Combined application of animal manure and stover enhance labile organic carbon and benefit the microbial community in dark brown soil

ABSTRACT

Returning organic materials is recognized as an effective practice to alter soil organic carbon (SOC) content, in which microorganisms play a critical role. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different kinds of animal manure combined with stover (AM-S treatments) on labile organic C fractions and soil microbial community. The two-year experiment involved four treatments: maize stover only (S), maize stover plus ox manure (SO), maize stover plus chicken manure (SC), and maize stover plus pig manure (SP). In 2018 and 2019, AM-S treatments increased the levels of SOC, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), easily oxidized carbon (EOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and maize yields. Maize stover plus ox manure treatment could provide better accumulation of MBC, and enhance bacterial and fungal richness and diversity. Maize stover plus pig manure treatment enhanced the contents of DOC and maize yield and also recorded the highest percentage of Proteobacteria (57.6%). Also, the EOC contents were 13.0% and 21.5% higher than SO and SC respectively. In all, our findings suggested that the application of maize stover plus pig manure was the most effective treatment for enhancing labile SOC fractions and improving the microbial community.

KEYWORDS:

• Soil organic carbon
• animal manure
• stover strip composting
• microbial community

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Research Foundation of the Science & Technology Agency of Jilin Province, China (20190301018NY), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0300203, 2017YFD0201801);The Research Foundation of the Science & Technology Agency of Jilin Province, China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China[the Research Foundation of the Science & Technology Agency of Jilin Province, China,and the National Key Research and Development Program of China 20190301018NY and 2018YFD0300203, 2017YFD0201801.];