<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This work presents the analysis of the influence of compost and reclamation substrate addition and mineral fertilizers application on leaching of mineral nitrogen, microbial activities, soil hydrophobicity and plant biomass production. To demonstrate the effect of compost, reclamation substrate and mineral nitrogen (Nmin) addition on above parameters, the pot experiment was performed. As a model crop, <italic>Deschampsia caespitosa</italic> L. was used and cultivated for 63 days in climate chamber. The leaching of Nmjn was measured by application of ion exchange discs, soil hydrophobicity was determined based on the values of saturated hydraulic conductivity <italic>(Ksat)</italic> and microbial activity was expressed as basal <italic>(BR)</italic> and substrate induced respiration <italic>(SIR).</italic> Four variants (V1-V4) with different doses of fertilizers were prepared: V1 - control without addition of fertilizers; V2 - this variant of experiment was prepared as mixture of compost and arable land in ratio 7:3; V3 - 90 g/m2 of mineral fertilizers NPK (in the ratio 1:1:1) were applied there and into V4, dose 30 g of compost were applied. The significant differences (P &lt; 0.05) in the detection of Nmin, values of <italic>Ksat</italic> and <italic>SIR</italic> were found. The highest decrease of mineral nitrogen leaching was observed by the simultaneous applications of compost (V4) to arable soil, about 50% in comparison with the variant V4 (application of mineral fertilization) and about 10% in comparison with the control. Variants with addition of compost (V2 and V4) showed higher values than variants without, which were measured at three stages (before application of Nmin - 12 days after establishment of the experiment; after application of Nmin - 34 days; at end of the experiment - 63 days). During the experiment, two types of respiration were measured: <italic>BR</italic> and <italic>SIR.</italic> The significant differences in <italic>SIR</italic> were found between variants with addition of compost and variants without. The SIR (cumulative production of CO2) was higher about 25% in variants V2 and V4 compared to variants V1 and V3. The highest values of <italic>Ksat</italic> were found in variants with addition of compost. Conversely, the lowest value of <italic>Ksat</italic> was detected in variant with addition of Nmin. Low values of <italic>Ksat</italic> indicate an increased level of hydrophobicity.</abstract>

This work presents the analysis of the influence of compost and reclamation substrate addition and mineral fertilizers application on leaching of mineral nitrogen, microbial activities, soil hydrophobicity and plant biomass production. To demonstrate the effect of compost, reclamation substrate and mineral nitrogen (Nmin) addition on above parameters, the pot experiment was performed. As a model crop, Deschampsia caespitosa L. was used and cultivated for 63 days in climate chamber. The leaching of Nmjn was measured by application of ion exchange discs, soil hydrophobicity was determined based on the values of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and microbial activity was expressed as basal (BR) and substrate induced respiration (SIR). Four variants (V1-V4) with different doses of fertilizers were prepared: V1 - control without addition of fertilizers; V2 - this variant of experiment was prepared as mixture of compost and arable land in ratio 7:3; V3 - 90 g/m2 of mineral fertilizers NPK (in the ratio 1:1:1) were applied there and into V4, dose 30 g of compost were applied. The significant differences (P < 0.05) in the detection of Nmin, values of Ksat and SIR were found. The highest decrease of mineral nitrogen leaching was observed by the simultaneous applications of compost (V4) to arable soil, about 50% in comparison with the variant V4 (application of mineral fertilization) and about 10% in comparison with the control. Variants with addition of compost (V2 and V4) showed higher values than variants without, which were measured at three stages (before application of Nmin - 12 days after establishment of the experiment; after application of Nmin - 34 days; at end of the experiment - 63 days). During the experiment, two types of respiration were measured: BR and SIR. The significant differences in SIR were found between variants with addition of compost and variants without. The SIR (cumulative production of CO2) was higher about 25% in variants V2 and V4 compared to variants V1 and V3. The highest values of Ksat were found in variants with addition of compost. Conversely, the lowest value of Ksat was detected in variant with addition of Nmin. Low values of Ksat indicate an increased level of hydrophobicity.

Influence of Fertilization on Microbial Activities, Soil Hydrophobicity and Mineral Nitrogen Leaching

Department of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agronomy, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, phone +420 545132484

Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Agronomy, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, phone +420 545132484

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This work presents the analysis of the influence of compost and reclamation substrate addition and mineral fertilizers application on leaching of mineral...

Influence of Fertilization on Microbial Activities, Soil Hydrophobicity and Mineral Nitrogen Leaching

Published Online: Feb 02, 2015

Page range: 661 - 675

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/eces-2014-0048

Keywords
compost, reclamation substrate, microbial activity, mineral nitrogen, soil hydrophobicity

© 2015 Elbl et al.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Influence of Fertilization on Microbial Activities, Soil Hydrophobicity and Mineral Nitrogen Leaching

Published Online: Feb 02, 2015

Page range: 661 - 675

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/eces-2014-0048

Keywordscompost, reclamation substrate, microbial activity, mineral nitrogen, soil hydrophobicity

© 2015 Elbl et al.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
compost, reclamation substrate, microbial activity, mineral nitrogen, soil hydrophobicity