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Different OA pretreatment technologies indirectly affect soil aggregate formation and C stabilization even when the same initial substrate is used. However, little is known about the long-term effect of OA pretreatment on the soil C and nitrogen (N) associated with macroaggregates, which are known to disintegrate faster than microaggregates. In this study, we studied the effect of OA pretreatment on soil C and N in relation to aggregate formation and GHG emissions using five differently pretreated OAs from the same original OA, i.e., composted, digested, and fermented OA, a 1:1 mix of the composted and fermented OAs, and the unpretreated original OA. We monitored the changes in a soil column experiment after 6 and 12 months of incubation. Our results indicated that OA pretreatment indirectly affected GHG emissions from soil. The composted and mixed OAs released less GHGs (i.e., carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) but had no positive impact on macroaggregates, while the digested OA induced long-lasting macroaggregation and occluded particulate organic matter formation, emitting intermediate levels of GHGs. The unpretreated OA exhibited the highest GHG emissions, similar to the fermented OA, albeit without benefiting macroaggregation. These demonstrated that OA pretreatment had a long-lasting indirect effect on soil C and N, influencing total GHG emissions, nitrous oxide formation mechanisms, and soil macroaggregate formation. |
| Key Words: ammonium oxidizer|biowaste|composting|denitrifier|digestion|fermentation|greenhouse gas emission|soil aggregate|soil fraction |
| Citation: Chavez-Rico V S, Bodelier P L E, van Eekert M H A, Sechi V, Ciocan V, Keuning E, Malagon-Mendoza N, Ringler D, Buisman C. 2025. Fate of C and N from pretreated organic amendments in soil. Pedosphere. 35(6): 957-970. |
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