Abstract
In this study, the influence of 10 years’ continuous application of organic manure at various rates combined with chemical fertilizer on microbial residues was evaluated in a highly fertile temperate soil. The presence and origin of microbial residues were indicated by amino sugar analysis. The treatments were: (1) CK, unfertilized control; (2) OM0, only chemical fertilizer, no manure added; (3) OM1, organic manure added at 7.5 Mg ha−1 year−1 plus chemical fertilizer; (4) OM2, organic manure added at 15 Mg ha−1 year−1 plus chemical fertilizer; and (5) OM3, organic manure added at 22.5 Mg ha−1 year−1 plus chemical fertilizer. Fertilization significantly increased the total amino sugar concentrations, especially in the plots with higher manure addition rates (OM2 and OM3 plots, P < 0.05). This suggests a positive effect of organic manure combined with chemical fertilizer on the accumulation of microbial residues in soil. However, the highest manure rate (OM3) did not lead to further increase in the total amino sugar pool as compared with the moderate manure rate (OM2). This suggests manure addition “saturates” in its effect on microbial residue build-up. The different patterns of individual amino sugars suggest a change in the quality of microbial-derived soil organic matter after 10 years.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albiach R, Canet R, Pomares F, Ingelmo F (2001) Organic matter components and aggregate stability after the application of different amendment to a horticultural soil. Bioresour Technol 76:125–129
Amelung W (2001) Methods using amino sugars as markers for microbial residues in soil. In: Lal R, Kimble JM, Follett RF, Stewart BA (eds) Assessment methods for soil carbon. Lewis, Boca Raton, pp 233–272
Amelung W, Zhang X, Flach KW, Zech W (1999) Amino sugars in native grassland soils along a climosequence in North America. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:86–92
Amelung W, Miltner A, Zhang X, Zech W (2001) Fate of microbial residues during litter decomposition as affected by minerals. Soil Sci 166:598–606
Amelung W, Lobe I, Du Preez CC (2002) Fate of microbial residues in sandy soils of the South African Highveld as influenced by prolonged arable cropping. Eur J Soil Sci 53:29–35
Amelung W, Brodowski S, Sandhage-Hofmann A, Bol R (2008) Combining biomarker with stable isotope analyses for assessing the transformation and turnover of soil organic matter. Adv Agron 100:155–250
Carpenter-Boggs L, Kennedy AC, Reganold JP (2000) Organic and biodynamic management: effects on soil biology. Soil Sci Soc Am J 64:1651–1659
Chander K, Joergensen RG (2001) Decomposition of 14C glucose in two soils with different levels of heavy metal contamination. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1811–1816
Chantigny MH, Angers DA, Prévost D, Vézina LP, Chalifour FP (1997) Soil aggregation and fungal and bacterial biomass under annual and perennial cropping systems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 61:262–267
Chaparro JM, Sheflin AM, Manter DK, Vivanco JM (2012) Manipulating the soil microbiome to increase soil health and plant fertility. Biol Fertil Soils 48:489–499
Christensen BT (1988) Effects of animal manure and mineral fertilizer on the total carbon and nitrogen contents of soil size fractions. Biol Fertil Soils 5:304–307
Ding X, Zhang X, He H, Xie H (2010) Dynamics of soil amino sugar pools during decomposition processes of corn residues as affected by inorganic N addition. J Soils Sediments 10:758–766
Ding X, Zhang B, Zhang X, Yang X, Zhang X (2011) Effects of tillage and crop rotation on soil microbial residues in a rainfed agroecosystem of northeast China. Soil Tillage Res 114:43–49
Ding X, Han X, Liang Y, Qiao Y, Li L, Li N (2012) Changes in soil organic carbon pools after 10 years of continuous manuring combined with chemical fertilizer in a Mollisol in China. Soil Tillage Res 122:36–41
Engelking B, Flessa H, Joergensen RG (2007) Shifts in amino sugar and ergosterol contents after addition of sucrose and cellulose to soil. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2111–2118
Esperschütz J, Gattinger A, Mäder P, Schloter M, Fließbach A (2007) Response of soil microbial biomass and community structures to conventional and organic farming systems under identical crop rotations. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 61:26–37
Ferreras L, Gomez E, Toresani S, Firpo I, Rotondo R (2006) Effect of organic amendments on some physical, chemical and biological properties in a horticultural soil. Bioresour Technol 97:635–640
Fließbach A, Mäder P (2000) Microbial biomass and size-density fractions differ between soils of organic and conventional agricultural systems. Soil Biol Biochem 32:757–768
Fließbach A, Oberholzer HR, Gunst L, Mäder P (2007) Soil organic matter and biological soil quality indicators after 21 years of organic and conventional farming. Agric Ecosyst Environ 118:273–284
Glaser B, Turrión MB, Alef K (2004) Amino sugars and muramic acid-biomarkers for soil microbial community structure analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 36:399–407
Guggenberger G, Frey SD, Six J, Paustian K, Elliott ET (1999) Bacterial and fungal cell-wall residues in conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:1188–1198
He H, Zhang W, Zhang X, Xie H, Zhuang J (2011) Temporal responses of soil microorganisms to substrate addition as indicated by amino sugar differentiation. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1155–1161
Jimenez MP, Horra AM, Pruzzo L, Palma RM (2002) Soil quality: a new index based on microbiological and biochemical parameter. Biol Fertil Soils 35:302–306
Joergensen RG, Wichern F (2008) Quantitative assessment of the fungal contribution to microbial tissue in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2977–2991
Joergensen RG, Anderson TH, Wolters V (1995) Carbon and nitrogen relationships in the microbial biomass of soils in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests. Biol Fertil Soils 19:141–147
Joergensen RG, Mäder P, Flieβbach A (2010) Long-term effects of organic farming on fungal and bacterial residues in relation to microbial energy metabolism. Biol Fertil Soils 46:303–307
Kindler R, Miltner A, Thullner M, Richnow HH, Kästner M (2009) Fate of bacterial biomass derived fatty acids in soil and their contribution to soil organic matter. Org Geochem 40:29–37
Kögel I, Bochter R (1985) Amino sugar determination in organic soils by capillary gas chromatography using a nitrogen-selective detector. Z Pflanzenernähr Bodenkd 148:260–267
Ladd JN, Foster R, Nannipieri P, Oades JM (1996) Soil structure and biological activity. In: Stotzky G, Bollag J-M (eds) Soil Biochemistry, vol 9. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 23–78
Liang C, Balser TC (2008) Preferential sequestration of microbial carbon in subsoils of a glacial-landscape toposequence, Dane County, WI, USA. Geoderma 148:113–119
Liang C, Zhang X, Rubert KF, Balser TC (2007) Effect of plant materials on microbial transformation of amino sugars in three soil microcosms. Biol Fertil Soils 43:631–639
Liang C, Cheng G, Wixon DL, Balser TC (2010) An absorbing Markov chain approach to understanding the microbial role in soil carbon stabilization. Biogeochemistry 106:303–309
Liu XB, Herbert SJ, Zhang XY (2010) Feeding China’s growing needs for grain. Nature 465:420
Mäder P, Fließbach A, Dubois D, Gunst L, Fried P, Niggli U (2002) Soil fertility and biodiversity in organic farming. Science 296:1694–1697
Parsons JW (1981) Chemistry and distribution of amino sugars in soils and soil organisms. In: Paul EA, Ladd JN (eds) Soil Biochemistry, vol 5. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 197–227
Paul EA, Clark FE (1989) Soil microbiology and biochemistry. Academic, San Diego, pp 131–146
Peacock AD, Mullen MD, Ringelberg DB, Tyler DD, Hedrick DB, Gale PM, White DC (2001) Soil microbial community responses to dairy manure or ammonium nitrate applications. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1011–1019
Pimentel D, Harvey C, Resosudarmo P, Sinclair K, Kurz D, McNair M, Crist S, Shpritz L, Fitton L, Saffouri R, Blair R (1995) Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science 267:1117–1123
Scheller E, Joergensen RG (2008) Decomposition of wheat straw differing in nitrogen content in soils under conventional and organic farming management. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 171:886–892
Simpson RT, Frey SD, Six J, Thiet RK (2004) Preferential accumulation of microbial carbon in aggregate structures of no-tillage soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:1249–1255
Simpson A, Simpson M, Smith E, Kelleher B (2007) Microbially derived inputs to soil organic matter: are current estimates too low? Environ Sci Technol 41:8070–8076
Six J, Frey SD, Thiet RK, Batten KM (2006) Bacterial and fungal contributions to carbon sequestration in agroecosystems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:555–569
Soil Survey Staff (1998) Keys to soil taxonomy. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington DC, p 328
Stevenson FJ (1986) Cycles of soil carbon nitrogen phosphorus sulfur micronutrients. Wiley, New York
Tejada M, Gonzalez JL (2003) Effects of the application of a compost originating from crushed cotton gin residues on wheat yield under dryland conditions. Eur J Agron 19:357–368
Turrión MB, Glaser B, Zech W (2002) Effects of deforestation on contents and distribution of amino sugars within particle-size fractions of mountain soils. Biol Fertil Soils 35:49–53
van Groenigen KJ, Bloem J, Bååth E, Boeckx P, Rousk J, Bodé S, Forristal D, Jones MB (2010) Abundance, production and stabilization of microbial biomass under conventional and reduced tillage. Soil Biol Biochem 42:48–55
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707
von Lützow M, Kögel-Knabner I, Ekschmitt K, Matzner E, Guggenberger G, Marschner B, Flessa H (2006) Stabilization of organic matter in temperate soils: mechanisms and their relevance under different soil conditions—a review. Eur J Soil Sci 57:426–445
Wichern J, Wichern F, Joergensen RG (2006) Impact of salinity on soil microbial communities and the decomposition of maize in acidic soils. Geoderma 137:100–108
Xing BS, Liu XB, Liu JD, Han XZ (2004) Physical and chemical characteristics of a typical Mollisol in China. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 35:1839–1850
Zhang X, Amelung W (1996) Gas chromatographic determination of muramic acid, glucosamine, mannosamine, and galactosamine in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 28:1201–1206
Zhang X, Amelung W, Yuan Y, Samson-Liebigc S, Brownc L, Zech W (1999) Land-use effects on amino sugars in particle-size fractions of an Argiudoll. Appl Soil Ecol 11:271–275
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB100506) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41101282, 41001138). The editor and two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged for their constructive comments and critical review of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ding, X., Han, X., Zhang, X. et al. Continuous manuring combined with chemical fertilizer affects soil microbial residues in a Mollisol. Biol Fertil Soils 49, 387–393 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-012-0736-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-012-0736-8