Organic Fertilization in Traditional Mediterranean Grapevine Orchards Mediates Changes in Soil Microbial Community Structure and Enhances Soil Fertility

Abstract

Soil microbial populations and their functions related to nutrient cycling contribute substantially to the regulation of soil fertility and the sustainability of agroecosystems. A field experiment was performed to assess the medium-term effect of a mineral fertilizer and two organic fertilization systems with different nitrogen sources on the soil microbial community biomass, structure, and composition (phospholipid fatty acids, pattern, and abundance), microbial activity (basal respiration, dehydrogenase, protease, urease, β-glucosidase, and total amount of phosphomonoesterase activities), and physical (aggregate stability) and chemical (total organic C, total N, available P and water-soluble carbohydrates) properties in a vineyard under semiarid Mediterranean conditions after a period of 10 years. The three fertilization systems assayed were as follows: inorganic fertilization, addition of grapevine pruning with sheep manure (OPM), and addition of grapevine pruning with a legume cover crop (OPL). Both treatments, OPM and OPL, produced higher contents of total organic carbon, total N, available P, water-soluble carbohydrates, and stable aggregates. The organic fertilization systems increased microbial biomass, shifted the structure and composition of the soil microbial community, and stimulated microbial activity, when compared with inorganic fertilization. The abundances of fungi and G+ bacteria were increased by treatments OPM and OPL, without significant differences between them. Organic and inorganic fertilization produced similar grapevine yields. The ability of the organic fertilization systems for promoting the sustainability and soil biological and chemical fertility of an agroecosystem under semiarid conditions was dependent of the organic N source.

Effects of Chicken Compost and KCl Fertilizer on Growth, Yield, Post-Harvest Quality of Sweet Corn and Soil Health

“…Organic manures derived from chicken compost are mainly employed in tropical areas as the source of organic matter. Application of organic compost plays a direct role in improving physical (Adekiya, Agbede, Aboyeji, Dunsin, & Simeon, 2019;Khairuddin, Isa, Zakaria, & Rani, 2018), chemical (Yousefzadeh, Sanavy, Govahi, & Oskooie, 2015) and biological properties of soil (García-Orenes et al, 2016;Lazcano, Gómez-Brandón, Revilla, & Domínguez, 2013).…”

Decadal Nitrogen Fertilization Decreases Mineral‐Associated and Subsoil Carbon: A 32‐Year Study

“…Crop residue return is frequently increased by nitrogen (N) fertilization; however, the effect of the N-fertilizationtriggered increase of C addition is not always certain (Dou et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2016). This is because the stable SOM fraction (mineral-associated HF) is not mainly inputdriven but also depends on residue decomposability (Barbera et al, 2010;García-Orenes et al, 2016). Recent views suggest that stable SOM formation is mainly related to the conversion of residue C input into microbial residues that make up most of the C associated with HF (Cotrufo et al, 2013;Gleixner, 2013;Lehmann & Kleber, 2015).…”

Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer applications on phosphate solubilizing bacteria in the rhizosphere of maize (Zea mays L.)

“…However, the negative effects of chemical fertilizers can be avoided by using organic fertilizers which have a positive effect on the Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) -a group of rhizosphere bacteria found in association with roots which can enhance the growth of plant directly or indirectly by helping plants in nutrient uptake from rhizospheric soil (Mia et al, 2010). Organic fertilizers also play key role in sustaining soil fertility and crop productivity (Soumare et al, 2003;García-Orenes et al, 2016).…”