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ABSTRACT
An incubation experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects that three types of biomass ash, each applied at two doses, exert on the nutrient availability in a calcareous soil. The application of the ash from dry olive cake or greenhouse vegetable wastes significantly increased soil ammonium bicarbonate-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (AB-DTPA)-extractable phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sodium (Na), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) as well as exchangeable and non-exchangeable K and Na. Wood ash was effective only for increasing soil ABDTPA-extractable Zn and Cu. By contrast, the three types of biomass ash hardly increased soil ABDTPA-extractable Fe or Mn. The high content in carbonate of the soil appears to minimize the potential of the ash to increase the micronutrients availability, which shortened with longer incubation time. Soil ABDTPA-extractable heavy metals were not detected in the different treatments tested. Other parameters of the soil, as pH and organic carbon, were scarcely affected by the ash, while conductivity and dehydrogenase activity increased.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the biomass power plants of Tradema, La Loma and Gasification Plant of Albaida for providing the ash from wood, dry olive cake, and greenhouse vegetable wastes, respectively, used in this study. They also thank Fernando Calvo for his technical support and David Nesbitt for assisting in the translation of the manuscript into English.
Funding
This study was financed by the Junta de Andalucía, Spain, through Excellence Project P07-RNM-2746. M. Quirantes thanks the Junta de Andalucía for their doctoral grants associated with the project P07-RNM-2746.