A laboratory aerobic incubation study was performed during 18 weeks under controlled conditions to assess the effects of applying different doses of pulp mill inorganic wastes on the physical-chemical properties of an acid Dystric Cambissol. Three different inorganic wastes were tested - wood ash, dregs and grits, and an agriculture limestone was used as reference. Results showed that increasing the dose applied of the different inorganic wastes tested always led to significant raises of soil pH at different incubation times demonstrating that its use as alternative-liming materials could be a valid and less expensive option to the use of commercial agricultural limestone. Moreover, no immediate concerns seem to be expected related to soil exchangeable sodium (Na) content, at least for the doses needed to increase soil pH until the targeted value 6.5. Particularly for wood ash a pronounced increase on soil extractable potassium and phosphorous was observed, indicating that besides the liming effect this waste can contribute to improve soil fertility by supplying significant available amounts of these nutrients. Finally, metals do not seem to be a limiting factor for the application to land of these by-products.
The dynamics of C mineralization in an organically managed Cambic Arenosol amended with hen manure, a stabilized compost (compost), and three different combinations of both fertilizers (varying from a 1:100 to a 1:10 ratio) were studied during an incubation experiment to estimate the potential of such combinations to preserve/restore soil C content relative to single applications. A strong increase of the CO 2 -C emissions relative to the unamended soil (control) was observed after soil application of all five organic-fertilizer treatments. A significantly higher amount of applied C was lost in hen-manure treatment (648 mg CO 2 -C [g C applied] -1 ) when compared to compost (159 mg CO 2 -C [g C applied] -1 ) or to the three combined treatments (176-195 mg CO 2 -C [g C applied] -1 ). The first-order exponential model and the double exponential model were used to fit the C-mineralization data in the treatments considered. Results showed that mixing "small" amounts of hen manure with compost did not affect the total amount of potentially mineralizable C, but significantly increased the mineralization rate constant. Clearly, combinations of both fertilizers promoted an initial faster mineralization of the organic matter, and consequently a faster release of nutrients, without affecting the total amount of C sequestered in soil.
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